Chapter Text
Broken Fates
—When nothing else feels right, just trust your heart.
Chapter 1: The Fateful Encounter
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The blaring of music thumped inside your brain as you lazily moved your hips up and down the beat. The paralyzing smell of alcohol and cheap perfume dulled your vision. The faint glow from the strobe light hypnotized you as you were drawn into a state of blissful ecstasy.
You didn't quite remember how you ended up here. Everything felt blurry yet natural. Nothing else mattered.
A familiar face popped up from between the sea of bodies as you steadily marched to the bar. He brushed back his flaming red mane, smirking at you. His green eyes shining under the faint light. "I see you're enjoying yourself."
"Axel," you called, trying to focus your blurring vision. "I think I should go home."
"The night is still young," he mused, raising a brow at you. "Sure you don't wanna stay a bit longer?"
"I'll probably pass out if I stay any more minute now."
"Want me to take you home?" he asked, sounding worried. You were a bit drunk after all. "Let you go by yourself last time and you ended passed out on top of the slide at the park. If Roxas didn't see you back then dunno what's gonna happen."
"Nah, I can go by myself," you tried to convince him. That wouldn't happen again.
"Fine. Give me a call if something came up." He smiled and waved a hand, walking back to the dance floor. "See you tomorrow, partner."
You gave him a nod before sliding out of the room, freeing yourself from the wild surrounding.
The September night breeze felt colder to your bare arms as you stumbled on your steps. The nauseous feeling started to build up the further you walked, forcing you to slow down your movements. You halted and supported your weight on the walls as you felt the sudden urge to throw up. You thought about calling Axel to take you home.
You slowly resumed walking, ignoring the thumping in your head. The sooner you get home the better. You couldn't give up.
Feeling your knees getting weak, you decided that it was probably best to take a shortcut. The alleys by the old church south of town was quiet and dark, but going through there would save you the time and energy. You eagerly walked faster as you fantasized about your warm bed at home.
Never did you knew that it was the biggest mistake you had ever made.
The rain from earlier that day had left everything wet and puddled. You silently walked through the dark road, with only the sound of your footsteps echoing through the thin air. You saw the silhouette of the church, standing lone with only the dim streetlights illuminating the old building, creating an eerie atmosphere.
You felt shivers down your spine as you quietly walked pass it. You weren't sure if it was your drunk mind playing tricks on you or if you actually saw shadows moving in the corner of your eyes. You didn't dare look as you quickened your pace.
You turned down the dark alleyways by the side of the church. It was just as eerie and quiet that you wouldn't be surprised if something jumped out from the dark to your face.
You saw the path coming to an end and you had to go through a smaller path to the right. Just when you were going to turn you heard a noise coming from behind the corner. Your breath hitched and you instinctively pushed yourself against the wall to hide from whatever it was there. When nothing else was heard, you braved yourself to take a look.
Your eyes went wide as you saw a man strangled unconscious by another man in a cloak. The mysterious person had his face hidden under his hood, but you could feel a strong murderous intent coming from him. He was most likely powerful as he managed to raise the strangled person up in the air with just a single hand. The unconscious man--presumably dead--hung limp against the wall. You could see blood dripping from around his lower abdomen.
Your knees suddenly felt weak and you felt nauseous. You wanted to scream and run, but your body just wouldn't let you. You were too shocked and scared to do anything.
Your whimpers made him notice you and he shot you a cold glare. You froze. Your whole body was shaking from fear when he let go of his victim and started walking toward your direction. You let out a shriek when he grabbed your arm when you were trying to run away. He pinned you to the wall and strangled your neck.
He raised his head a little. Despite the situation his voice was calm, "How long have you been there?"
You shook your head, even though you knew it didn't answer his question. You couldn't think straight anymore and just muttered hopelessly, "Please don't kill me..."
He didn't respond and kept staring at you. Due to the low light and tears welling in your eyes, you couldn't make up his face. It was still half hidden under his hood. Was it your fate to be killed by a person whose face you didn't even know?
