Chapter Thirteen
Lucifaad, Lucifaad Territory
With each step Ahri took towards the Tower of Lust, the putrid odors of the undercity faded into the background. The residents were free of the noxious stench, and she could finally breathe out of her nose without gagging.
Ahead of Ahri laid the colossal citadel that functioned as the Leviathan clan's domain, separating the Eternal Palace from Lucifaad's southern reaches.
Several inquisitorial garrisons safeguarded the Tower of Lust and the surrounding boroughs fortunate enough to be next to the immense spire.
Caitlyn's posting was a nasty little fortress called 'The Pit,' it's wedged between the fault lines of both the Undercity and the Spires, making it a popular target for syndicates, revolutionaries, and the foolish.
Coincidentally it also became the only Inquisitorial garrison with a ridiculously high kill-to-death ratio sitting at one Inquisitor for every twenty dissidents.
Ahri would never know why Caitlyn deliberately assigned herself to such a harsh facility on the outskirts of civilization. Maybe the Noble was looking for a death wish, perhaps she was an adrenaline junkie trying to get her next fix, but Ahri knew that Caitlyn had a few screws missing.
When the Vastaya crossed into Arvias Plaza, she shied away from several Inquisitoral patrols safeguarding a local festival. Nobles had a habit of celebrating their own good fortune, and it wouldn't be odd to see multiple celebrations within the Spires district.
Eventually, Ahri spotted a familiar café through a mass of celebrating Devil's indulging in their lust for attention.
If she remembered correctly, Caitlyn frequented this Café on a daily basis and exclusively sat at a booth overlooking the entrance and both exits.
The former Noble was a meticulous woman who despised being diverted from her strict schedule. After breaking into Caitlyn's house uninvited and making herself at home, Ahri experienced that wrath firsthand.
Ahri still remembered spending an hour taking miniature ice splinters out of her skin and Caitlyn's smug grin.
The Inquisitor would no doubt be drinking god-awful black coffee while contemplating her life's direction with a brooding face.
Ahri hadn't seen Caitlyn in almost half a year. Viktor's duties with the Loyalists split their time between the frontier and the Eternal Palace, leaving precious little free time for the Vastayan in the last few months.
"Well, here goes nothing," Ahri whispered as she gingerly splayed her hand against the cafés glass doors. "Who knows, maybe she got the stick out of her ass."
Fat chance of that.
Ahri threw open the door, disregarding the curious stares from the other diners as her eyes were drawn to Caitlyn's flawlessly styled royal purple hair. It was a stark contrast to her family's silver hair, but the Inquisitor was the black sheep of her family.
"Guess who?!" Two hands wrapped around the Inquisitor's violet eyes, and Ahri's cheery voice was the only thing that kept Caitlyn's dagger from piercing the Vastaya's amused eye.
"Ahri?" The violet-eyed Inquisitor spoke in a bewildered tone, her posh accent a consequence of her upbringing that Ahri found incredibly attractive. Caitlyn slowly sheathed her dagger once her heartbeat and martial instincts came to terms with the lack of danger the Vastaya presented. "What are you doing here?"
Incredulously, Ahri took this hesitation as a sign of endearment and hopped over the booth to land her rear directly into Caitlyn's lap. She enjoyed the stunned expression that turned into panic when Ahri dragged her into the swell of her clothed breasts.
"MHMMM!" The Vastaye enjoyed the shrieks of embarrassment leaking from her fleshy chair and took a deep contemplative breath.
If only Cyrus could be just as easy to get to, then life would be so much more enjoyable.
Alas, Ahri had a job to do, and with great reluctance, she extracted herself from Caitylns lap, relishing the displeased glare she received as the Inquisitor smoothed her ruffled hair.
"Did you miss me?" She questioned her exasperated companion, sliding into the booth opposite Caitlyn with a cheshire grin.
"Like an annoying fly."
It was good to be wanted.
l==l
Inquisitor Caitlyn Lucifuge impatiently drummed her fingers against the table, and her eyes remained fixed on the occupied booth opposite her. The return of one of her close confidants provided no solace or reprieve for the conflict brewing inside the former Lucifuge heir.
