Chapter 4: The (un)Welcomed

He wasn't here.

Psyche, shaken and trembling, stormed through the hallways of the mansion. Dress billowing behind her back against the night wind. Night shrieking. Terror looming. Intruding upon rooms that never ceased being empty and cold. Slamming open doors and calling out his name. Chanting his name alone like a solemn requiem. Her breath hitched and her eyes darted from one door to the next. Looking onward. Looking for him. More doors began appearing before her. Infinite. Neverending.

"Psyche."

She whipped her head around as her heart skipped a beat. He called her name. Her feet moved before she could command them to. "Eros," whispering his name. A faint smile graced her lips. "Eros, where are you? I'm here!"

She ran through the halls. Faster. Fueled with invigoration. She heard the echoes of her name spill through the night air. He was calling out to her, guiding her to him. He was trying to reach her as she was trying to reach him. His voice grew louder. She was getting close.

He was calling her-calling her home.

"Eros, tell me where you are! They're gone. They're all gone." Her breath hitched as she choked down a laugh. Blood dripped down her hands. Staining her white dress blotches of crimson. "I did everything you told me to do. We can leave. We don't have to live this life anymore. We can finally leave."

"Psyche."

This door. He was behind this door. She heard him call her name. Loud and clear. She stood in front of the portal. Heart pounding. Faith renewed. She was only one step away. She turned the knob.

It was locked.

Her pulse quickened as she turned the knob again. Frustration growing. Hopelessly waiting for a different outcome. Hopelessly waiting for it to unlock itself. It didn't, yet the disappointment stung no less. "No, no, no." Muttering to herself. Why wouldn't it open? Why was it locked? Why wouldn't he open it for her? "Eros. It's me." Her voice quivered as fear slivered through her veins. "Eros, open the door. It's only me. Eros, for the love of God, it's me!"

She sobbed, banging her hands against the door. Leaving an erratic pattern of red handprints on it. A mosaic of madness. "Please, open the door. Please. It's me. Don't be scared-"

She clamped her hands against her mouth. Tight. Stopping herself from spewing those words. Did she really say that...no..that wasn't the right question to ask. Was he really scared...of her?

She sank to the floor, crying and shaking her head. No, no, no, no, no. He couldn't be. "I haven't changed. I'm still me." She cried, noticing her tears mixed with their blood. Who's blood? She didn't even remember. Her hands were always bloody. "I'm not….I'm not…" A monster. A killer. Death. Her voice broke. "I'm still me."

"Psyche."

She grabbed a candelabra off from a side table and lifted it over her head. She wasn't going to give into despair. Not yet.

And crashed it down on top of the door knob.

The impact pierced her ears as the door knob skidded across the marble floor. She huffed, dropping the candelabra and slowly pushing open the door. "Eros?"

Darkness. She was met only by darkness and emptiness.

She bolted out of the room.

He could be anywhere.

One after another. Disappointment drenched her soul as she opened portals leading to more desolate rooms. Screaming his name. No longer masking her desperation.

He could be nowhere.

She ran. Faster. Leaving a trail of distress behind her. A door fell from the ceiling, stopping her where she stood. She crashed to the floor, before the door could do the same to her. With a loud thud another door dropped beside her. Then a thunderous avalanche of doors plunged towards and shook the marble floor. Surrounding her. Claiming her. Suffocating her.

Her voice was lost among the storm of doors. Booming. Deafening.

Where is he? Where has he gone?

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she gripped her hands into fists around her raven hair. She couldn't lose him. He wouldn't leave her. He wouldn't abandon her. He said he wouldn't. It was always him and her. Together till the end.

'Us over them.' His voice echoed in her ears. It was his vow. His pledge to her. And she believed those words, holding steadfast onto them-to him.

But did he?

He let her go. He abandoned her. He left to live the rest of his life without her.

Now, she was wailing.

Without him, her hands would always be empty-she didn't know how to live with that pain.

She didn't know how to live anymore. A part of her no longer wanted to.

"EROS!" Psyche screamed, twisting in her bed. Sweat drenched skin sticking to her sheets. Nightmares consuming her whole.

Anomie held onto her sister, pleading with her to awaken. Chaotica on the other side.

"Psyche," Anomie cooed her little sister's name. Worry creasing her brow. She nudged her sister, gently trying to prod her awake.

Psyche's eyes remained squeezed shut. Her nightmares held on just as tight, showing no sign of letting her go.

A wave of sorrow passed over Chaotica's sapphire eyes, "This is unbearable…"

"I know, she's suffering." Anomie held on to her sister, waiting for her to awaken. She was going to be here when she awakened. She will not be alone after her nightmare. She'll have her sisters by her side. Psyche squeezed Anomie's hand. I'm here, she thought.

"Ummmm," Chaotica swallowed, "I meant, we're going to be late. If we don't leave within the hour we'll be lucky to make it to the Zoldcyks by nightfall."

Anomie narrowed her eyes. "Very considerate of you, Chaotica. We wouldn't want to make the Zoldcyks wait."

