Work Text:
Landon is woken up by the sound of footsteps approaching. He opens his eyes, seeing a girl standing over him. She's wearing a long blue dress with a coat over it. Her auburn hair is half up with a flower pin. Then there's two men, brothers, if he had to guess, standing behind her. And look like they're currently thinking about killing him. “Are you okay?”
His gaze is brought back to the girl, who's now smiling at him. Landon shifts, biting back a wince at the pain in his back from lying on the hard ground. “I'm fine.”
He swallows thickly, looking away from the girl to look at her companions once again. “Don't worry about my uncles. They're a little bit overprotective. I know you're… fine but I just wanted to offer you a room at my family's estate.”
“Thanks. But, uh, I’m only passing through the Capital City on my way to my brother's place.” Technically, not a lie. And he generally doesn't blindly trust strangers. Even the ones that seem nice. “I’ll be out of here by tomorrow.”
“Then why don't you spend the night at the estate? But I understand if you don't wish to accept my offer.” She squares her shoulders.
“Wait,” he calls out to her just as she turns around, “it’s better than sleeping outside, I guess.”
He knows there's a good chance that he'll come to regret his decision later. But he follows her into the back of the limo anyway. And calling her estate a house would be a massive understatement. It's more like a castle. “One of the staff will take you to your room. Dinner should be in an hour.”
“Thank you for all of this.”
“It's really no problem.”
When dinner rolls around, the only people at the table are the girl and two people he can only assume are her parents. The man at the head of the table, her father, keeps giving him pointed looks. Her mother clears her throat. “So… what brings you to the Capital City?”
“My older brother lives in a nearby village. I used to live in District Twelve but had to leave.” Because it had been burned down by bandits but he leaves that part unsaid. Her parents exchange a look as if they don't need to be told. “I just need a place to stay until my train tomorrow.”
“Of course.” Her mother gives her husband a pointed look.
“Thank you for the food. I should probably get some rest.”
“Me too.” They both get up from the table, leaving the dining room.
“Your parents seem nice.” Even though her father spent most of the night glaring at him.
“Yes. But Caroline isn't actually my mother. She's my stepmother. It's an honest mistake. People make it all the time.”
“What about your real mom?”
“She lives nearby.” Is all she says. “What about your family? Is your brother the only family you have?”
“I never knew either of my parents. So yeah.”
“I'm sorry to hear that. But maybe things are going to get better for you soon?” She touches his arm. He looks down to where her hand rests on his upper arm. Then she quickly pulls away. “I’m sorry.”
“It's okay-” he trails off, realizing that he never caught her name.
“Hope.”
“Landon.” He stupidly puts his hand out. To her credit, she reaches out to shake his hand. “I should really be getting to bed.”
“Me too.” He drops her hand first, making his way to her room before he does something else stupid.
Landon wakes up the next morning, and eats breakfast with Hope and her family. Then a driver takes him to the train station. Once he gets out of the car, he sees three wanted posters up on the outside of the building. “Wanted for being a member of the Seven Devils?”
He narrows his eyes but shakes it off. Then he walks into the train station, boarding his train to his brother’s village. There's not very many people on the train, or back at the train station for that matter. Everyone on the train is dressed in casual clothing that's probably seen better days. He doesn't look much better than them, self-admittedly.
Once the train comes to a stop, he gets off the train to find Clarke waiting for him. “There you are. Were they feeding you back there? You're looking a little skinny.”
“I haven't even been here a full minute, and you've already managed to insult me.” Landon purses his lips. Clarke scoffs, clapping him on his back. “I saw a few wanted posters back in the Capital City. Who are the Seven Devils?”
“Oh, they're this little band of assassins. Each one of them appears to be armed with a magic artifact.” Clarke whispers, as if he's afraid that someone will hear. Landon has only heard about magic artifacts in the books he was allowed access to. Legends say that a wizard created a load of them using his own life force. And all of them were reportedly scattered across the Sluca Dynasty by his followers. But some people argue over whether the events even happened at all. “Only three of these Seven Devils have been identified. They mostly hunt at night so I wouldn't advise going out past sundown.”
“Do you go out at night?”
“Well, I work at night so I don't exactly have much choice in the matter.” Clarke shrugs his shoulders. Landon rolls his eyes. “Now, let's get you something to eat. You must be starving after that long train ride.”
Clarke takes him to a tavern called The Gentle Oak to get some food. “I hope you didn't have too much trouble in the Capital City.”
“No. I was staying with this family until the next train to your village. I don't think I got their names, though. The daughter said her name was Hope.”
“Really? Auburn hair, azure eyes, short but built like a goddess? And if I'm right, and you happen to run into her again, don't tell her that's how I described her.”