A question lingered in the Inquisitor's mind that had plagued her for over ten years.
Why did Caitlyn Lucifuge leave her home for the Inquisitorial?
Her first instinct was to blame her arrogance as the sole reason for her departure from the Lucifuge Household, but fear drove her away.
Caitlyn dreaded the responsibilities that came with the Lucifuge name and the atrocities her family committed for loyalty. Grayfia and her brother Euclid led a campaign of terror against everyone and everything that Bashlaim deemed unworthy.
It didn't matter who or what the target was, only that it was put down with extreme prejudice. The blood of men, women, and children stained the streets of Lucifaad during the early days of the civil war, and Caitlyn was forced to watch with a strained smile.
Lucifaad was suffering under the old regime, and while she didn't want to be a part of the atrocities her family perpetrated based only on Bashalum's word, she wasn't suicidal enough to openly denounce her kin.
Caitlyn registered for the Inquisitorius against her family's wishes, and once the grueling academy was completed, she demanded to be stationed at 'The Pit.' It was the most dangerous assignment in the Inquisitorius, but it also allowed an unfiltered look into the horrors plaguing Lucifaad's Undercity.
Horrors that her fellow Inquisitors willingly participated in.
Neither Grayfia nor Euclid came to her graduation, the former too busy fighting against the Renegades and the other taking a sick pleasure in hunting low-class devils in some misguided attempt to win his sister's favor.
Did that make her brother a sociopath?
Absolutely, but that insanity seemed to run in every family member of House Lucifuge, barring Caitlyn. She was the family's black sheep, and that lack of missing faculties placed her at odds with her once-beloved family.
How could one be expected to care about those so clearly beneath them in status and power? The Lucifuges had no family in the Undercity, no friends, and no partners to look after when the violence threatened to take the entire section whole.
Her family's lack of empathy was born from an absence of commitment to developing their Undercity. The people down there were forced to work for the leftovers, and it was a wonder why the High-Class Devils kept rolling the dice of chaos with their relentless disregard.
But it's not like Caitlyn did any better in her current position.
The brutality that the Inquisitorious represented ran from rank and file all the way to the top.
Too few Inquisitors in their ranks declined to participate in ghetto purges or ruthless raids that left nothing but broken families and shattered corpses in their wake.
Caitlyin had seen more death than she could stomach, and no matter her decision, there was little chance of the bloodshed ending soon. She was stuck in limbo, a hopeless and directionless midpoint where she could be little more than a bystander.
"You got that look on your face again." Ahri had been watching the melancholy seep into Caitlyn's noble countenance, and she couldn't stand to watch her companion sink into despair. "What have I told you about adding all that stress to your shoulders? You were never in a position to help anyone in the Undercity."
"I remember you calling me a naïve idiot after our first raid together." Ahri barked a hearty laugh that momentarily brought a smile to Caitlyn's expression.
That was almost a decade ago, and back then, Caitlyn wholeheartedly believed that she could help the Undercity by bringing down the dissidents that festered in its shadow.
And yet, all she accomplished was contributing to the lengthy list of victims that the Inquistorious was responsible for.
"And you grew up far too fast for my liking because of it." Neither one of them took joy in their work back then. Caitlyn only had ignorance and naivety as her sole defense, which was pathetic, but Ahri had the justification of being forced to commit those massacres due to her Vastayan nature and Viktor's psychotic outlook.
Speaking of Ahri's master, Caitlyn could sense a serenity to Ahri's aura, which contrasted her continual dread brought about by her connection with Viktor."Where's Viktor?"
Ahri's smile widened considerably, leaving the Inquisitor confused at her companion's overtly bright expression. However, before the Vastayan could answer, their conversation was halted by the arrival of Caitlyn's black coffee and continental breakfast.
A girl had to eat, after all.
"Here you are, Madam." The waitress, a cute little Devil, named Aliya, spoke with a lighthearted tone that contrasted her first meeting with Caitlyn. She nearly had a heart attack when the Inquisitor first stepped into her workplace, looking for a quiet place to eat.