"Ok, ha, no. I'm not worried about what they think, it's about Mom wreaking havoc downstairs! DO YOU HEAR THAT WOMAN? SHE'S INCITING WAR." Chaotica rubbed her temples as she heard her Mom's voice travel-boom-through the walls. Screaming last minute orders, triple checking the luggage, bursting eardrums. Their Mom was acting as if it was her own wedding they were going to be late for. Ugh. "God, Mom is a ticking time bomb that only has one volume and it's loud loud LOUD. Psyche is going to wake up soon. For all our sakes, please. Nightmares don't stop her. She always comes through." She grabbed a hold of Psyche's shoulders and shook her. "FOR ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD. WAKE UP, PSYCHE. SAVE US."

"Pull yourself together." Anomie slapped Chaotica's hands, releasing Psyche from her sister's hysteria.

"You're right." Chaotica breathed. "We need something stronger. OOOHHHH," She clapped her hands together and grabbed the book, The Captain and I: Waves of Our Salvation, off Psyche's nightstand. She thumbed through the pages of the romance novel quickly over her little sister's face, creating a faint breeze. "Feel the ocean wind. Immerse yourself in the sea. Smell Captain Theodore Sturn's abs."

Anomie grabbed the book out of Chaotica's hands. "You annoy her in wake, and now sleep. Won't you just quit it?"

"Nope." Chaotica stuck her tongue out. Impishly. And grabbed back the book. "If she's not going to wake up, then I'm going to catch up on some light reading." She flipped through the pages, curiously. "Where's the smut?"

"You could read for, I don't know, plot? Character development? Historical intrigue?"

"That's all filler." Suddenly, Chaotica's eyes lit up and she squealed.

Anomie sighed and guessed Chaotica found what she was looking for. She grabbed the book back from her sister, and was met with a miserable sounding whine.

"Heyyyyyy."

"Psyche now. SMUT LATER."

"That's boring." Chaotica deadpanned.

"You're her older sister, NOW ACT LIKE IT."

Chaotica scratched her armpit. "Nah, don't wanna."

"What happened last night? You were going on and on about bestowing her your wise sage wisdom. This is your chance to put it all into application. Right. Now."

"Yeaaaaah, that was more of a one time thing. I'm more of a, how would I put it, once is enough, type of person. If you weren't listening the first time then too damn bad, y'know."

"You literally say things on repeat."

"Shut up, sweetie. I mean, you're much better at bestowing sisterly wisdom than I am. Why should I take away the thing you're so good at? It's like it was your destiny to hit us with a cold smack of reality and smother our hopes and dreams. You are good at being the eldest. Too good. I can't compete! Plus, with Psyche gone, I'm going to be the baby of the family again." Chaotica lulled and leaned back on the bed and sighed peacefully. "Life is good."

Anomie's eyes twitched. "That makes no sense-and it doesn't work that way."

"Hush now." Chaotica shushed Anomie. "The baby is napping-OH, can you grab me a coke from her drawer?"

"Since when does Psyche let you touch her secret snack drawer?"

"Since always." Chaotica lied with ease.

"I smell a pretty little liar."

"Thank you. I am pretty. And excuse you. A liar I am not!" Chaotica crossed her fingers, a trademark for liars. "We are this close, her and I. You wouldn't understand. There's an inseparable bond between us babies of the family."

Anomie burst out laughing.

Chaotica began laughing too.

"I'm not grabbing you a coke."

"Yeah, I thought so."

Anomie wiped tears from her eyes. Laughter subsided, "anyway, Psyche is very resilient. However, I'm saying this sparingly. Eros has been dead for years. Let that sink in. No one has been hurt more from his death than Psyche. The pain-her wound-hasn't healed." Anomie watched as tears pooled around Psyche's closed eyes. Dreams could breathe our greatest pleasures to life, as well as our worst pains. Magnify them too. The question as to why our own minds betray us and cause such intense torture baffled her.

"Well, killing your own twin brother can do that much damage to a person."

"And then some."

"I don't understand what she's so troubled over." Chaotica raised an eyebrow. "She should be relieved that Eros is dead. If Psyche wasn't going to kill him, mom was. I mean, after what he did, he got what was coming his way. Eros was never like us. Not to mention he was insanely manipulative. All that time when Mom thought she finally got through to Eros," Chaotica scoffed a mocking laugh and pointed to Psyche. "He couldn't do shit. He made her kill people for him knowing it was already hard for her. His targets became her targets. Inconsiderate coward couldn't even kill by himself."

"He never made her do anything."

"Right, my mistake. He doesn't make people do things for him, they just do things for him. Everything just falls into his lap."

"You're talking about him as if he's still alive."

"It feels like it."

"Chaotica."

"What? It's the truth." Chaotica's eyes darkened. "Memories are all we have left of some people. Days, weeks, months, or even years can pass and we still feel as if it was only yesterday they were right beside us. Memories are a shot of raw emotion and a one way emotional trip to the past. They leave you drunk during the night and hungover in the morning. Even now that he's gone, look at what he's doing to her. He still has a hold over her. He's still tormenting her. That's no brother of ours. She needs to understand that."

