Work Text:
Sylus had been unreachable for days. Everyone in Onychinus had been radio silent. No one could get through to anyone in the N109 zone. It was effectively cut off from the rest of the world. Not even Sylus’ lovers could get into the zone. Xavier and Rafayel had both nearly gotten caught when they tried sneaking into the Nest. Emcee’s texts and calls remained unanswered. Zayne was no longer bothered by Mephisto, and Caleb had been using Fleet resources to figure out what was going on in the N109 zone.
“Are you sure?” Emcee pressed Xavier as Zayne stitched up a gunshot wound. “You didn’t find Sylus?” She paced anxiously. As far as she knew Sylus couldn’t die, but she didn’t know for sure. What if he was dead somewhere? Her heart raced, her mind spiraling. Sylus was a man that radiated confidence and power. He had tons of enemies that wanted him dead.
“If you keep pacing, you’ll run yourself into the ground,” Zayne told her. “Sit down, and you,” he turned back to Xavier, “don’t push yourself to the point you’re too exhausted to help.” He finished the last stitch and sighed softly. “We all are worried about him.”
“I’ll go see how Rafayel is doing,” Emcee murmured quietly, leaving Zayne’s office.
Rafayel had locked himself in his art studio since his last attempt to break into the N109 zone, stuck in a loop of dreams and painting what he saw. It wasn’t uncommon for him to dream. Though, prophetic dreams were more along the lines of Zayne’s domain. However, Rafayel had soul bonds with his partners. They were connected, and sometimes that connection manifested through dreams. He was horrified by what he found himself painting.
The artist didn’t hear Emcee come into the studio. “Raf? Are you o—” Emcee fell silent, eyes wide as she took in all the frantic drawings and sketches strewn around. Some were just quick sketches and others were high quality canvas. Each of them depicted Sylus covered in blood, standing over faceless bodies. “What…what is this?”
Rafayel had bags under his eyes, the pink and blue dulled. “Hey, Cutie…” He set down his paintbrush, hiding his last canvas behind his back. Unshed tears welled in his eyes. Overwhelming rage made his blood boil, everything in him screaming at him to rush into the N109 zone. “I’ve…been hit with inspiration.”
“Rafayel, what’s this?” Emcee repeated, trying to make sense of the art.
“I’ve been having dreams,” Rafayel admitted, sighing heavily. His shoulders hunched as if he was carrying a burden too heavy for him that he still carried. “I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t forget them if I went back to sleep.”
Emcee swallowed thickly, slowly walking towards him. “Raf…” She cupped his cheek, wiping away a stray tear.
“Something happened to Sylus,” Rafayel leaned into her, burying his head in the crook of her neck. “He’s doing things he’d never do.” With him leaned forward, Emcee could see the canvas he was working on. Those faceless bodies were no longer faceless. She gasped as hot tears wet her neck.
Caleb knew what a powerhouse Sylus was. His evol was one of the strongest he’s seen, yet Caleb knew he could get the upper hand with perfectly timed moments. Emcee had called him in a panic, her voice shaky and breathless. He could see the horror on her face. She didn’t even need to finish asking him to get into the N109 zone before he was moving.
Against Zayne’s orders, Xavier was with him. Caleb broke through the N109 zone borders, his gravity crushing anyone in his path. Breaking through helped Xavier rush forward to find Sylus. Rafayel couldn’t give an exact location with his art, but he had narrowed it down to the Onychinus base itself or Phillip’s shop.
“Please, Ginevra,” Xavier pleaded with Elysium’s bouncer. “I need to talk to Aislinn. I have to find Sylus.”
“Don’t say his name,” Ginevra snapped, opening the door. “Come in, but you two better lay low. Things have been wrong lately. People are dropping like flies.” The bouncer let Xavier and Caleb into the bar. Aislinn was serving behind the bar, making drinks and flirting. Her eyes found Xavier and Caleb and she paused.
“Aislinn,” Xavier greeted. “Caleb, meet Aislinn. Aislinn, this is Caleb. We’re here for information on—”
“I know why you’re here,” Aislinn sighed, throwing her towel over her shoulder. “Come with me. It’s too open in here.” She brought them to her office in the back. “I don’t know what happened, but Sylus has gone off the deep end. He used to let the N109 zone run on it’s own with him controlling the chaos. But now? He’s turned this place into a militarized zone.” She sighed. “I’ve only stayed afloat because the bar is a good enough front for whoever is pulling the strings.”
Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Whoever is pulling the strings?”
Aislinn nodded, rubbing her temples. “Sylus is a man of his word. He’s only ever killed those who crossed him. He’d never hurt any innocents. He actively makes sure the children living here have a good chance of survival.” She sadly smiled. “He’d never force this place into strict rules. He knows the zone thrives on chaos. Something happened to him. I should’ve known something was wrong when Sherman was acting like he’d won.”
“Where can we find him?” Xavier asked. “We’ll stop him.”
Aislinn bitterly laughed, “You can try. Word is he’s stuck in his base. The crow could tell you.”
“Crow?” Xavier didn’t even finish before Mephisto cawed, landing on his shoulder, happily nudging him and flapping his wings. Sylus had put a fail safe into the mechanical crow that if Sylus got compromised for any reason, Mephisto’s connection to Sylus’ systems would be automatically severed.
“Mephisto,” Caleb smiled, petting the crow’s head. “Hey buddy.” Mephisto cawed loudly, flying above them. “Thank you, Aislinn.” The woman gave a tired smile in return and watched the two men leave with the crow.
