The new set of clothes was fresh and free from a single drop of blood, but Lucinda wasn't sure if she was relieved to be wearing them. The black coat was a trench coat rather than a simple jacket, and the shirt was more of a pale blue than yellow. Even her pants were darker. Anyone could tell that she had a change of clothes. If she went back to the office like this, the Investigation Squad would definitely ask what happened.

She put her gloves on and hummed. No matter, this has happened before. She just needed to make up an excuse as to why she used her ability. Perhaps once they found who took Bascongada, she could say that she had to fight them. Which unfortunately meant she would have to finish this case by today.

She grabbed her phone from her pocket and flipped it open. Twp PM. Three more hours before she had to go back to the HQ. Three hours to solve this case. It wasn't impossible, but it was certainly difficult. For now, she shook her head and turned to her right.

Greyson sat next to her, his back against the empty warehouse's walls. She had washed the blood from his hair, returning it back to its original black and white colors. Fortunately, he had two of the same jackets, so she could just say she managed to keep him safe. That was one less thing to worry about.

She propped one knee up and rested her arm there. "Chuchu."

His ears flopped down as he pushed his knees closer to his chest, and his fingers fiddled with his jacket's loose strands. "M- Mima?"

"Did you open your eyes?"

There was a pause. He reached to place a hand over his nose and shook his head. Not even a second later, he removed it and nodded.

"Did you see anything?"

Another pause, then another nod. "There was a lot of blood and... and you killed someone."

Her chest became heavier, and she wasn't sure if she should chuckle or scoff. Well played, Nyx. Well played.

"I'm sorry," he said, making her turn to him again. "I promised I wouldn't look, but there was a lot of noise. And- and someone grabbed me, and then I opened my eyes, and I saw you..." His eyes widened. In an instant, he buried his face in his knees. "I- I'm sorry."

A sigh left her lips. She wanted to grab him. To pull him in for a hug while she brushed his hair and tell him that everything was going to be alright. But with the way he was shaking, the way his fingers kept gripping his jacket's sleeves while he shook his head, almost as if he was wiping a memory from his mind, he might be more agitated if she would suddenly grab him.

She was expecting something like this would happen the moment she let him know she was an assassin. That one of these days, he would have to see the truth he didn't like and see her kill someone. And whether she liked it or not, he would hate her for it.

But she didn't think that it would be so soon.

She brushed her bangs out of her face and rested her back against the wall. As soon as she closed her eyes, she started humming. There was a song he always loved listening to, and one she always loved to sing to him. And when he was younger, it would always send him to sleep. Back then, she would sing the full song until he drifted off. And sometimes, he would sing alongside her. But now, she had forgotten most of the words and could only hum.

Her ears perked up when she heard him humming alongside her. He scooted closer, and soon she felt him resting his head on her lap. Her fingers brushed his hair and scratched his head. When she opened her eyes, she expected him to be asleep. But instead, he was facing her stomach, fingers tugging on her coat's belt.

"These are my rules, Saffirus; we're currently playing by them."

Her ears twitched at the thought. Whatever her rules were, they were probably the stupidest rules Lucinda had to abide by.

The sound of footsteps made her lift her head. In front of her, Lucia and Poseidon entered the warehouse. Poseidon, fortunately, was currently in a call. One that would hopefully take a while. She wasn't sure if she could take her handler's lectures and beratings right now.

Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same for her sister.

Lucia's steps were slow, almost mocking, and she crossed her arms as she got closer. She scanned Lucinda from head to toe, then doing the same to Greyson, before meeting her gaze again. Her brown eyes were dull, devoid of light, but they weren't dark enough to look black. With the light hitting them, they almost looked gold.

And yet, her gaze was mocking nonetheless.

"You look great," Lucia said as she raised her head even more. "Too bad I can't say the same for Chuchu."

Lucinda placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're both alright," she replied, making sure her voice was still neutral. "Thank you for the concern."

"Bullshit." Lucia scoffed. "Nyx told you to hide and what did you do?"