"I agree with what you're saying, but we are not at the mercy of our emotions. Which many are capable of controlling with enough discipline, at least. The past has no purpose in the present if it only gets in the way and hinders our actions now. What has happened has already happened, nothing can be done over it. There is no use mulling over the details. Fine, be sad, get drunk, and hung over in the morning. But everyday can't be like that. You need to move on and live your life. Psyche is doing that. She is making progress."

Chaotica hummed with skepticism.

Anomie leaned back and sighed. "She is. Progress isn't easy. It's slow and some days messy as fuck. But she's moving on in her life. I do believe time will help her heal and her engagement with Illumi has helped tremendously. It's taken her mind off things, towards more pleasant ones. She's planning a future. Something she didn't see much of months ago. She'll pull through, that I'm not too worried about. But there is the matter of that." Anomie tilted her head towards the rest of the room.

"Shit."

It was as if a tornado swept through the room and left nothing as it once was. Most objects were misplaced. Others toppled over. Some lay broken. A few ripped apart. The bookcase was nothing short of a catastrophe and the sight alone would make Psyche succumb to an instantaneous fainting spell. It wasn't so much the room that sent both older sisters quiet, but the one responsible for the chaos.

Not one, but thing.

A black shadow slithered underneath the door and crept its way back into the room. Perhaps it finished ransacking the rest of the mansion hoping to find something, or someone. Perhaps it was what their Mom was yelling over.

Chaotica clicked her tongue, undisturbed by the troublesome shadow. "That again? I thought we got rid of it."

"We were able to keep it dormant for a while."

"Hell, it's wide awake now."

Chaotica jumped back with a startle when the shadow ripped the blanket from underneath her and sent her plummeting off the bed. Anomie barely flinched. Get rid of me? Get off my bed. As if the shadow spewed back in response.

"She did that on purpose!" Chaotica screeched, looking back at Psyche who was still trapped within her own nightmare.

Anomie sighed. "You know as well as I that Psyche wouldn't order it to do such a thing...maybe." This shadow monster was different from Psyche's other ones. It had a mind of its own. She narrowed her eyes further, it doesn't matter if Psyche gave that shadow any orders at all. It does what it wants when it wants. It was unpredictable and erratic in nature. In short, it was a problem. A problem that no one, let alone Psyche, could control.

This peculiar shadow first appeared after Eros died. And it hadn't shown any signs of leaving ever since.

Chaotica could have sworn to have heard a low, hushed chuckle come from that wretched creature. "It snickered at me!

Anomie hummed. "You're hearing things."

Chaotica didn't like that answer. "I am NOT crazy."

Anomie gave her a look. Cracking a wry smile. "I know you're trying to convince yourself otherwise but-"

Chaotica flung her hands in the air, exasperated. "The only one whose bat shit crazy here," Chaotica lowered her voice into a whisper and pointed to Psyche, hand covering the side of her mouth where the shadow lurked, as if blocking it from hearing her, "is her."

They both looked at the shadow, who cocked it's head to one side and blinked.

Anomie leaned in, covered the side of her mouth just as Chaotica did, and whispered. "You're right. It did it on purpose because you're acting like a whiny brat. You first insult Eros, then it. Of course it's pissed off."

Chaotica didn't like that answer either. "Hey, I'm just telling the truth, it's not my problem no one likes to hear it. And I'm a whiny brat? ME?"

"It's good that you're able to admit it. That's the first step to recovery."

"I'm not whining!" Chaotica whined. "God, how is she sleeping through all of this?"

Anomie blinked and shook her head at Psyche. "I'm sorry that this is happening right in front of you."

"Nuh-huh." Chaotica lifted her brows. "She can't hear you."

"What do you know what she can or can't hear, hm? Research suggests that even in our unconscious state, our minds take in stimuli from our surrounding environment and filter all that incoming information. Adjusting it accordingly and processing just enough not to disturb us from rest."

"So what, she can hear everything?" Chaoitca looked at Psyche then back at Anomie, skeptically.

Psyche cried out.

Anomie narrowed her eyes, scornfully. "Look at what you're doing to her. Is this the new you? Bothering your baby sister in her time of need?"

Chaotica gasped. "Who's the one that whined about wearing wet socks during the entire ride on our way home from the beach?"

"I don't recall that."

"It was you."

Anomie turned her head towards Psyche. "Hm, I wasn't there."

"Don't look at her, look at me. She doesn't know."

"I can't tell you the answer you want to hear because I wasn't there."

Chaotica was fuming in silence. "You sat shotgun. You rolled down the window, hair flying everywhere. I kept telling you to take off your socks because I wanted to turn on the AC."

Anomie paused, then spoke. "No, that could have been anyone. Also, do you know just how filthy the carpet of your car is? People will wish they weren't there."