“I mean, I couldn't really tell how she was built in what she was wearing but that sounds like her. How do you know her?”
“I work for her father. Well, his company, at least. His daughter and I are acquaintances, at best. I’m surprised that neither her dad nor her uncles killed you for daring to get close to her.” Clarke says.
“I mean, we barely interacted.”
“You don't know her family.”
After leaving The Gentle Oak, Clarke takes him back to his house. It's nicer he had expected it to. Sure, it's nothing compared to Hope’s family's estate but it's far better than any of the homes from his district. But there's little to no personal touches. Save for the swords on the wall in the entry hall and the cat figurines in the living area. “Don't touch the swords.”
“Come on. I still remember all the lessons you used to give me. I might have snuck in some extra training when the elders weren't looking.”
“Yeah. I still don't want you anywhere near these things. You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get these babes. Now, come on, I'll show you to your room.” Clarke claps him on the back before leading him up the stairs.
Several weeks go by of him living with Clarke. The older man’s usually gone at night for work. And doesn't return until early hours of the morning. One night, Landon gets up to use the bathroom, walking out of his room just as his brother disappears into his own room. But that's not what catches his attention. It's the blood on his pant leg. Landon follows after him, finding Clarke just as he's about to drop his pants. “Have you never heard of knocking?”
“You're bleeding.”
“I was bleeding. I cut myself up pretty bad at work. A couple of my coworkers patched me up. So don't you worry your not-so-pretty little head about it.” Clarke grins at him.
Landon scoffs, and ultimately his need to use the bathroom stops him from questioning Clarke any further. After a few more days pass, Landon convinces himself that it was probably nothing. Clarke has never lied to him before. Why would he start now? Then several days later, as they're cleaning up after dinner, there's a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.”
Clarke gets up from the table, walking out of the room into the entry hall. Landon can see him open the door from where he's standing at the sink. “What are you doing here?”
He can't see who he's talking to but judging by his tone, Clarke isn't happy to see whoever it is. Landon looks back down at the sink, and when he looks back up, Clarke has his back to the now closed door. “You can't be here right now. You need to get out. We’ll continue this conversation later.”
He reaches out to touch the mystery visitor but a hand smacks his away. Clarke scoffs. Then he hears footsteps approaching as Clarke rushes out of the entry hall, past their visitor. And Hope walks into the kitchen. “Hope?”
She stops in her tracks, eyes widening. And blinks at him rapidly. She's not wearing the nice dresses he’d seen her wearing the last time they met but is instead dressed in a black leather jacket, pink shirt, black leather tights, and pink leather boots. Her hair is shorter than it had been when they first met. “Landon? What are you doing here?”
Clarke appears behind her, saying something in her ear that Landon can't hear. “Uh, Clarke's the brother I told you about. And I could really ask you the same question.”
“It’s work related. You don't mind if I steal him away for a few hours, do you?”
“Uh, no.” He looks between the two of them. Hope grabs Clarke's arm, pulling him away, down the hallway but they don't leave the house. Landon watches them as they retreat before returning to the dishes. Just as he finishes, and is debating whether or not he should check on them, Hope and Clarke come around the corner.
“We’re heading out. Don't leave the house. Don't let anyone in. And make sure all the entrances are locked.” Clarke grabs him by his shoulders before walking out of the house with Hope.
More than a few hours pass, and there's no sign of Hope or Clarke. Clarke is more than capable of handling himself. And Hope is probably the most muscular rich person he’s ever met. Not that he's seen very many rich people in his life.
Then he hears the sound of glass breaking from downstairs. He makes his way downstairs to find that one of the windows has been broken. Some invisible force throws him across the room. He lands on the floor, rolling over onto his back. And sees someone standing over him while dressed in the armor of a member of the armed forces. But their face is covered with a mask. They raise their hands, the palms of their gloves glowing bright red.
Landon rolls out of the way, the blast from the gloves hitting the wall behind him instead. He gets to his feet as the armored man turns around to face him. He doesn't dodge the next blast. He's knocked into the entry hall. Fortunately, he’s been knocked out of the sight of the armored man. Unfortunately, he feels as if he's just a wagon dropped on top of him. He struggles to pull himself up. As the armored man slowly approaches him.
Then he sees the swords still up on the wall. Clarke told him not to touch them but he wouldn't mind if he used one in this moment when he's being literally attacked. He grabs the sword in the middle randomly, unsheathing it and turning towards the archway. The armored man reaches him. And Landon charges at him, slashing at their armor. For a few seconds, nothing happens. Then fire spreads throughout their armor, and they fall to the floor.