"And do you really expect her to not find me? I've explained to you my reason. Did you forget about that already?"

"You could have tried. If not for yourself, then for Chuchu!"

Beneath her hold, Greyson flinched. Lucinda removed her hand from her face before her nails could accidentally scratch his skin. "Everything that I've been doing has been for him. And try not to raise your voice; you'll scare him."

"For him?" A bitter chuckle left her lips. "I've told you once, I've told you twice, I've told you thrice—I've told you several times. Our. Jobs. Are. Dangerous. It's not something someone like him should be exposed to. You shouldn't have told him about this; it would have been better if he was blissfully unaware."

Lucinda hummed as she looked at Greyson again. "Were you blissful when you found out mother and father died and hid their jobs from us?"

Lucia's lips curled into a frown. "For the eldest, you sure have a childish look on everything."

"Stop arguing, both of you."

Lucinda felt a cold chill travel down her spine as she lifted her head. Poseidon's phone call was done, and she was walking towards them. Unlike Lucia, though, she didn't take her time. Before Lucinda knew it, she was standing next to Lucia, shooting her a stern glare.

"Let me handle this," Poseidon said, shifting the glare to Lucinda. "Your sister's right, but what's done is done.Thre's no arguing on what if's. They're all pointless now. What we can do is make sure nothing else happens further. This means we may not have a choice but for Lucinda and Greyson Saffirus to—"

"I'll have to stop you there."

Lucinda scooped Greyson up before she stood up. He rested his head on her shoulders, but it still didn't seem like he was sleeping. She placed a hand on his hair and brushed it before facing the two with her.

"Nyx told me to meet her somewhere," she continued. "Her hide and seek was done the moment she found me."

Lucia scoffed. "And whose fault was that?"

Poseidon shot her a glare, but she ignored her. "What did she tell you?"

"To meet her in the abandoned church near Fort Antagone," Lucinda replied. "I only have five days to make a decision."

"Lucinda, I may not have seen what happened, but I can see the aftermath. You're in no state to deal with her. In fact, you look worse."

She gritted her teeth and looked away. She didn't need another person reminding her of how much she degraded. She didn't need a reminder that her ability wasn't as strong as it used to be, or that using her wielding for her job was making her weaker. It was starting to get annoying.

"And you think running away would be a solution?" she asked. "It's not as simple as that, Sidon."

"Whatever you're thinking isn't as simple, either. I can send someone else to go after Nyx. You're in no state to do so."

Lucinda sighed. At the corner of her eyes, she could see Greyson giving her a confused look, then turned to Poseidon, before looking at her again. She pressed a kiss on his forehead and brushed his hair before facing the two again.

"Do you even know what to do once you'll face Nyx?" She took a step forward until she was close to Poseidon. "Do you even know what she's capable of? How are you sure that it's Lucinda and Greyson Saffirus standing in front of you right now? What makes you sure that none of us are illusions she created?"

Lucia scoffed. "Ate Luc—"

"What makes you think you're in the correct place, even?" She took more steps until Lucia and Poseidon were behind her. "This entire room could be an illusion. There could be Underworld members hiding and ready to kill you both right now."

"We'll be able to handle it," Poseidon replied. "I'll send as many people as I need to."

"And if you can't? She can hide herself. Even if you send an army against her, she'll be able to win against you."

She wanted to say that silence passed between them. But with how much her heart was beating in her chest, she wasn't sure if she could hear them even if they were whispering. Her grip on Greyson tightened, and she had to place him down to make sure she wouldn't accidentally hurt him.

She wasn't scared. Nyx didn't frighten her. That woman could throw anything, and Lucinda wouldn't be afraid.

Instead, her blood was boiling.

"I don't know why, but if she's targeted me twice, then she wants me specifically. And Nyx is an Underworld Fury. If she kills whoever you sent her way, she'll do something worse that we may not be able to handle."

Poseidon placed her hands on her temples, rubbing them with a sigh. "I'm afraid we already are. We've managed to capture the ones you knocked out and clean up the one you killed, but that unfortunately trapped us in a... predicament."