"So you admit it-"

The black shadow jumped between the two bickering sisters and draped itself over Psyche like a mourning veil.

Psyche opened her eyes, slowly.

"Great job, your whining woke her up. Good morning, Psyche."

Psyche's eyes flickered open, "Eros?"

Anomie's eyes softened with pity. "No. Eros isn't here. Remember?"

A glassy haze faded away from Psyche's eyes as she glanced at her sisters then at her room. The chaotic aftermath of a shadow gone wild. But her eyes stayed glued on the curtain that hid the door to Eros's room. The door that directly joined their rooms together. After he died, she couldn't bear to look at it. Everyday, a part of Psyche hoped she would hear knocking coming from the other side. Against the better judgement of her mind, sometimes she lay in her bed, quiet as a church mouse and listened. Waiting and hoping.

It's been dead silent for years.

The haze faded and her eyes glimmered with light. The nightmare was broken and so was her room. It was dreadful looking. And her bookshelf with all her novels...Her voice was soft, barely having the strength to speak. "My babies."

"We'll take care of your room."

"We will?" Chaotica's jaw dropped, and then she shut it when Anomie shot her a menacing look. "We will. Of course, we will."

"Thanks-"

Chaotica swung her arms around Psyche. "YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY, AHHHHHHHHHHH. OUR LITTLE DUCKIE GREW UP SO FAST. HOW ABOUT MORNING MARGARITAS? I'LL RING UP THE MAIDS!"

Anomie smiled. "Congratulations. It'll be a day to remember. Cherish it." Then she whipped her head towards Chaotica, scowling. "No morning margaritas."

"Oh, um." Psyche rubbed her head, and lightly pushed Chaotica off her. "Can I have a moment to myself, please?"

The sisters got up from her bed and left.

Psyche felt something hidden in the palm of her hand. When she opened her palm, there was a gold chain necklace. Her heart stopped.

This belonged to Eros.

Anomie turned around. "And Psyche."

Psyche clenched her hand around the gold chain and hid it underneath her blanket. "Hm?"

"Mom needs to speak with you."

Psyche nodded slowly.

Even after her sisters left she still held onto the chain. She still held onto the past.

There didn't come a day when no one wanted a Moiraio woman dead.

Outside the mansion there was a horde of blacklist hunters. A horde that made last night's crowd look like a speck of dust in comparison. The burly men piled up in front of the gate, weapons menacingly gleaming under the frightful rays of the morning sun. Red light falling from the sky like blood. Impatience was growing as men were waiting for orders to begin their siege, plunder the mansion, and drag the women out from their home by the roots of their hair. To pass the time, men were betting on who would land the killing blow upon each assassin's head. To pass the time even more, men were warbling revolting fantasies on what they were going to do to the women before landing the killing blows.

Revolting laughter erupted around the gate.

"This won't do at all." A voice broke through the twisted cacophony of beasts. "You're all in my way."

A hundred monstrous eyes turned towards the voice.

The man, dressed finely in a suit, tugged his black leather gloves off his hands. His fingers were traced with lines, both faint and dark. They were scarred, every single one. The irises of his eyes pulsed a burning red and a wicked grin swiftly pierced his face. "Move."

A burst of aura pushed the blacklist hunters back, shoving them onto each other. Startling them. The men raised their weapons, some raised them up in fury, others barely held them up with trembling arms.

The man cooed, "Did that frighten you? That was the point."

"Who is this guy? Is he one of them?" One hunter gritted his teeth. "All the Moiraio men are supposed to be dead."

"Surpriiiiiise." The man accentuated.

A stampede of hunters raced towards him, roaring their battle cries.

Silver rings adorned the man's thumbs. Each ring had a single jagged edge. "By the pricking of my thumbs," With one brisk movement, he snapped his fingers, and silver cut into his skin. Rivulets of crimson and threads of blood spilled out from him. Red thread that floated effortlessly all around him. His eyes narrowed and the darkness in his eyes burned. "You know what's coming next."

Upon the walk to her Mom's room, Psyche noticed the rest of the mansion was in a tragic state of disrepair. The maids were carefully repacking most of the luggage since everything in them was tossed like a whirlwind without abandon. Her shadow must have been very busy last night…

A maid was balancing herself on the top of a ladder fishing out a pair of jeans and sweaters from the crystalline chandelier.

Psyche's heart leaped from her chest when the maid lost her balance-and was about to fall. Psyche ran and took hold of the ladder. With the extra support the young girl clawed her fingers into the wood and clung to the ladder for dear life and thankfully didn't plummet. "Thank you, Miss. It's so high up here." The maid whimpered, her shoulders quivering.