Sylus’ base was eerily quiet and dark. There was a cold aura, no life to be found. There wasn’t the chaos if the twins trying to mess with them the moment they stepped foot in the manor. Scooter’s gremlin energy was nonexistent. Sylus’ collection of ancient relics and weapons were gone, replaced by cold technology, EVER’s logo faded on the sides. Caleb immediately grabbed his gun, cocking it. Mephisto cawed, landing on one of his beams.
Xavier brandished his sword, dodging a blast from Sylus’ evol. The white haired man stalked down the hall, his red eyes haunted and dark. His aethercore was glowing so brightly it illuminated his face and part of the hallway. His black shirt had the sleeves rolled up, a white bandage on his right arm.
Caleb shot at Sylus to distract him from Xavier. “Aim for his arm,” he told Xavier, countering Sylus’ evol with his own. He grit his teeth, pushing back against Sylus. He broke off, firing a few bullets Sylus easily caught and deflected toward Xavier.
Xavier flashed to the other side of the hallway, slashing Sylus. The wound stitched together, his shirt tattered. He could see scars Sylus didn’t have before. Caleb tried to force Sylus against the wall with his evol. Sylus lashed out with his own evol, his energy roaring to life. Xavier lunged at Sylus, stabbing his arm through the bandage.
“Damn it,” Xavier grunted, Sylus throwing him against the wall, his sword stuck in his arm. Sylus ripped it out of his arm, blood splattering. He grit his teeth. A tear fell from his eye. He staggered, dropping the sword.
Caleb slammed Sylus onto the floor, the force cracking the floor. Sylus felt his bones grinding and slowly being crushed. He growled animalistically, his evol flickering and pushing back against the gravity. “I will create black hole, so help me,” Caleb snarled, the gravity getting heavier and heavier. “Snap out of it.”
Xavier panted, leaning against the wall. He should’ve listened to Zayne. He grabbed his sword, noticing a small chip on the tip of it. “What is this?” he asked, looking at it crackling.
“If I’m right, it’s a toring chip,” Caleb bristled. “It’s supposed to be implanted in the head.” Sylus had stopped struggling, but he was still growling. Caleb could tell the dragon was trying to come out. “Sherman used to be part of EVER, but he was fired after he failed to start up a lab in the N109 zone.”
“And Aislinn mentioned him,” Xavier murmured. “You knew then, didn’t you?”
“I had my suspicions,” Caleb sighed. “Sylus? Do you remember us?”
Sylus growled, his voice breaking. “‘course I do, puppy,” he hissed. His voice was hoarse. Caleb released the gravity, and Sylus sat up, his draconic features on full display. His eyes remained haunted and pained. “I remember everything,” he whispered. His claws dug into his palms. His eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.
“Sylus?” Xavier stepped forward, wincing. He’d definitely hurt a few ribs. “What’s wrong?”
Sylus ran down the hall, heart pounding. “No, no, no, nonononono.” He pushed a door open. “Come on, please. Don’t…don’t be dead.” He rushed down to his home gym. Off the gym, he had a room where he’d extract information from his enemies. The door burst open and his heart fell. “No, no, please.”
“Sylus, what—” Xavier froze.
Luke and Kieran were motionless on the floor, laying in pools of their own blood. Scooter was curled against the far wall, her scales cracked and caking. Sylus crashed to his knees, blood rushing in his hears. He did this. He remembered hurting them because the chip made him. A small coo made him look up. Squeegee was much smaller and his light had faded, but the little sea spirit was hovering over Scooter.
“We need to get them to a hospital,” Caleb snapped, taking charge. “Xavier, call Zayne. Let him know we’ll be there soon with the twins and Scooter. Sylus,” he snapped his fingers in the man’s face. “Pull yourself together enough to get us to Akso.”
“I did this…” Sylus whispered, hauntingly.
“It was the chip,” Caleb said coldly, checking for pulses. He found faint ones, barely there but enough to be alive, for now. “Snap out of it and help me get them to safety. We might be able to save them.” It was a long shot, but it gave Sylus the hope he needed to get them to Akso.
Sylus sat in the waiting room for hours. He’d finally healed his arm, his mind trapped in memories he couldn’t control. He clenched his jaw, screams of pain echoing in his mind. He ignored the looks from other patients and nurses nearby.
“Dad, please, what are you doing?”
“Boss…why?”
“STOP PLEASE!”
“Sylus?” He looked up, tiredly looking at Emcee and Rafayel. “Are you—”
“Don’t,” Sylus murmured quietly. “I’m not okay. I almost killed my kids. I let someone beneath me control me. I’ve killed so many people that didn’t deserve it.”
“They’re awake,” Rafayel cut Sylus off. “Do you want to see them?”
Sylus hated how scared they looked. He stood in the doorway of their hospital room, and Kieran ducked his head. Luke glared at him like he didn’t know him. Scooter curled in on herself. He’d done this. They were terrified of him. No words needed to be spoken. How could he apologize? Even if they knew it was a toring chip, nothing could erase those memories of their father figure trying to kill them.
Sylus never ran from conflict. He liked to face things head on. But today he ran. He left the hospital, hands shaking. He could hardly breathe. His children were scared of him. His lovers pitied him. The voices of those villager and priests calling him a monsters filled his head. He was a monster, a fiend. Philos didn’t want him. Emcee had chosen him. His lovers chose him. Even his kids chose him, and he’d betrayed them.
A fiend would never have a home. He didn’t deserve it. A fiend was always a fiend, no matter how much humanity you put on one.
Sylus left Linkon. He disappeared entirely.
A fiend was always a fiend, no matter what.
Their dragon was gone.