Chapter Text
The air was thick with the scent of old leather and wood polish in the Heathen's mansion, a place where they spent more time than they probably should. They had gathered for a rare moment of downtime—no mafia business, no violence, just a quiet afternoon to clean and let off some steam.
"Yo Niko, you missed a spot," Killian called out, his voice thick with amusement as flicked a rag at his cousin, who was dusting a shelf with no motivation.
"Yeah, yeah, Satan's heir, I'm not blind," Nikolai muttered but continued wiping down the wooden surface.
Dimitri perched on the banister with his legs dangling down and watched them all lazily. "How is it that we're doing chores on our day off? This is ridiculous."
"You heard what the girls said—'Keep the house clean,'" Jeremy grumbled, bending over to pick a stray of trash from the floor. "'Even if that means scrubbing every corner of this place.'"
Vaughn, who was currently rearranging a set of books on a nearby shelf, grunted. "How the hell did the house even get this messy?"
"Ask Niko and Dima, they thought it was a good idea to throw a huge orgy party, while the girls were away for a camping trip." Gareth responded.
"Hey, don't just blame it on us. You guys were there too," Nikola said and then he noticed something. "What the hell is that?" he points toward the far side of the room where an ornate hourglass stood on a shelf, its glass strangely glowing with a faint, ethereal light.
Everyone froze, eyes locked on the hourglass, its glow intensifying as if beckoning them.
"What the hell?" Gaz asked, his brows furrowing in confusion.
"That.. wasn't there before," Vaughn murmured, his usual calm broken by the strange, pulsating glow.
"Let's just leave it alone," Killian said, his usual indifference replaced by an eerie sense of unease. "We don't know what the hell that thing is."
But it was too late. Dimitri—ever the curious one—reached out and turned the hourglass, just as the last grain of sand slipped through the glass. A low hum filled the room, a sound like the very air was bending around them. The floor beneath their feet seemed to ripple, a wave of energy surging out from the hourglass.
Before anyone could react, the glow intensified, enveloping them in a bright, blinding light.
And then, the world seemed to twist, swallowing them into the hourglass.