"Lady Psyche, we are in the process of repacking the luggage. So far, everything is accounted for." A maid bowed before her. He was the only maid in the household that was a man. Being a Moiraio Maid was a title-a proud title to bear. Anyone could be a Maid regardless of their gender. The man was tall and broad shouldered, as expected of a housekeeper to carry the weight and maintenance of the home, and had a pair of beautiful azure eyes that shone with resolve and deep loyalty. His name was Nulgrave and maybe the only father figure Psyche has ever had in her life. He worked for the family since she was a baby. He protected her, watched over her, and always hosted magical tea parties with her. Despite having outgrown them, she threw the most marvelous tea parties when she was a little girl. Now Psyche throws adult (™) tea parties. Her esteemed guests were no longer stuffed animals and dolls dressed in lace gowns and tophats. Real tea was served instead of imaginary tea. Real petite fours and iced cakes instead of mock plaster replicas. (though a part of her misses seeing Nulgrave in a baby blue bonnet, dressing up was mandatory for her parties. A part of her misses wearing her princess tiara and magenta witch's cape.) But her guests now were her clients who didn't care for tea or cakes. They only had an appetite for blood and vengeance.

"Mimette,'' Nulgrave crossed his arms and his voice boomed, "how do you expect to serve the great Moiraio Family if you cannot fetch a pair of jeans from the ceiling fixtures?"

"Buy new ones?" Mimette cried.

Nulgraved raised an eyebrow, perplexed. "Mimette, you look like a frightened cat stuck in a tree."

"At least cats can get down on their own."

"Can you?"

"Leave me up here to die."

"Mimette….It is highly impractical to leave a maid dangling from the ceiling." Nulgrave sighed and outstretched his arms. "Come back down in reverse slowly. You won't fall."

"Thank you, sir."

"If you are so terrified of heights then why did you volunteer for this task?"

Hey eyes sparkled so bright that Nulgrave had to avert his gaze. "Because the best way to conquer fear is to charge at it headfast with courage and conviction in your heart, sir."

"Did it work?"

Mimette shook her head. "My acrophobia has soared to new heights...as well as ladders."

"Until technology progresses enough where we can live in a world without ladders, you're going to have to learn how to navigate around them. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

As Psyche veered towards her Mom's room, she realized why her shadow created a mess. She passed a door and saw the sharp white lines etched into the wood. Claw marks. Just like the pattern of red handprints in her dream. The reason everything was accounted for, the reason nothing went missing. Her shadow didn't want to slow them down-it put on a show. A diversion. Ever since Eros died, her mom stored away all his belongings-doing all that she could to erase her own son. Everything that was ever his, she had them all locked and hidden from sentimental hands. Her shadow snatched what Psyche wouldn't dare try to find under her Mom's incessant, condescending eyes. She pressed her hand on the gold chain in her pocket. The last relic she possessed of Eros.

Psyche hated her Mom's vanity table. Something about sitting in front of the mirror didn't sit right with her. Maybe it was because she had to look at herself, forced to see what her Mom, Calypsa, saw.

A beautiful and deadly weapon forged by her own mother. Assassin first. Daughter second.

Calypsa came up behind Psyche and gently combed her youngest daughter's hair. "My beautiful girl." She cooed. "You are to be wed today."

The thin line on Psyche's lips turned into a smile.

"Are you happy?"

The smile on Psyche's lips faded away. She thought she would be happier on her wedding day. This is what she wanted, it was her dream come true. Her eyes drifted up towards Calypsa's in the mirror. She looked at her Mom and saw a woman who was both sublime and dangerous. Her dark hair spiraled into wavy curls that fell down her back. Her eyes were regal and jaded and cold. As if they were sculpted from granite stone. Psyche wondered if her eyes would look like her Mom's one day. Whether one horror would set her ablaze with glacial apathy, or if she was already down a frigid and bitter path. Unaware of the growing colder days ahead of her. Slowly becoming numb to the biting frost.

No. She wanted love. She wanted to be loved. She would never lose sight of that.

Psyche nodded. "Very."

Calypsa brushed the comb down Psyche's hair. Psyche felt the tug. "We had an unwelcome visitor last night."

Psyche felt the weight of Eros's chain weigh down in her pocket like an anchor. Did Calypsa already know what her shadow stole? Did Calypsa want her to take out the gold chain from her pocket and confess? Psyche held her hands together in her lap to prevent them from betraying her.

Calypsa leaned down and the world fell silent, all but her voice. "Take it out."

Psyche's heart jerked to a stop. Her mouth agape, feigning confusion. "What?"

"Take it out," Calypsa opened the palm of her hand towards Psyche. Everything in the room darkened, except for her eyes. "Or I will."

Psyche's voice was soft. "Please don't take it."

Calypsa's voice remained stoic. Her palm was still open. "You don't need to make this harder."

A single tear spilled from Psyche's eyes. "That's all I have left of him."

Calypsa quickly opened and closed her hand. Impatience brewing. "Come along."

Another tear spilled when Psyche closed her eyes. With all her strength, she pulled her hand out from her grasp and reached into her pocket. It felt like she was ripping out a part of herself when she handed Eros's chain over to Calypsa. She breathed a sob when it left her hand.