The badge of the Inquisitorious sparked fear in the hearts of the Undercity and the Spires alike, and it took a considerable effort on her part to put the woman at ease.
Caitlyn's breakfast was delicately placed in front of her, earning a satisfied groan from her. Aliya turned towards a smirking Ahri."What would you like today, madam."
"That depends…" Ahri's amber orbs ran along with the waitress' physical attributes, earning an exasperated glance from Caitlyn. "…Are you on the menu?"
"I could be…." Aliya matched the Vastayan's seductive voice and gently slid into her lap, laying an arm around her shoulder and allowing Ahri's hand to wander along her milky thigh. "…For the right reasons."
Caitlyn would have found the exchange amusing if she wasn't trying to enjoy her late-night breakfast. The Inquisitor ended the pairs byplay by stomping on Ahri's foot. It didn't damage much, but it did stop the Vastayan in her tracks.
"She'll take the same thing I'm having," Aliya's attention was drawn away from the beaming Ahri, who reluctantly let the server extract herself from her lap. "Now off you go."
The Vastayan's leering gaze remained rooted to the waitress's rear end, specifically at how her hips swung from side to side. Caitlyn intervened, kicking her right foot into Ahri's shin and earning a yelp of pain.
"What was that for?" The Vastayan reached down and rubbed at the point of impact with a grimacing expression.
"You know Viktor doesn't like it when you flirt on the side," Caitlyn remarked after shoveling down a spoonful of grits. "His gluttony for you is only matched by his wrath when he catches you in someone else's bed."
She experienced this wrath firsthand when Ahri decided it'd be a good idea to crash at her place for shits and giggles. The Inquisitor was less than pleased when Viktor broke down her door like a jilted lover, and only her ties to the Lucifuge family kept the situation from escalating further.
Caitlyn was taken aback by Ahri's lack of revulsion when her erstwhile master was mentioned. She made a point to speak of Viktor as little as possible whenever the Vastayan visited her. Their relationship was the definition of toxic and occasionally abusive by Ahri's own admission.
Maybe she and her master have finally built a cordial relationship since they'd last seen one another. When Ahri would not comment on her honest thoughts, Caitlyn laid the matter to rest and took a healthy gulp of her black coffee.
She really shouldn't have.
"Viktors dead."
Caitlyn choked.
Violently.
"Wha-t?!" Caitlyn coughed out, fighting to clear her lungs of beverage. Her outburst startled the other diners, which also succeeded in broadening Ahri's grin.
"Take a breath, Cait." Caitlyn's airways were cleared as the Vastayan slid into her booth and patted her gently back. "Don't need you choking to death on my watch.
It took the Inquisitor far too long to regain her bearings, but it wasn't every day you found out a member of House Nebiros was dead.
"How? When?" Caitlyn sputtered out.
"He was killed a few days ago in Nova Babylon," Ahri explained. "Word's bouncing around the capital, and the Nobles will figure out their star pupil is a corpse."
Caitlyn was between shock and disbelief, but she pressed onward. "If he's dead, how are you here? You told me a Vastayan's fate is linked to their master."
"I would be dead if I hadn't imprinted on Viktor's killer." Ahri let out an exhale of pure delight at the mere thought of her newest master, and that put Caitlyn on edge. "The fool took me to receive medical attention mere seconds after I'd tried to kill him."
"Who did you imprint on?"
"Cyrus Kimaris," Ahri answered, drumming her fingers on the table with a pleased grin.
"The Shadow Lords, son?" The Inquisitor tried to recall the Shadow Lord's children, but she'd been out of touch with events outside of Lucifaad due to the information blackout the Loyalists instituted a week earlier. "rumors suggested he was assigned to the 66th camp praetor before disappearing with one of their cohorts. You're telling me he managed to kill Viktor Nebiros and his Immortals as an adolescent Devil?"
