Chapter Twenty-Four: By Heart

He didn't quite know what was going on, but Yan's terrified expression had made something in his blood freeze and he was sure that she had seen something that they hadn't.

If she was serious, though, all of them would die, and he didn't want that to happen—he did care about Fabio and Lillian to some extent, and Arceus forbid his death because there were still more than three weeks until he was supposed to die.

It took a few moments of staring at Azumarill's cold Pokeball in his hand to register what was actually going on, and the panicked voices of his partners were now audible through the cold fog that seemed to hang over his ears.

"What's going on?" Lillian glowered at him, an icy expression forming on her face. "Yan ran out all of a sudden after saying some strange things—did anything happen?"

"I'm not sure, but we have to run now." It wasn't the most convincing sentence he could come up with, but the pink-haired girl's words had shook him just the tiniest bit and he found himself tripping between sentences as he spoke. "I don't care whether it's stupid or not; we can come back some other day."

Noticing the two stock-still figures beside him, he grunted in annoyance, releasing his brother's Heliolisk from her Pokeball and commanding her to escort the two out.

He wanted to run—hell, it wasn't just because of Yveltal's words to him or whatever role he was supposed to play in this twisted nightmare, but he wanted to stay alive and that surprised him; this was the second time, after all, that he was witnessing death in the face.

Some part of him pondered the reason why he was so comfortable when his death had been announced straight to his face. Perhaps it was because he didn't want to die in a situation that he had no control over; perhaps it was because he didn't want a meaningless death.

He didn't really know, and in the same way, he couldn't find himself caring about any of that.

"I'll need an explanation for this later," Lillian warned, but she didn't protest against the Electric-type pushing her and Fabio forward and he was grateful for that.

Avis answered with a hurried nod. He didn't know why he was so on edge by Yan's expression and her terrified voice, but he supposed that he was far too used to her peace-loving self and kindness that his brain couldn't adjust to this new aspect of her personality.

Behind them, just as they stumbled out of the Arceus-forsaken building, a mighty bellow sounded in his ears , and he felt the ground trying to trip them up at every step they took.

He regretted his curiosity as soon as he glanced back for just a moment, when he saw a cloud of billowing orange that stopped just centimetres away from him and felt searing heat threaten to melt away the cloak around his shoulders.

Almost forgetting to let out a breath, he tensed as he realised that he was the only one stupid enough to stand where the explosion's flames could reach him; that the earth's rumbling was so much more prominent here and that it could devour him any second.

The ground bested him in the end, a violent rumble making him stumble and a second tremor causing him to lurch forward with the grace of a wild Hariyama.

"Psychic." Somewhere at the back of his mind, he knew that he had Fabio's reflex to thank for this—he would have been dead if not for the older boy's Pokemon. "Drag Aiden out of there, Mismagius."

He let himself exhale as he felt the creature lift him up in an invisible embrace, pushing him away from the chaos and dropping him several metres away, and he opened his mouth in thanks when he felt his feet touch the ground again.

"It's not because you're a friend," the boy interrupted, the cold glint in his eyes not betraying the truth in his words. "I did it because you contracted me to work for you. Letting your employer die is simply part of breaking the contract."

He shrunk back a little at that. A small twinge of sadness had invaded his heart—Fabio had always been icy at heart, but he'd forgotten about how he would act towards others that weren't Avis.

Lillian aimed a careful glance at the teenager, golden eyes steely and having a businesslike look that could rival Fabio's, and it was an expression that he wasn't used to at all. "I suppose that I have to apologise for the interference," she started. "We'll have to—"

The taller male shook his head at that. "I'm the one who should apologise," he interrupted, features darkening in a way that made Avis take a step back. "Since continuing this mission would destroy nothing but my reputation, I would have to rebuke your contract and stop working. Don't worry, though; I'm willing to go unpaid for this."

He gave them a hard stare, green eyes flitting over them in such a casual manner that it was impossible to tell if he was shooting them a casual gaze or scrutinising them—but it was clear that he was waiting for an answer, and the black-haired girl amongst them gazed as the ground as she tried to think of an answer.

"Of course, if you had any alternatives, I would consider them," the teenager hissed. It was more than obvious that he was annoyed at the prospect of losing his money, but his voice had a sort of strained patience to it and Avis admired that.

The purple-haired boy stole a glance at Lillian, curious to see how she would respond, and it took a few long moments for the teenager to raise her head once again.

"Don't think that I'll trust you for a second," she uttered. "A mercenary like you could leak information about us as long as you profit from it."

Fabio pretended to consider her point for the most fleeting of moments. "That's true," he answered. "Assuring you that I won't do anything won't work on someone like you. Besides, it's not like either of you are someone I'm particularly close to, so why wouldn't I?"