Calypsa took the chain and put it in her own pocket. "Because of this little fiasco of yours, we're going to be late. I already instructed Gravah to inform Gotoh about the our delay-"

"You don't care." Psyche gritted through her teeth.

"How can you say that? Of course I do." Calypsa leaned her arms onto the back of Psyche's chair, sighing. "Your wedding will go off without a hitch."

"I'm not talking about the wedding." Psyche shook her head. "Everything that belonged to Eros you hid away. You left nothing of him here. You practically erased him."

A wicked smile played on Calypsa's lips. "You did more to him than I, my dear. I simply cleaned up your mess."

"I didn't want to kill him. You know what happened."

"We do a lot of things we don't want to do in this profession of ours, but we carry on."

Something snapped inside of Psyche. She slammed her hands onto the vanity table, rattling the perfume bottles. "You erased your own child and you don't even care!" Psyche cried.

Calypsa pushed Psyche down into the chair and pulled her hair back-making her daughter scream. Forcing Psyche to look up into the mirror, meeting her Mom's menacing eyes. Psyche grabbed Calypsa's hands that were digging into her scalp. Tears sprung from her eyes. "I'll waste one more moment with you. But it will be the last we will speak of this. So listen well. Don't think I haven't noticed your shadow slipping out and playing thief during the night. Making fools out of all of us. Slithering about the mansion trying to find what I so carefully hid for good reason. I was kind not to have everything of his burned to ashes. I hoped this issue would solve itself, but I should have known better. I shouldn't have left it to you. That was my mistake. Fortunately, the Zoldycks don't know about this uncontrollable nature of yours. But for how long? Don't let them find out. They didn't sign up for their son to marry a weak girl. And better they don't find out for your own good. You know why you were chosen instead of your sisters? Anomie has her own affliction. My little incinerator is needed here, at home, where I can keep an eye on her. Chaotica...well I needn't explain. She is who she is. But you. Aaaah. My youngest girl. You are perfect in all ways a parent wishes for their children. You listen. You obey." Calypsa yanked harder. Psyche cried out. "You are not weak, Eros was weak. Don't let his failures rub off on you. If I knew what a problem he was going to become I would have ended it all before he could point a gun to my face."

"His biggest failure was missing."

Calypsa grinned, callously. "Yes, it was. Shame his father didn't have the opportunity to teach him how to properly shoot. My gain."

"Did you ever love him at all? How could you just..."

Calypsa clicked her tongue. "Psyche, we don't have time to psychoanalyze each other today. If you want to play that game, I'll have Grava schedule us a date. Sounds good? It really troubles me that you care what other people think. I rarely say this, but you need to be more like Chaotica and not give a damn."

"He wasn't just someone. He was my brother. Your son."

"Since you're making a list, he was also the asshole that tried to put all of us down. Including you. The dead aren't a concern to us. I taught you that lesson well, perhaps you need a refresher."

"No." Psyche rasped.

"Good. You, Psyche, became my favorite when you killed him for me. Don't lose face now. Eros is dead. You are alive. I could have lost two children that night. I'm thankful I didn't. As should you be too."

Psyche held back tears and hissed at her Mom. "I'm not going through with the wedding."

"Ever since you were little, you've always had the habit of saying things you don't mean when you're upset." Calypsa laughed. "But you are because you want this. And you don't have a choice. It's far too late to have any of those anyhow. That aside you'd be a fool to turn down joining the Zoldyck Family. So many would kill for that chance, you would know." Calypsa let go of Psyche and the girl jostled towards the vanity. She stopped herself before she could crash into the mirror. Taking a cloth and wiping away Psyche's tears, Calypsa cooed sweetly. "Come now. You mustn't fret. There will be no tears to shed on your wedding day.``

Psyche didn't look at anyone as she hurried to the car. While she blocked her tear ridden face from their eyes, she happened to miss a few things going on. She didn't see the maids sweeping away piles of ashes in the yard. She didn't notice Anomie when she asked her if she was okay. And she didn't see that there was a man, with a smile on his face and corpses around his feet, standing outside the front gate. Cheerfully waving at them.

Another unwelcome visitor. Maybe they should start burning sage to repel them all.

Cold black bars partially covered his smiling face. Though his smile radiated with kindness, it was just as cold as the metal bars keeping him from entering their home-just as they should be. Bars are meant to cage dangerous beasts, as well as keep out any lurking monsters with shifting eyes trying to pry their way in. What stood before the Moiraio women was a man just like that. A monster with an untamed gleam in his eyes searching for even the smallest of cracks to weasel his way into. He opened his arms wide towards the women, grandly. "Ladies. How long has it been since our companies last joined in a blissful reunion?"

Calypsa tilted her head towards the man, her wide brimmed hat casting a shadow over her face. "Jax Peirce. Not long enough."

"The longer we remain apart, the longer my heart aches. Why torture a man and let me in?"

"Aw Jax, If I were to do that then you wouldn't want to leave. We stopped taking mutts off the streets ages ago. There are surely other establishments that desire your company?" Perhaps a junkyard, she wanted to grumble under her breath. She mustn't start a fight today. But the longer he keeps them from leaving she'll be more than obliged to wage a war with him tomorrow.

