Chapter Text
In some ways, Xiao was retired.
That wasn’t to say she was completely retired and done with Fixer work or still working fully as a Fixer, but she certainly worked a Hell of a lot less than she used to. No longer being the Director of a Section, and Section 1 at that, certainly helped matters, but she also simply took less jobs in general.
For various reasons.
She took a deep breath of the fresh air around her, feeling the wind flowing through her hair and rustling the feathers of her wings. She’d recently completed a job in District 16 and was taking a quiet morning flight after finalizing its completion and getting paid to decompress from the battle and general politics. The sky was quiet and serene, the heat of the morning sun beginning to bear its pleasant waves upon her back.
Xiao did love this. The ability of flight, the feeling of it. It was something she’d never known was missing from her life.
The power she’d unlocked in that… strange Library.
An odd phenomenon, that had been. Facing the greatest opponents she’d ever had – what appeared to be an Arbiter and members of the Index followed by a plain man in black and R Corp soldiers – and realizing herself in the throes of battle only to fall regardless.
She didn’t regret it. Not one bit.
… well, maybe striking out at Miris, but that was water under the bridge.
After being released from the confines of their pages, the Liu had been displaced into District 11. It wasn’t the worst District to live in, and it would ensure proper medical care, so Xiao and Lowell had simply found their means into the Nest and moved in.
Lowell was still in charge of a Section of the Liu, of course; he still had his duties there, and Xiao had fought for Miris and Chun’s right to keep their jobs as well to full fruition. Now, Lowell headed Section 1 in her stead with her men, and Mei and Cecil with them.
The best-case scenario, if you asked her.
That was, however, part of the reason Xiao still worked. A singular income would only take them so far, but she absolutely would not be leaving her husband out on the field without her able to leap in to watch his back at any given time. That was not happening; she was not losing him again.
So, she kept working. Simple as that. She had a duty to her former men, anyway, and keeping her skills sharp was vital. Putting this power to use more so.
Naturally, that had come with other developments, but right now, she was just trying to enjoy the quiet serenity.
She was looking forward to getting back home to Lowell and their recently born child, though. This had been her first mission since her birth.
The thought sent butterflies through her stomach – a very foreign feeling.
The mighty dragon took in another long breath. Motherhood was certainly an entirely different beast to tackle than she was used to, but she was determined to do right by her role. By her child. Their child.
Ai would not live the life most children in the City did.
Not over Xiao’s dead body.
She shook it off, releasing a stream of smoke from her nostrils. No need to get worked up, this was a time to unwind.
With a mighty flap of her wings, Xiao soon found herself over the Backstreets. Her eyes couldn’t help but peer down – it was always such a stark contrast entering and leaving the Nest, one especially depressing and sobering. The life Xiao had lived growing up in the Backstreets had not been a kind one, but she’d risen up above that and not let it drag her down to its level.
The Nest wasn’t truly better than the Backstreets, but it would provide a far safer environment for their budding family.
The scent of blood, heavy and thick, hit her nose.
For it to be so stark this high up in the air was concerning and, in spite of herself, Xiao’s head snapped downwards to the source of the smell.
There was a large clearing in the mass of buildings not too far from where she was, covered in blood and P Corp personnel. A few vehicles were leaving by what she could see, but activity was still rampant.
A low rumble left her chest, curiosity and concern burning in her gut. She had no business with whatever that might be, but her Fixer instinct (and perhaps draconic) urged her to at least check it out. Xiao knew better than to ignore instinct.
Her wings tucked in slightly and angled her into a rapid descent to that clearing. She came in hot, hearing the startled yelps of the researchers and scientists crowding the area as she zipped overhead to an open spot.
The Maiden of Iron landed powerfully in the midst of the clearing, refraining from cracking the ground but landing in a way that screamed authority. The heat of the divine ribbon of fire and her presence itself washed over the area, sending many of the Feathers about the place scrambling to complete what they were doing or, ironically, freezing them in place. The grandeur of her horns brought many eyes, the gleam of her armor reflecting in the growing light.
Letting out a breath and folding her wings against her back, Xiao released her E.G.O and shook her head out.
Her coat, a burnt orange color with her insignia emblazoned across her back, fluttered gently in the light breeze, her jian sheathed at her side and her guan dao latched across her back. She tapped her black combat boots against the ground to test the stain of blood and shake out any lingering feelings of being in the air, adjusting her dark brown, collarless leather jacket that she’d gotten embroidered with a golden dragon – collarless and worn over a nice burnt orange shirt.
Being detached from the Liu, she’d needed to procure new garments.
Her sharp, red eyes quickly surveyed the ground that she could see around P Corp’s Feathers.
Odd. This is an unprecedented amount of blood, a near absurd amount of it.
No, not near – it is absurd.
And there’s only one possible explanation for it:
Bloodfiends.