"What kind of predicament?"

Poseidon placed a hand on her cheek. "The people there have hand markings on their faces. You most likely didn't see them because Nyx was hiding them. But in the Underworld, lower-ranking members there have marks on their body as a sign that Zeus has control over them as long as she knows where they are. And if she knows that Nyx brought those people along with her, then she already knows about you."

"Excellent. This is all the more reason why I should play Nyx's game."

"It's always a game with you, isn't it?" Lucia scoffed. "'Play games' this, 'I'm going to win it' that. Even people's emotions are a game to you. You're offered an easy solution, and you deliberately choose the hard path just so you can get a kick out of it."

"People have their reasons, Lulu. I have mine."

"And it seems like you do." Poseidon cupped her chin and hummed, green eyes scanning Lucinda from head to toe. Her eyes gleamed, and her lips curled into a slight smile. "Are you sure that's the reason why you don't want to take the easy path out? Or are you still thinking that you two will get back together, and you don't want him to think that you're dead?"

Lucinda froze in her tracks as a cold chill traveled down her spine. She held her breath, and it felt like her heart stopped beating in her chest. Was this Poseidon's way of making her back out? Thinking that to prove her wrong, she would choose the easy way out?

Regardless of the reason, she turned around and showed them both a smile. "I can assure you, Sidon. I'm not expecting anything like that. In fact, it never even crossed my mind. Now if you need me, Chuchu and I still have a case we need to solve."

She grabbed Greyson's hand and led him out of the warehouse. How long was she there? Fifteen minutes? Twenty? Her body was heavier with every step, and she wanted to close her eyes and sleep until all of her problems would just disappear and never bother her again.

Next to her, Greyson was quiet. Neither of them said anything as they continued investigating the abandoned section of Sagip River.

►•••✫✦🦋✦✫•••◀︎

As soon as the elevator doors dinged, Lucinda sighed in relief and smiled. Though Greyson still walked slowly, he smiled as well once they were on the office's floor. And before she even realized it, she was already opening the door to the Investigation Squad's office.

It was empty, save for Viktor who was still by his desk. Embers lied down on his table, smoke leaving her nostrils with each soft snore. Viktor, on the other hand, was unsurprisingly looking at his reflection in the mirror while reapplying the light makeup on his face.

A chuckle left her lips as she stepped inside. "Don't you think it's a little too late for a retouch?"

Viktor jumped on his seat and lifted his head. As soon as his eyes met hers, a sigh left his lips, and he slumped back on his chair. "Ate Lucinda. P- Please, don't scare me like that. Did you change your clothes?"

Lucinda nodded. "I'm just here to report about the case."

"Of course." He cleared his throat and sat taller. "Go ahead, please."

"Unfortunately, we still haven't managed to find Angelica Bascongada. We didn't even find any trace that could connect to her."

"Does the change of clothes have something to do with this?"

"I thought I saw someone who could be connected to her disappearance, and I had to use my ability to capture them. There wasn't a need to worry about that—it was just someone loitering in the area."

"And you had to change clothes for it?"

"I had to use more blood than I needed, and it created a mess afterwards." She held her wrist and slid her hand down her arms. "My ability has been strange these days. I was told when I was young that it would naturally get weaker as I get older. Being anemic and having an ability that relies on my blood isn't a good mix, after all."

Viktor held his hands together, covering his lips. His red eyes met hers, and there was a slight tilt in his head as he scanned her. It was subtle, but he squinted. She couldn't see it, but she could tell that he was frowning. All of that disappeared, however, when he blinked and nodded.

"I see, then," he said. "Thank you for taking over the case for me. I'll go back to working on it tomorrow. I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Of course, Sir Viktor."

Greyson nodded as well. "Goodbye."

Lucinda picked up Greyson and showed her superior. She casted one last glance at him before turning around and leaving the office.

And even if her back faced him, she could tell that he was giving her the same look again. 

Word count: 2564
Total: 24025

Hi I'm in the ONC grind of suffering today ahahahaha nyooming go brr