"Don't waste your time flattering me. Today, I've come to see the darling girl of the hour. To bid her a long awaited adieu. Where is her-" Jax eyed Psyche in the back seat of the limousine. "There she is, how dare you tuck away a beautiful girl, hiding her. Why, I'd show her off to the world in the light of day. A beauty like that can resurrect tired, ailing hearts back to life-ah, and my heart beats again! Hello Psyche. How are you, my darling?"

"Hello uncle Jax. Fine, thank you. And you?"

"Sweet as peaches, that one. Calypsa, you have been blessed with an angel."

Calypsa sighed, not bothering to hide the aggravation in her voice. "Psyche, what did I tell you? Roll up your window."

"But mom, I-" Psyche's window began rolling up before she could even finish speaking.

"Thank you, Grava." Calypsa said to her head maid who was at the driver's seat. Her hands were gripped over the steering wheel, ready to drive at a moment's notice. Whether it be to the Zoldyck's or over Jax's foot.

"Grava!" Jax exclaimed, joyously. He sauntered from one end of the gate to the other. Restless. Bustling with energy. His eyes bounced between the Moiraio women and the head maid. All eyes locked onto him. Every breath and every move he made. Carefully watching him. "You and I share fine memories we've formed together over the years, haven't we? We are two knots that are too tangled to be taken apart. Won't you smile that wondrous smile for me, just like old times?"

The head maid's scowl could burrow into the man's skull and come out the other side. It took all her strength, and God's grace, not to run him over with the car-no matter how much her employer would congratulate her for it.

Jax winked at the head maid. "Next time."

Chaotica whispered to Anomie. "How are we related to him again?"

Anomie sighed. "You really need to pay more attention. Jax Pierce is daddy's half brother."

"You're grandfather's bastard." Calypsa clarified. Her father in law wasn't the first nor last man in the family who shared his bed with women who weren't his wife. It was a mystery, and a stroke of dumb luck, that the men never perished in the prehistoric era.

Jax overhead them. It was hard not to. His ears always perked up when he heard his name. "The paradoxical rewards of being illegitimate, my dear. All the glory, but none of the riches."

Calysa clicked her tongue. "Jax, as always, your visits here are-"

"A pleasure? A Delight? Whimsically enchanting?"

"Something."

Jax leaned forward, "Something….what?" The corners of his lips curled into a smile. "C'mon, the suspense kills me. Don't leave me hanging." His hands coiled around the black bars, like snakes holding onto their prey.

"How about in a ditch." Chaotica snickered to Anomie to whom she held out her hand for a fist pump. Anomie blinked and tapped Chaotica's fist two times. Chaotica blinked, bewildered.

"Hm, I'll take it as you're so stunned, my presence has left you speechless. No shame in that. It has that effect on people." Jax pointed his gloved hands to the girls. "Chaotica, is she still the feisty one?"

"Go to hell, prick." Chaotica hissed.

Jax arched his head towards the sky and roared a laugh. "You, little miss, are a flaming ball of sunshine that I have gravely missed. Your mouth, not so much."

Calypsa rolled her eyes. "Girls, get in the car. Now."

"What? No welcome? No thank you? No cup of tea for a poor and weary traveler? Oh Calypsa, extend that generous, world renowned hospitality I've heard so much about. Spare some of that tender love and care like you've given my brother. Nursed him to the end of his days. How lucky he was to have you by his side." He paused, eyes drenched with a stone cold glare.

Calypsa folded her hands over her purse. Her eyes locked with Jax's. "Yes, lucky indeed."

"God, I miss that son of a bitch." Jax sucked in one side of his cheek. "I'll alway regret not being there for him in his final days."

"We all live with regrets, but we mustn't stop them from living our lives. Or else we'll make new ones."

Jax clapped his hands together, once. "That is forward thinking and precisely why I'm here."

"That is precisely why we are in a hurry to leave."

"AH YES! The wedding. It seems my invitation was lost in the mail. I never received it." He pouted.

"Oh that's a shame."

"A BIG shame."

"You're never in one place for too long. It probably ended up somewhere." Calysa waved her hand in the air.

"Somewhere in the middle of nowhere," Anomie whispered to herself.

Jax leaned against the gate, "Y'see, I'm only stopping through town for business, so I can't attend the wedding. There's always someone who wants their enemy 6 feet under, lucky me. But what hurts the most is not some lost mail through a shitty postal service, but that I had to hear about the wedding through some nobody. Some absolute nobody I had to kill on the job. Do you know how awkward that is? One minute I'm about to snap this dude's jugular and the next I'm asking him why he knows my niece is getting married before I do. Like, who are you? I didn't even have time to buy a proper wedding present, but I know better than to come empty handed." He stepped on top of a corpse, another bounty hunter that wanted to stake a claim on the assassins' heads, and mocked a bow. "Service with a smile."