Had an entire war with Bloodfiends occurred just on the other side of District 16 while she was dealing with a whole other issue? Why was something on this scale not brought to her attention?
She couldn’t help but lightly scoff at herself. This is the Backstreets, Xiao, nobody cares to call in someone like you.
What’s truly odd, however, is the fact she hadn’t smelled any blood during her flight over this area to reach her job’s destination. She’d seen the clearing in her peripherals, not paying it much mind, just the day prior, but there’d been no blood.
What was going on here? This did not add up.
“Ah, pardon me,” a voice reached her, one of P Corp’s executives approached her, wearing a white lab coat and one of those garish, black bodysuits with those strange golden lines across them. Her face was bright with a smile that did not reach her clearly irritated black eyes. “But this is a restricted area. I’m afraid even a Color such as yourself is not permitted access, Miss Ochre Temperance. It wouldn’t be too bold of me to ask you to leave, would it?”
Ah yes, the other developments.
When you find yourself back in the City after falling to an Impurity with a new, awe-inspiring power and begin working for yourself, it doesn’t take long for the Hana to notice regardless of how the termination of your last position went.
It had taken exactly a month for Xiao to be named a Color.
“I understand that, Miss…” Xiao left the question hanging.
The executive’s smile tightened, not liking this one bit. You have to treat Colors with respect, however, and Xiao may technically outrank her. “Cesara, Head Manager of P Corp’s Archival Department.”
Archival? What could an archival department want with Bloodfiends?
“Miss Cesara,” she finished, “however, the evidence I see before me tells the tale of a battle with Bloodfiends. I wish to inquire as to why there was no notice of this in any of the important channels.”
Xiao could see her stifle a sigh.
“It’s a simple matter of this not being a big enough deal to bother someone such as yourself with,” was what would have been a convincing reply to someone well below either of them. “The matter has been dealt with, as you can so clearly see, so your, or anyone else of your level’s, involvement was not necessary.”
Somehow, Xiao doubts that. It was true that the matter was cleared, but what had that cost been? Countless lives, no doubt. Sloppy.
Not that Corporations ever cared about lives, just results.
Xiao gave the woman a measured look. Cesara clearly had something to do with it, and she very much did not like her attitude. “Be that as it may, I’d prefer to ascertain that nothing further needs tended to. Are you absolutely certain that all is over?”
Bloodfiends were very persistent, it was nigh impossible to kill some of them. This scale of blood indicated some very powerful Bloodfiends had been present.
Which further begged the question of how they’d even managed to take the Fiends down with the lesser manpower they would have had. There were many details missing in Xiao’s picture.
Cesara’s eyes tightened very briefly in displeasure. “I can assure you your assistance isn’t needed. In fact, it’s--”
A loud yelp cut off whatever rude thing she’d been about to say, and their heads snapped over to the source of the noise.
“M-Miss Cesara, Ma’am!” The bearer of the frightened scream scrambled back from a colorful set Xiao couldn’t make out between everyone. “T-this one’s still breathing!” His voice grew higher in pitch with each word.
Cesara finally dropped her fake smile, a harsh frown marring her lips as her brows knit in disbelief and annoyance. She let put a huff. “Well.” Her tongue clicked, that smile returned with a sense of smug satisfaction.
Xiao did not like that.
“It looks like you’re in luck, Miss Ochre Temperance.” Black eyes glinted. “It seems there is something you can help us with.”
Xiao settled a harsh stare onto her.
“Ma’am? What do you want us to do?” Another employee asked in panic, all of them slowly stepping away from where the Bloodfiend lay.
“Remain calm, everyone!” Cesara called over the crowd, self-assured. “An unconscious Bloodfiend isn’t going to hurt anyone, and the Ochre Temperance herself is going to deal with it for us! Isn’t that so kind of her?”
The dragon’s nostrils flared, smoke leaking from them. This vile snake.
The crowd immediately relaxed, returning to business as usual with various cheers or words of admonishment for those who’d been scared.
She hates Wings.
“Oh, don’t give me that look.” Cesara returned her attention to her, looking very pleased. “You’re the one who wanted to help, and ending the lives of stubborn Bloodfiends who won’t let go is out of our purview. This works out perfectly for us, so thank you.” She dug into one of her pockets. “Just say P Corp owes you a small favor or payment, and we’ll call it a day. Call me to cash it in whenever you need, I’m afraid I’m in no position to be setting any contracts right now.”
The Department Head pulled out a business card and handed it over to her.
“Opportunistic, aren’t you?” Xiao stated lowly, swiping the card from her.
“That’s the name of the game.” She shrugged. “Get to it, I have business to tend to, and we’ve no need of the Lower Kindred.”
Xiao glanced around her to the trucks, where a set of workers were loading a gurney onto one of the trucks. A man laid atop it, clothed extravagantly and covered in blood.