Only the most formidable of their kind, such as Sirzechs Gremory, Grayfia Lucifuge, and Serafall Sitri, could display such martial prowess at such a young age. If the Kimaris boy was capable of taking on the Immortals and Ahri, then the Loyalists were in deep trouble.
"Well, it helped to have a Cadre in his corner, but that's a story for a different time." Ahri downplayed her master's achievements, but since his kill count that night comprised the bulk of Viktor's skinwalkers and over a hundred insurgents, it was more challenging than it seemed. "Cyrus is many things. A child isn't one of them. He has an…aura that puts you on edge, but other than that, he's as calm as they come. He'll grow up to be quite the eye candy, but that's just for my added benefit…."
Ahri didn't elaborate, taking some sick joy in Caitlyn's stunned silence as the Inquisitor tried her damndest to rationalize the pure absurdity in the Vastayan's words.
After a lengthy silence, Caitlyn summed up her feelings in a single sentence. "I was not ready for this level of insanity tonight."
Ahri shrugged her shoulders, and their conversation entered a lull with Aliya returning with the Vastayan's breakfast.
The pair fell into a content silence for a time. Caitlyn picked at her food in contemplation while Ahri devoured her plate like the uncivilized woman she made herself out to be.
The Inquisitor could feel a storm brewing in the distance, and as she intently stared at her companion, a realization dawned on her.
"Ahri." Caitlyn asked in minor trepidation, drawing her companion's attention ".Why are you in Lucifaad?"
If the Kimaris boy was inside the city, then that was a catastrophe she wanted no part of.
Ahri made a show of cleaning her fingers. A performance meant to irritate Caitlyn and fascinate their waitress if the salacious look was anything to go by.
After thoroughly cleaning her fingers, Ahri leaned forward, ghosting her breath against Caitlyn's ear and sending involuntary shivers running down the Inquisitor's spine.
"My master and I have business in Lucifaad, and you're gonna help me find someone…critical."
"No!" Caitlyn hissed back in a whisper, drawing another amused glance from Ahri. "Hell no!"
She may not have exactly known the Vastayan's line of thought, but there was no fucking way she was going to like it.
"Like you have any choice." Ahri was calling in her life debt, and Caitlyn sorely wished the Vastayan had let her die on that raid years ago.
At least then, she wouldn't have to put up with The constant bullshit Ahri got herself into.
l==l
Nova Babylon, Lucifaad Territory
Cedric stood hunched over the war table, his eyes scanning the figures and markings with a listless frown.
His entire family shared his melancholy state.
Cyrus's departure left a bigger hole in their lives than anyone thought possible.
Elerin and Arwen stood by his side, playing the part of dutiful wives while also pointedly avoiding one another's gaze. The pair had yet to reconcile their differences, and Cyrus's departure ensured a resolution would not be found anytime soon.
Now here they gathered, and Cedric was unable or unwilling to bridge the schism in his family without revealing a truth that was just as harmful as his deception.
Secrets have a price, and the Kimaris household suffered that price.
"Primarch." Zakan, his every trusty Night Warden, entered the war room, mindful of the piercing looks from his daughters.
"Report?" The tension in the room threatened to erupt, and Zakan had no desire to be a part of the Kimaris' latest spectacle.
"We located the tunnel Lord Cyrus used to enter Lucifaad," Zakan reached across the war table and marked a location twenty leagues north of Lucifaad. "However, it collapsed at the entrance. He ensured we couldn't follow him in without delay."
"Personal assessment?"
Zakan pursed his lips in thought. "By now, I reckon Lord Cyrus is far beyond our reach. By my estimation, we could dig out the tunnel network ourselves, but that could take months, if not years. Barring a full-frontal assault upon the gates of Lucifaad, we will not be hearing from Lord Cyrus unless he-"
Several gazes turned spiteful at Zakan's wording, and the Night Warden wisely chose discretion and kept the rest of his opinion to himself. The last thing he wanted was to piss off Lady Ghislaine or Lady Jade.
"Thank you, Zakan. That will be all." The Night Warden made his exit and rushed out of the war room with his tail between his legs. Cedric paid little attention to his offspring or wives in favor of focusing on how to navigate this catastrophe, allowing a strained hush to smother their atmosphere.