A weak hunter groaned beneath his feet, 'help me.'

"Did I hear something?" Darkness loomed around Jax then his gaze turned to his sister in law. "Bit of advice. Make better enemies. These were no fun at all."

The hunter groaned in pain.

"Hush, I am talking." A thread of blood spilled from Jax's hand, and with a flick of his wrist he sliced the hunter's head off. "As I was saying...what was I saying….Ah i remember now. All I have to show for my efforts is this sea of corpses. Look what I have done for you. I've come all this way to see my darling little niece before her big send off and I take care of all these sorry sacks of shit who wanted to rain on your parade. I took care of them, no questions asked, out of the goodness of my heart. And all I ask in return is to see my brother's children that you've, yes you, been keeping away from me. And," He reached into his bag which sent the maids on high alert. Jax's eyes sparkled. "I hand knitted a scarf that I especially made for Psyche. Here is her name. Embroidered in wisteria lavender."

Psyche pressed her face to the window. She always wanted a hand knitted gift. Her name looked so pretty embroidered in wisteria lavender.

"She doesn't want your ugly blood stitched rag." Chaotica retorted.

NO! Psyche thought.

"No one likes a hater, Chaotica." Jax folded the scarf and set it high on a pillar, away from all the blood. "I must be going, but it was great seeing you all again. And congratulations Psyche. I hope you enjoy married life. Speaking from experience, all five of my marriages were the highlights of my life."

"Get out of here." Calypsa growled. Every time he spoke, she felt as if she was on the verge of having an aneurysm.

As the gates opened, the Moiraio Family and Jax Pierce said their goodbyes. In their own ways. The maids never lost sight of him as the limousine drove away. The hand knit scarf was never taken off the pillar, perhaps it was put to better use as a bird's nest. Or someday shown the kindness of being thrown in the trash. Chaotica rolled down her window and gave her uncle the middle finger, to which he returned the charming gesture by smiling and waving as if she blew him a kiss goodbye. Psyche rested her head as she looked out the window and saw her home grow smaller in the distance. She spent twenty-two years of her life in that home. It was unfair of her to call it a house of horrors since her happiest, maybe even her best, memories were there too. It was only a house. Like any normal one. A house with walls, a roof, a garden, with the exception of being the residence to deadly assassins trained since birth to become emotionless weapons fluent in the grim language of silent slaughter and vicious violence.

She will miss the garden.

She sighed, taking in one last look of it all. This would make it the second time she left home for the first time. She closed her eyes and memories rushed towards her. Her and Eros. Suitcases in one hand and hands entwined in the other. Running through the train station with freedom bursting through their lungs. The promise of a new life where no one knew who they were or what atrocities they have done. The future before them was a blank slate filled with possibility and hope. She remembered the look on his face. He was not the monster her family made him out to be. He was...He was so...

Happy.

She was happy too.

She's happy now. She convinced herself she was happy. She had to be. She didn't want to cry anymore because there was still hope for her. Her memories of the past, those twisted with pain and remorse and regret, she left them behind at the front gate. Along with Eros. He was dead. She was alive. And she wanted to live.

Psyche Moiraio. No. That wasn't right anymore.

Psyche Zoldyck. Now and forever more.

Illumi stared down at the picture of his fiance. She was smiling. He couldn't deny that she was beautiful, but he wondered what she was thinking of to look as if she saw a glimpse of something wondrously divine. He wondered if that happiness transcended beyond a single frame shot. And if it did, would Kukoroo mountain make it fade.

He caressed his thumb over the picture.

It's been years since they've last seen each other. How much, or little, did she change? The same could be said about him.

He didn't have much time to ponder. Today was a busy day and many things needed to be attended to, afterall. He had to be ready. Everyone, too.

There was one more thing he couldn't get out of his head.

She owed him a knife.

THANK YOU FOR READING CHAPTER 4! What do you think? :3 I'M SO GLAD I WAS ABLE TO FINALLY FINISH WRITING IT *collapses* It's past midnight but i shall summarize what happened! The past that haunts psyche is the death of her twin brother (Eros) and also that she was responsible for his death bc of *mumbles secrets that are yet to be revealed* :D He was her best friend, so she's mourning and feeling guilty! DOUBLE WHAMMY. There's a fishiness about Eros that i can't wait to divulge in, BUT LATER hahaha. Their mom (Calypsa) was introduced and she's a btch :D Jax was a spontaneous oc who popped out of nowhere, just like his pedigree-and more maids! BC WHY NOT ADD MORE SIDE CHARACTERS-on a more serious note, i'm excited for the next chapter, bc *wedding bells* ;) DJFGJKDFGJDJFGJLKDFGJDFG there were things i felt needed to be established before the wedding XD

PLS REVIEW! AND THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT! NOW, I BE OFF TO MY CHAMBERS FOR I AM SLEEP DEPRIVED. GOODNIGHT! (or good morning or afternoon or highnoon or midnoon or evening or sometime whenever for others) BYE!