The adrenaline was fading, leaving g shaky and leaning heavily against Fin. The throbbing in her face had subsided to a dull, insistent ache after his weird green light trick, but she still felt fragile, battered. Her nose definitely felt... wrong.
"My phone," she mumbled, rembering it flying from her grasp earlier. "Did you see...?"
He nodded curtly, retrieving it from a pocket where he must have scooped it up. The screen was cracked, but miraculously, it still lit up when he pressed the power button. Notifications flooded the screen. News alerts, missed calls from worried Guild contacts (probably Mara), and then... the big one.
Blazing across the screen from multiple sources.
ASSOCIATION ALERT – PRIORITY OGA – Hunter Fin Carver – Rogue – Extre Threat – Lethal Force Authorized...
He went utterly still, the swirling darkness in his eyes freezing over, becoming chips of obsidian ice. His thumb scrolled rapidly, absorbing the key points. Murderer. Thief. Catastrophic risk. Harboring constitutes treason.
Seriously? The thought slamd into him, cold and sharp. They weren’t even trying to be subtle. Just burn him to the ground. Okay. So that’s how they want to play. This was bad. Really, really bad. Every Hunter, every Guild... he was public enemy number one.
"Fin?" g asked, noticing the sudden tension radiating from him, the way his jaw clenched. "What is it? What’s wrong?"
He instantly smoothed his expression, forcing the icy rage down, locking it away behind a neutral mask. He handed the phone back to her. "Nothing," he lied, the word tasting like ash. "Just... Guild spam. You know how they are."
She looked at him skeptically, clearly not buying it, but too exhausted and sore to press the issue right now. She shoved the phone into her pocket, swaying slightly on her feet.
He steadied her, his gaze flicking past her to where Scarlet was slowly, painfully, pushing herself upright against the ruined wall. She t his eyes, a strange mix of wariness, pain, and sothing that might have been grudging respect flashing across her face.
She looked like hell, clothes torn and bloodstained, but alive, thanks to him. An unwelco complication.
"So," Scarlet said, her voice still raspy but regaining so of its strength. She tested her weight on her wounded legs, wincing slightly. "What now, Boss? Are we forming a little ’Most Wanted’ gang?" A faint, cheeky grin touched her lips.
Boss? Gang? Was she serious? He ignored the titles. "You’re free," he stated flatly. "You helped g. We’re even. Go." He didn’t want her around. Didn’t trust her. Didn’t like her.
She tilted her head, considering him. "Hmm. Tempting offer. But you know," she gestured vaguely towards the directions of their earlier fight, "sothing tells my old boss might be slightly annoyed. And you," her gaze sharpened, "are infinitely more interesting." She shrugged, a casual movent despite her injuries. "Besides, where else am I gonna go? Think I’ll stick with you for a bit. See what happens."
He stared at her. Great. Just great. Stuck with a cheerful, probably unstable assassin ex-slave who knew way too much. But g was right here. And he couldn’t exactly leave Scarlet bleeding out after healing her, could he?
’Damn it. Fine. Whatever. One more problem to manage.’
He sighed internally, turning his attention back to the only person who mattered. "g, are you feeling alright? Can you walk?" He gently touched her cheek, carefully avoiding the bruised and swollen areas. The skin felt cool now, the bleeding stopped entirely. His healing was efficient, if nothing else.
She nodded weakly. "Yeah. Just... tired. And sore."
"Okay." He scanned the deserted area. Staying here was suicide. Association reinforcents would be coming, maybe even Guild Hunters responding to the alert soon. They needed to disappear. Completely.
His domain. It was the only option.
He focused inward, pulling on the power of the Mark, visualizing the destination. Reality warped before him, not with the aggressive swirling darkness of his rage, but with a smoother, quieter distortion.
An oval portal shimred into existence on the pavent, bathing the grimy surroundings in a soft, internal light. It looked... less terrifying than before. Still deeply unnatural, but maybe less ’instant death dinsion’.
Both girls jumped back instinctively, eyes wide with shock and fear.
"Whoa!" g breathed, stumbling slightly. "What is that?"
Scarlet stared, her earlier cheekiness gone, replaced by wide-eyed disbelief. "Are you... Are you a dungeon boss? Or like, a King?" she asked, half-joking, half-genuinely bewildered. "What are you?"
Even g looked scared now, hesitating at the edge of the shimring gate, glancing between it and Fin with wide, uncertain eyes.
"It’s okay, g," he said, his voice softer, gentler than it had been all day. He held out his hand. "It’s safe. It’s mine. Nothing in there can hurt you."
She looked at his outstretched hand, then into his eyes – still dark, still holding terrifying power, but the gaze fixed on her held only reassurance. She rembered him holding her, the feeling of safety even amidst the chaos.
After a few seconds of tense hesitation, the trust won out. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, taking his hand. Together, they approached the gate.
Scarlet watched them, still frozen, her expression a complex mix of fear, fascination, and indecision. An assassin who dealt with dangerous beings, who’d served a powerful master... and yet, this self-generated portal, this casual display of reality-bending power from the boy she’d been sent to hunt... it was sothing else entirely.
"Well?" He prompted, glancing back at her impatiently as he guided g towards the threshold. "Are you coming or staying? Because once we go through, this closes."
She chewed her lip, glancing back towards the access road, then at the portal, then at Fin’s impassive face. Stay here and face Association cleanup crews? Or step into the unknown with the terrifyingly powerful anomaly who just saved her life who killed her before?
Options weren’t great.
With a resigned sigh and a muttered curse under her breath, she limped forward quickly. "Alright, alright, don’t leave behind!"
’So its true, he is a king, only kings can own domains. I might have found sothing big here.’
She jumped through the portal just as Fin and g stepped fully inside. The shimring gate snapped shut behind them instantly, leaving the deserted area empty once more.
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