"We need to bring him back." Ghislaine broke the silence, drawing looks from her siblings.
Ashara rolled her eyes and let out a huff. "And how the hell do we accomplish that?"
"If I knew I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you now, would I?!" Ghislaine sneered, earning a stink eye from her younger sister, which promised to escalate into another verbal disagreement.
"Enough." Cedric intervened, pulsing a potent amount of infernal energy to keep his children cowed. "Arguing amongst each other does nothing for us, and I won't have my daughters at each other's throats at a time like-"
"Then how about we focus on you and Elerin." Ashara interrupted with a scoff of indignation. "Everyone here knows you're as much to blame, if not more so."
The aggression in Ashara's voice left many of her family stepping back in minor trepidation. Cedric's arguments were few and far between, but any of his children defying him so brazenly required a significant amount of emotional charge.
"I don't like your tone, daughter." Cedric's mood to a drastic downturn. His family clearly needed a stark reminder of why he was their Patriarch. He could put up with his wives holding him accountable, but he would not stand for his own children disputing him so openly.
Cedric was about to rip into his arrogant daughter when the most unexpected intervention came from his eldest child.
"She's right, father," Jade interjected. "You and mother have been keeping secrets, and this family will fall apart if you don't come clean. Cyrus has always been different. We accepted that because he is our brother, but there was a fundamental difference in how he carried himself after that night…."
"…Cyrus is guarded around the Legionnaires. He spent most of his time as a camp praetor giving everyone the stink eye…." Jade's emerald orbs glazed over with an unrecognized emotion before a huff of disgust fell from her lips. "…Well, almost everyone."
"What do you mean?" Ashara latched onto this open-ended statement with fervor, generating more than a few curious eyebrows that only exacerbated their problems.
"Cyrus only found comfort around the attendants, specifically the…human variety."
Ghislaine bowed her head in despair as the war room erupted into outrage. It was as close to a damning statement as one could make regarding their circumstances. Devils are prideful creatures, and to hear that their own flesh and blood preferred the company of their attendants stabbed at their pride.
She was there when Jade voiced her concerns about Cyrus's behavior to Cedric when his conduct as camp praetor left much to be desired. He ran the Devils attached to his command like slaves while concurrently treating their human attendants with gloves.
The scenario would have turned into a cultural catastrophe if Cedric had not invited Cyrus back to his tent and educated him on the importance of perception. Jade became less suspicious of his behavior, but that cautious eye always remained fixed on Cyrus.
Elerin and Cedric whispered while Arwen sought to keep Chrisite and Rose from tearing into one another. The latter took exception to her sister's admonishing statement of Cyrus and nearly came to blows were it not for their mother's intervention.
Jade kept close to Sapphire, relying on her soothing temperament to calm her younger sister. Cyrus's birthday present was clutched in Sapphire's hands, a relic from long ago.
Ghislaine's hearing focused past the shouts of anger and the simpering of tears onto the hushed words spoken by her parents.
"You need to tell them," Elerin whispered into Cedric's ear.
The Matriarch wanted to end these disputes before they could exact a permanent toll upon their family. Ghislaine glimpsed the conflicting emotions sparking across Cedric's visage and the crushing sense of frustration collapsing upon him.
"His secrets and burdens alone cannot simply be told, Elerin," Cedric emphasized. "It doesn't do them justice."
"Then show them." The Patriarch studied his first wife's expression for any sign of doubt, but all he found was the calm determination he fell in love with all those decades ago.
He'd never been able to say no before and wouldn't start now.
"As you command." Cedric let out a deep exhale that caught the attention of Elerin and his children. All sentiments of sorrow and anger were washed away by a wave of infernal energy, smothering their senses until they could only perceive darkness.
There could be no lies in this plane of reality safeguarded by their family.
Only the harsh reality of truth.
l==l
Ghislaine wondered if her confused siblings were prepared to comprehend what toiled in their brother's psyche.