You weren't given a chance to do anything as you felt a cold sting behind your neck before everything went black.
***
Your eyes shot open. You adjusted your vision and examined your surrounding. You were tied to a chair in the middle of a small and dark room with your mouth shut with a tape. You looked around in panic before feeling a cold object pressed on to your neck.
You shivered as you heard a whisper from behind you, "Try something and I'll kill you."
You shook your head and shut your eyes in fear. Apparently the murderer had caught you. You cursed yourself. If only you took Axel's offer to walk you home... If only you weren't stupid enough to walk through that so called shortcut... Then none of this would've happened.
The man took the blade off your neck and walked in front of you. You noticed that he was not wearing his cloak anymore and you could see his face clearly. A tall figure with sky coloured hair hung to the middle of his back. His eyes were a stunning shade of gold. A prominent cross shaped scar was left on the top half of his face, making you wonder how he ended up with it. You cursed yourself again for thinking about how handsome he was.
He looked down at you, face twisted in anger and disgust. "What did you see?"
You tried to speak, but due to your mouth being shut it came out as a whimper instead. He sighed and harshly pulled the tape off your mouth. The pain was enough to make you scream.
"Silence!" he shouted. You looked up at him with tears in your eyes. "Tell me. What did you see?"
"N-Nothing..."
He grabbed the collar of your shirt and pulled you to his face, the chair making a screeching noise against the wooden floor as it was dragged forward. "What did you see?" he repeated.
You sobbed as you said, "I'm sorry! I-I saw you strangle him to death... that was all! I was just passing by..."
He threw you back to the ground. You shrieked as the chair that binded you nearly lost its balance. He growled under his breath and shot you another glare. "Give me a reason not to kill you."
"I'm very sorry!" you plead, not having the courage to look him in the eye. "I-I won't tell a soul! I swear! Please... just let me go!"
He stepped forward and pressed his blade once again against your neck. He tilted his head. "How can I trust that?"
"I'll do anything!" you shouted. It was the best thing to say if you wanted to bargain with him. At least then you would have a chance to escape.
"Anything?"
"Anything!"
"Hmph." He released the blade from your neck. "Interesting offer. I suppose I can make use of you rather than killing you."
You gritted your teeth. Whatever it was he was thinking it must not have been good. You took the courage to ask, "Who are you? Why did you kill that person?"
"I'm an assassin," he said, his voice void of emotions. "This is the first time I've ever been caught in the act."
You gasped in horror. An assassin? You thought they only existed in movies. Was he joking? Had he lost his mind and made up everything to cover up his murder?
"Listen, woman," he said again, narrowing his gaze on you. "I'm going to let you go, but with a condition--"
"W-Wait!" You shook your head. You must've turned mad to be asking questions at him. "You're an assassin? So, did someone hire you to... kill... that person?"
"That is none of your business," he spat, looking angrily at you. "All you need to know is that from now on you'll be my asset. An informant. Refuge. You must be ready for anything I need when I'm doing my missions."
"What...?" You looked at him in disbelief. Did he just ask you to be his assistant? Helping him murder people for money? "But, that's--"
"You've said it yourself," he said again. "Or you'd rather die instead?"
You weakly shook your head. "No..."
"Then just do what I said." He repeated, "Be in my assistance. I'll let you live."
You lowered your head and gritted your teeth. Was there really nothing else you could do? Did you really have to help someone you barely know of murder people? Was it your fate?
You sighed and looked up at him. You needed to calm down for now. Maybe then you'd find a way out of this.
You tried to look as convincing as possible. "Fine. I'll play along with your game."
"Good," he said, his face as expressionless as ever. "But if you even try to run away," he paused, taking something from a drawer behind him and dangled it on his hand, "I'll find you."
You gulped and felt a sweat roll down your face. It was your purse. He probably looked into it and found your ID or something. You started questioning your chance to get away from him.
By the moment you noticed him move you felt a cold sting behind your neck as everything turned black once again.
To be continued...