A frown tugged at her lips. She could tell he was ancient even from here. A First Kindred of all things?
“Fine.” The word escaped her lips with no shortage of stubborn irritation.
“Pleasure doing business with you, the Fiends are that way.” Pointing to where the employee had been, Cesara gave a short bow and sauntered off.
What had Xiao just landed herself into.
She sighed. There was no use in reneging on her own words now.
She made her way across the clearing to the indicated point. The employees were quickly clearing out, giving her visual of not one, but three bodies.
Xiao stopped before them, peering down at them with a light frown on her lips.
All three were battered and broken, collapsed on the ground with all notion of being dead, but giving them a very close look, her eyes and ears open, looking and listening for anything…
All three were just barely alive. Dead to rights for all intents and purposes, but still alive for the time being.
The nearest one, dressed in an extravagant but torn red dress, wore the detailed mask of a bird on her face, the drills her hair was pulled into messy and frayed. Collapsed around a pair of massive scissors.
The next, a man dressed as a priest in blue priestly garments and a gray stole. He wore the mask of a demon, miniature ram horns stemming from the top, and he held an iron rod topped with a loop of metal.
The final one, dressed in a massive, ornate purple dress, seemed the most lifeless of the three even if she, too, still drew scarce breath. Perhaps against her own will. A tattered and torn parasol laid open over her, her long, platinum blonde hair splayed out messily around her, and the half-mask carved as a butterfly stained in blood.
As much blood stained the three, there was none leaking from their bodies. As if they hadn’t had any in a very, very long time. There was none to bleed.
Her hand rested on the handle of her jian. By all means, Xiao ought to simply end their misery right now.
“Ah, the tragic fate of La Manchaland’s overseers.” A new voice graced her ears. “The sight of them pulls so heavily at my heart.”
Xiao whipped around, jian flying from its sheath to land its sharp point under the chin of a tall man wearing yet another mask. He was dressed in blue with a tall top hat, his mask as detailed yet of seemingly different make than the rest.
Amused red eyes peered out at her from under it, his hands going up in surrender. “I did not mean to startle you, dear dragon! I merely lament the fate of my kin. Let us not come to blows here, I’m afraid I don’t favor my chances.”
Xiao’s eyes flicked to each side, noticing a distorted effect in the air around them. No one else would be seeing this, then. This Bloodfiend was strong, but not stronger than her.
“Who are you and what do you want?” She asked demandingly.
“My name is Sansón,” he replied amicably, leaning slightly to the side and bowing what little he could with her jian in his face. “I am but a humble storyteller, a weaver of tales. If you wouldn’t mind removing your blade, Miss Temperance, then I would be happy to indulge you with the tale of these tormented souls.”
Xiao’s eyes narrowed, inspecting every inch of him. He wasn’t lying, per say, but she couldn’t parse the extent of his intentions here.
What he said was true, however. Irregardless of his ulterior, Xiao played along and removed her blade.
“Speak, then, but I do not have all day.” She needs to get back home.
“Of course, of course.” Sansón bowed in full. “The tale of La Manchaland is a tragic one, but I will give as quick a synopsis as I can.”
Letting out a soft sigh, Xiao sheathed her blade and motioned him to get on with it.
Might as well, it would fill in the information she’s missing.
“Our tale begins a very long time ago in an ancient castle.” Sansón straightened. “A noble man and his four children lived in this humble abode, cut off from the rest of the world and living in solitude. They did not want trouble, they did not wish to cause trouble.”
Four?
“One day, a knight came knocking on their lonely door, speaking extravagant tales of Fixers and adventure, of justice and truth.” He flourished his hand out, the images he spoke of simply appearing behind him.
Xiao raised a brow higher. Stage props?
There were five figures atop a castle: one tall man with long hair, three women of various heights – two of which fitting the two laid behind her with the third being far shorter with a long, furred garment flowing around her – and another tall man being the third body that laid here. At the front was a woman carrying many weapons.
“The noble man was taken by these tales and the woman who spoke to them, she who called herself the Knight of the White Moon, sparking to life a dream most grand within his hollowed chest. And thus!” Sansón flourished, the castle falling away and being replaced by an amusement park with a massive Ferris Wheel. “La Manchaland was born. The Bloodfiends tore down their old home and rebuilt it anew as a place of joy for all to come and see and partake in this happiness, in this bastion of Bloodfiend and human solidarity where they could live together in peace and harmony as one.”
Bloodfiends and humans… living together, coexisting… such a thing seemed impossible, but perhaps it could be accomplished by some means.
Xiao got the feeling that means was not found.