Even years after Ghislaine stumbled through his collective thoughts, she can still recall the utter loathing of what Cyrus indeed was in those few seconds she broke open his mind.
He loathed being a devil.
He detested the unfamiliar shift in muscles foreign to his martial mindset.
He resented the belief that this new life took away the closure of all the anguish and suffering he had endured at the hands of beings that did not deserve to see the light of day.
But above all, he hated that in this life, he would never know if the first sisters he'd ever had survived that fateful last stand against the Covenant.
Casey.
Eliza.
Chamber.
Those names resonated in Ghislaine's consciousness just as much as they did in Cyrus', and she couldn't help but sympathize with his suffering more than anyone else in their family.
It was why she was so adamant about taking his side no matter the circumstances presented. Cyrus was an outcast, just as she was a pariah of the Kimaris bloodline.
"What are we doing here?" Ashara inquired next to an equally confused Rose; their animosity for one another was lost under this new environment. "Hate this place when father's involved."
The Shadow Realm became a tool of discipline whenever the sires of House Kiamris decided to test their father's patience. In time Rose and Sapphire would come to embrace the darkness much like their siblings before them, but until then, they wisely stuck close to their family.
Cedric emerged from a gathering of shadows alongside Elerin and Arwen. Their expressions were carved into stone, betraying nothing of their internal turmoil. The Patriarch stepped forward, flanked by his loved ones, who each grasped a shoulder in unity.
"You will all have to accept that there are certain things that you will not understand right away. Your brother is…." Cedric hesitated. "…An anomaly. In more ways than you can possibly imagine…."
"…Words cannot express or detail what you are about to witness, no matter what happens. Don't think less of Cyrus." Jade had never heard her father express such anguish in his mannerisms or words, and as she went to confront him, lightning streaked across the horizon.
She and her siblings jumped as thunder clapped from above, and their environment no longer presented the dark void shadows but a landscape as foreign as it was beautiful.
Ghislaine knew this countryside by heart.
Cyrus called it Onyx.
Jade knew this was a memory spawned from a technique House Kimaris called Dubhra Cuimhneachan, Dark Remembrance in the common tongue. It turned the Shadow Realm into a collection of memories gathered from a specific host.
Sapphire slipped from Jade's clutches due to her laboring emotions, and she dashed into the lush trees, utterly enthralled by its beauty.
"Sapphire!" Jade called out to the alarm of her nearby family. "Come back here!"
Not to be deterred, the hazel-eyed girl slid out of sight, much to the chagrin of her family speeds. Rose was the first to start after her, trailed by Ashara and Ghislaine, while the rest brought up the rear.
Cedric did not worry for Sapphire's safety, for this place answered to his will, and there was no danger in this land that he did not directly control. He allowed Sapphire to run off in that direction because there awaited a clearing that would undoubtedly draw her attention.
And then, they could begin.
"Saph! Wait up!" Sapphire ducked in between branches, giggling as Rose fought to keep pace with her at matching speeds. "Seriously! Where are you going?!"
It didn't matter the destination, only the journey. At least, that's what her mother always preached when they were children.
In her youthful exuberance, Sapphire uncovered more of the wonderous landscape, unaware of the mass of children gathering in the distance. As she broke through the forest, she slammed into someone's back, throwing off her balance and sending her flat on her ass.
"Ow." Sapphire rubbed the pulsing pain away and glanced up at the boy she'd just run into. "Sorry."
He paid her no attention, a decision that momentarily vexed the Devil, causing a swell of indignation to gather at the bottom of her stomach. "I said I was sorry."
Again, the object of her ire said nothing in reply, and a fit of rage, Sapphire stood on her feet and whirled to his front seeking to take up his vision. "Hey! I'm talking…to…you."
A pair of recognizable crimson orbs stared through Sapphire towards a podium where a colossal object of unparalleled scope hung in the sky. It was blocky and ugly but exhumed a potent power that reminded her of a heavenly dragon.
"What is this?" Sapphire murmured as her gaze fell back to the clearing her brother was standing in alongside hundreds of other children of similar age.