But he doesn't have time to think about that before he feels like a ton of weights have been dropped on top of him. He can hear his own heartbeat. And his blood rushing in his ears. He drops the sword, the sound of it clattering on the floor only adding to his pain. Then every remaining window in the house shatters at once. And more members of the armed forces jump in through the windows. The nearest one speaks first. “Where's Ryan Clarke?”
“I don't know.” Not that he’d tell them if he did. Then the furthest one away goes to reach for the sword lying at his feet. But Landon gets to it first.
“Put the sword down.”
“No.”
They reach their hand out, but a silver wire shoots through the window, wrapping around the man’s body. The wire digs into their skin, slicing them up into several pieces resembling a pile of raw steaks. The wire disappears back out the window.
“Seven Devils.” The woman that had initially spoken to him whispers, something akin to fear taking over her facial features. And seemingly right on time, someone else flies through the window, landing in front of him. All he can see is a long auburn ponytail and the back of a pink-purple cloak blowing in the wind let in by the broken windows. Then they charge forward, slicing at the soldiers standing before them. All while gliding across the floor. In seemingly the blink of an eye, the soldiers have been shredded. While the wire had left its victim looking like something similar to a pile of raw steaks, this sword had left its victims looking like piles of raw shredded meat.
They turn around to reveal themselves as… “Hope? You're working with the Seven Devils?”
“Yes. But I don't have time to explain it right now. We need to go.” She appears in front of him at an impossible speed, grabbing his arm and jumping out the window with him. He looks up at the sky to see five people standing on a wire arranged in a criss cross pattern floating high above them.
Clarke comes running over to them, also having changed his clothes. And is now wearing a suit with a sword sheathed at his side. “What the hell? You touched one of my swords?”
Clarke steps closer to him, looking down at the sword Landon had almost forgotten he was even holding. “I'm fine, by the way. I just got attacked by a bunch of members of the armed forces who broke into your house.”
“You touched Hellreaver?” Clarke hisses, completely ignoring him. “You didn't use it, did you?”
“Yeah.”
Clarke swears. “Are you crazy? I told you not to touch my swords.”
“We don't have time for this.” Hope interjects. “We need to get going.”
Hope grabs his arm again, lifting off the ground with him. Clarke leaps after them. Just as their feet graze the wire, they teleport away. In the blink of an eye, they're somewhere else. He’d thought that Clarke's house had been big but this… this was almost as big as Hope’s family's estate. “Landon.”
His heart is pounding again. He drops the sword to the floor, joining it moments later. "Landon? Landon?”
Landon wakes up on his back. He's lying on a bed. The softest bed he’s ever laid on. “Who the hell keeps magic artifacts hanging on the wall right next to their front door?”
“I had one magic artifact on the wall. The other two were just normal swords. And you didn't notice it when you were there.”
“Because I didn't think that you would be that stupid. You wouldn't keep Winterthorn on the wall. Why would you do that with Hellreaver? When did you even find Hellreaver? Did you take it out of the closet?”
“Of course not. I don't want to meet death at your mother's hands for theft. I found it at the same time as I found Winterthorn. Of course, I only bonded with Winterthorn. No one ever bonded with Hellreaver so your mom let me take it home. And I don't exactly have very many guests. I didn't think my brother would directly disobey me.”
Against his own wishes, Landon shifts, grunting softly. And this brings Hope and Clarke's argument to an end. He opens his eyes, finding Hope sitting in a chair by the foot of his bed. Clarke is standing on the other side of the bed.
Hope turns in her chair, swallowing thickly. “I'm sorry. We didn't realize you were awake. How, um, how are you feeling?”
“And how much did you hear?”
“Ryan.” Hope reaches out to hit him on his leg.
“I heard enough to know that that sword, Hellreaver, is a magic artifact. And I feel fine other than the fact that-”
“You feel like a wagon just got dropped on top of you?” Hope finishes for him. “That's pretty consistent for someone who's just bonded with a magic artifact. Though, I'm guessing that you also got hurt in the fight, too. That's probably made you feel worse.” Hope says, gesturing at him. It's only then that he realizes he's not wearing a shirt, and most of his torso has been bandaged.
“When were you going to tell me that you were a part of the Seven Devils?”
Clarke stammers for several moments, looking anywhere but at Landon. “Uh, well, never. But it's kind of one of the rules that comes with being a member of the Seven Devils. You can't tell anyone. Even your own family. But now that you’ve bonded with a magic artifact… you're now a member of the Seven Devils. At least, once you’ve healed up. We needed someone to fill the seventh spot for a while now.”
“What happened to the old one?”
Hope looks away from him for the first time since she's realized he's awake. Clarke scratches the back of his neck. “It's not important.”