“The man so loved humans, he wished to spread cheer and joy to them all, to accept their happiness as his own. His children and the children beyond them could accept the happiness of the humans as their own in lieu of blood. To replace the Thirst that plagues our kind.” The storyteller’s tone took a dip from its extravagance. “Our hero and his great squire were able to stave off the Thirst, as were the other three… but those below did not have the strength to see it through.”
He sighed, taking off his hat and laying it over his heart. His props took on a darker tone, the sounds of suffering beginning to emit from them.
“They tried, Miss Xiao, they well and truly tried.” He shook his head, the red through the holes of his mask disappearing briefly. “For a time, it seemed as if it might work. Our Overseers did find joy in the work they did, in the happiness they spread, they could take pride in it even if they did not truly understand their forbearer’s dream. Not understanding why they’d thrown their home away for humans that would never do the same for them.
“But the suffering of the Lower Kindred grew too great. The price into the park was a measly donation of blood to craft the Hemobars which would keep them alive,” a red brick of what looked like pulped crayons appeared, and Sansón motioned to the woman in red. “They contained every nutrient a Bloodfiend could need, supplemented to not require much blood at all to sate them, but they could not diminish the Thirst. These flavorless bricks, first seen as a grand solution to the Thirst that harrows us, became a curse.
“With no end in sight, with their Kindred begging them for release and their own Thirst only growing by the day, our Overseers were forced to take action for the sake of the Family.” Sansón replaced his hat. “None were brave enough to confront the noble man about his failing dream, his suffering Family, bar the squire, but the damage between sisters had lasted far too long, and he would never know of how much suffering he’d brought his Family until it was too late.”
The tale was certainly missing a lot, but it was enough to get the gist of it. It was tragic for certain, but Xiao wasn’t what you’d call a bleeding heart. She’d let him finish, though.
“They turned against the man who’d given him everything, the addiction that drives us too much to bear any longer. Sending him off on a fool’s errand, they turned on the very guests that trusted them so.” Sansón looked at the three Bloodfiends splayed behind her. “It killed them to rebel against him so, but the Family came first. After so long of being placed under humans, to accept the happiness of humans at the cost of their own suffering, it was never going to last.
“Countless died, and he was furious upon his return. La Manchaland was sealed away from the world for two-hundred years of complete starvation.” A ball of flesh overtook the amusement park, taking it right out of sight. “They begged their forbearer to release them from the eternal torment he’d forced them into, staking him to force his hand with every blow staking their own hearts, but he would not give. Not a word they spoke in their desperation, and love for him could get him to release them, for his love for humans outweighed his love for them. Until, one day, the park reopened, and we find ourselves here.”
The props disappeared entirely.
The frown Xiao had been wearing through the story only deepened. There was a lot of information missing, especially there at the end, but he’d also gone on longer than he’d said he would.
“It’s a heartbreaking story to be certain, but nothing out of the ordinary for the City.” Xiao spoke slowly, glancing back at the three. She couldn’t imagine what she’d do in that situation, but it didn’t much change this one. “What do you intend me to do with this?”
She had her own duties to tend to. The tragic life of a Family where not a single one could truly be pointed at for the blame was not something she could so simply let stop her.
“They truly tried, Miss Xiao, they gave it their all, they simply could not overcome our curse, and it festered until the camel broke its back.” Sansón tilted his head to the side, finger tapping the brim of his hat. “It truly is a miracle they still draw breath, all three at that, and it is fate which has brought you here.”
Her eyes narrowed. What is he getting at here?
His hands went back up in surrender. “Their fates are entirely in your hands, iron dragon. They are deserving of a second chance, are they not?”
Xiao let out a long, slow breath mingled with wisps of smoke. “Be that as it may, so many are yet so many do not receive it,” she herself had gotten a second chance that perhaps she didn’t deserve, “I do not know what it is you expect me to do with three Bloodfiends.”
She ought to end their misery, for what miserable lives they had lived.
Sansón shrugged. “That is up to you, I trust you will figure it out one way or another. I will take my leave now, I hope my words lay rightly on your heart.”
He bowed and disappeared, the distorted air around them disappearing with him.
It was suddenly brighter out, most of P Corp gone from the area with the rest on their way.
Xiao nearly startled and bit back a curse. That bastard.
Gritting her teeth, she whipped back around to the three Bloodfiends who ought to be dead. May as well be dead.
Her hand rested back on her jian. She should simply be done with it.
…
Xiao is not a bleeding heart.
Lowell is.
Something tugged at her heart as she stared down at them, debating her choices that should have been so simple, and it felt…
As if something, be it alive or dead, the vestiges of the man who’d caused this, his body long carted away in the trucks to P Corp’s labs to do who knows what to him… was begging her to take care of them.
Whatever was going on with him, there was nothing she could do about it. She didn’t know if he was alive or not even if she sensed him crying out to her for his Children. Wings took precedence over Colors, it was out of her hands.
But his Kindred had just been placed there instead.