Rose and her sisters soon joined Sapphire in the clearing, each of them sporting mixed expressions as they stared at the gathering of children in the empty clearing. Ghislaine and Jade came to Sapphire's side, their eyes wordlessly combing over Cyrus' still form.
Jade was stunned at his blank expression, a visage sported by the hundreds of children among them. A question echoed in her mind as she snapped her fingers mere inches from Cyrus' blank face.
"What is all of this for?"
"Welcome, cadets." A voice echoed across the pastures, and the Kimaris siblings narrowed their gazes upon a woman standing on an elevated platform. Her features were masked by darkness, but the commanding nature of her voice was not lost on Jade.
"As per Naval Code 45812, you have all volunteered for UNSC Special Project, codenamed SPARTAN III. You have been called upon to serve. You will be the blade of Earth and all her colonies. We begin tomorrow."
The members of House Kimaris had questions, and now their answers were merely one inquiry away.
But truth is often stranger than fiction.
l==l
Lucifaad, Lucifaad Territory
Ahri was good at her craft.
Since childhood, she'd been trained to fulfill her master's demands in all things, acting as a manipulator, a bodyguard, an assassin, or a bed warmer should the need suffice.
Tonight, Cyrus needed the piece of her that excelled at convincing the stubborn to her line of thinking, but that didn't mean she couldn't prevent their complaints.
Then again, Ahri did find some humor in Caitylns constant bitching.
"I can't believe I said yes to this."
The Vastayan rolled her eyes in amusement but said nothing as the pair traversed the Inquisitor's workplace. 'The Pit' lived up to its reputation in both architecture and brutality.
Everywhere they went, prisoners were being thoroughly beaten for reasons that Ahri knew to serve the interests of the abuser and nothing else. Caitlyn led her towards the Panopticon, where her superior oversaw all activities leading in and out of the prison.
Warden Jakovin had to be the fattest slob of meat Ahri had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting….once again.
"Ahhh, Viktor's pet Vastayan." The Warden's leering gaze sent a chill of disgust down her spine. "What brings you back to my humble adobe?"
"Just escorting Ms. Caitlyn for a prisoner held in your illustrious complex," Ahri retorted, throwing an arm around the Inquisitor, hoping to draw his ogling stare.
"Oh, and who are you looking for?" The Vastayan dug an elbow into Caitlyn's side and forced her to answer.
"A prisoner who's been a guest for over a few weeks. Viktor had her marked as a person of interest." Jakovin cupped his chin in thought and scavenged through stacks of papers looking for the prisoner's number.
"Let's see here, 123? No….656?...No…." Ahri could feel her patience wearing out, and a similar-looking Caitlyn reconsidered her career when Jakovin finally came through.
"Ah, here we are, prisoner 516." The Warden handed Caitlyn a detailed file on their POI. "She's a cranky one. I have to send in a few of my boys to remind her why she's in our care in the first place when she gets out of line. The prisoner is in our isolation cubes. Do you need an esc-"
"That won't be necessary," Ahri interrupted, dragging Caitlyn towards the panopticon service elevator. "Thank you for your assistance. You've been a tremendous help."
"You're wel-" Jakovin's reply was lost in the clattering of metal as the elevator thankfully made with all haste towards the lower levels.
"I hate that guy." Caitlyn's statement drew a look of mild contempt from Ahri.
"You? What about me? His disgusting eyes were all over me, and don't even get me started on his putrid breath."
"At least you don't have to work with him daily." Caitlyn retorted without heat. "Jakovin runs the entire Inquisitorious out of 'the pit,' but he never leaves that satan-damned chair, so we all have to file our final reports in that room."
Their conversation came to a screeching halt as the steel doors swung open, revealing the darkened cells of the isolation cubs. Ahri's ears picked up on a heavy thudding pattern that echoed throughout the corridor.
The Vastayan shared a silent look with her counterpart before the pair walked down the dark passageways toward the sole occupant of this entire prison section. Ahri pulsed her arcana, and a familiar presence morphed into her shadow in seconds.
Caitlyn sparred her an uncertain look at the random pulse of arcana, but an unconcerned shrug tempered her suspicions. Ahri waved her along and leaned into the far wall, allowing the Inquisitor the first crack at their prisoner.
"Did you locate the target?" Cyrus whispered into her ear like a specter prowling in the shadows.
"Yes," Ahri whispered as the heavy thudding suddenly stopped. "Caitlyn is breaking the ice for us, so I presume this is our girl."
"We don't presume anything, Ahri."
"I'm just making small talk, master, that's all." A sharp nod from Caitlyn in confirmation drew her attention. "Alright, showtime. Try not to scare the shit out of our new pal, will ya."
Cyrus didn't comment on the Vastayan's warning as she approached the cell bars. His gaze was drawn between his POI, and the Inquisitor Ahri brought along.
He would have considered Ahri a fool for bringing along the Lucifuge family's black sheep if he didn't know any better. Especially considering Caitlyn's elder sister was their primary target.
Cyrus would have to ascertain whether or not she was a loose end that needed to be severed at a later time.
The woman he searched for was a fierce creature. Pink hair, eerily similar in tone to Sapphire's, was swept to its right, hovering just above her eye. Piercing grey eyes were set pleasantly within their sockets, watching the Vastayan and Inquisitor with a guarded look.
A tattoo of the sixth roman numeral sat proudly beneath her left eye, and small marks of burns and scars were unnoticeably scattered across her arms and face. This woman was a survivor of the Undercity, and Cyrus knew what made them tick.
But first, an introduction was in order.
"Vi, this is Ahri." Caitlyn motioned towards the Vastayan, who waved back with a pleased grin. "Her master is interested in meeting you."
Vi snorted with contempt, eyeing Ahri with suspicion. "What, he couldn't come himself?"
"On the contrary little devil." The Vastayan replied, earning a stare of contempt from Vi. "He's on his way."
A cursory glance into the corridor revealed nothing but bullshit to Vi's perception, and she would have given a heated retort had her instincts not alerted her to a…foreign presence.
It seemingly crawled up and down her skin for a split second before dissipating as quickly as it appeared. During that time, Caitlyn's gaze turned into potent trepidation while Ahri's grin widened considerably.
"What the fuck are you smiling at?" Vi only perceived the Vastayan's smirk, ignoring or missing the fear in Caitlyn's eyes as she stared at a growing shadow behind her.
"Me." A voice ghosted over Vi's ear, and years of instincts took over where most Devil would fall into panic. The smack of her fist impacting flesh was often as satisfying as it was visceral, and Vi was used to her martial prowess triumphing over anyone she'd fought against in such confined spaces.
Their heads would snap to the side, and their teeth would dislodge until another blow severed the connection altogether. A fight would be over long before it began with a concentrated strike from Vi's arcane-enhanced fists.
However, this time proved different from the rest, and the street kid finally met her match in the form of a Devil that was anything but your average Noble.
Cyrus caught each thrown jab with practiced ease, utilizing his magic to negate the volatile effects of her deadly fists.
He crossed Vi's arms and pushed her against the steel bars, where his crimson orbs and pale countenance finally came into view. Vi was taken aback at his youth and the sheer ease he restricted the WMDs she called her knuckles.
She attempted to throw a devastating knee strike upon every man's precious tool, but he countered by placing his inner foot between her legs and restricting her motion.
Their predicament left them in quite an intimate position, but Vi figured he wasn't much distracted by the female form. Not with those crimson orbs staring back at her with a gaze so intense that she felt smaller just by being in his presence.
Those eyes demanded respect that Vi couldn't help but instinctually abode by, and as the seconds ticked onward and their heartbeats settled, she recognized a kindred spirit in that gaze.
This Devil had suffered at the hands of those who believed themselves better.
The intelligence, the anger.
It reminded her so much of Jinx before death took her from this world.
Vi didn't know it then, but that night set into motion events that would lead to the end of the civil war and unlock a new chapter in her life.
A chapter she would forever hold dear to her heart.