That struck a nerve. Even if he didn't bother with most people, the blonde in front of them was different—they were close enough to be considered friends, and he appreciated that the older boy cared enough to think the same.

He wasn't Avis now, though. He had to keep that in mind.

"You're right," Lillian stated, causing him to raise his head and stare at her. "Which is why I'm proposing to triple your payment if you continue working with us. It's not an offer you get everyday."

At that, his bored expression hardened into something that seemed more like he was pondering her proposal. The knight—not that he considered himself one at all, he was more of a regular person wearing clothing too suffocating for him—had seen that expression many times; when he'd share yet another of his contracts with him and explain his decision to him in full detail.

"Interesting," he said slowly. "Keep in mind, though, that you are offering me a job that could tarnish my reputation for good, so I'd like to raise that price to five times the original."

To any other sane individual, the price was too high. All of them knew that.

But Fabio had a way of getting what he wanted, and it was a manipulative talent that Avis had seen put to use before. It was, in all, honesty, a form of refined art that he used too often and that he depended on far too much.

"Four times," Lillian declared, flashing a determined glance at the man. "I know what you mean, but five times is too much."

"Are you sure?" His voice was coy now, in the low, smooth way that the knight remembered it to be when he was in a tight spot, and he cradled a Pokeball in his right hand. "You're not in much of a spot to bargain. I have all this information right in my hand, you know."

"I—" The girl's tone had taken on a desperate tinge; though, it was still one that was well-controlled, but she shook her head and stared at him. "Fine. I'll pay you five times the amount in exchange for working with us and not leaking information."

A smirk slid across the blonde's face. "Good," he replied. "Then we've come to a consensus. There's not much time before the police comes, so I'll get us out of here before it's too late."

§

Avis awoke to a rather forceful knocking on his door.

It felt like some kind of cruel deja vu, but he pushed it aside, slipping out of bed and trying his best to wipe his bleary expression out of his face before facing the visitor.

"Oh. You're here." Fabio looked down on him with a listless expression on his face, and he shoved a note into the boy's hands. "Lillian told me to deliver it to you. I'll be going to investigate the Hoenn base, so we won't meet for a while."

Without waiting for a response, the mercenary turned around and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking away and disappearing into the morning crowd within moments.

"Thanks," he muttered to the disappearing figure, and he straightened the crumpled piece of paper he'd been handed, skimming over the text as quickly as he could and closing the door behind him.

Apparently, one of the guards woke up and managed to escape. He was too dazed to see much, but he saw what I looked like. Everyone's gossiping about it now, and I fear that this will affect our reputation. I'm going out to talk with some of the clients, so meet me at the market's apple shop whenever you're ready.

Discard of this right after you read it.

"Hmph." He crushed the note into a ball, nodding at his brother's Heliolisk to destroy the parchment and glaring at the door's closed frame as if it had wronged him. "It's not like I care about what she's doing in the first place. I'm just doing this just to have some time to myself."

He pulled Aiden's cloak around him with some sort of renewed vigour and sheathed his sword, pushing the wooden frame open once again and greeting the cold morning air.

§

It didn't take long for him to get to where Lillian had ordered him.

The town square was crowded as usual, full of people hoping to get whatever meagre items they could get their hands on and others testing their luck. It wasn't a place he liked, with all the crowds that seemed to freeze him in place perpetually, but he tolerated it.

He realised then that his knight's cloak was a symbol of status, and that it was making him stand out too much—so he tore it off with an air of restrained anger and shoved it into the satchel he was carrying without paying any more mind to the garment.

Avis made his way to the apple store with little interference. He knew the rules of being forgotten and blending in like the back of his hand, after all; it was too easy to keep his head down and eyes lost in thought.

When he found the apple stall, marked by rows and rows of ruby-hued fruit that seemed to bright for the dreary morning, he spotted a familiar-looking girl engaging in low argument with the vendor.

As he got closer, he noticed that the teenager was indeed Lillian, with a ragged hood sewn over her head and most of her raven hair out of sight, and that she was angry for some reason.

"But don't you support our cause?" She hissed the sentence out as if it pained her, turning just the slightest bit to bid the other customers an apologetic smile. "We'll be even more careful from now on. I promise that what happened was a freak accident."

The burly man shook his head. "You're pretty well-known here now—in a bad way," he argued. "Look, it may not have been you, and I may believe in your cause, but I have a business to run and a family to feed. Please stop causing trouble here for me and the customers."

She contemplated that for a few seconds before shooting him the most forced smile she could muster, handing over a handful of coins and raising her voice just the slightest bit. "A bag of apples."

He broke into a relieved sigh as the conversation ended, pushing her purchase over the counter and returning the strained expression. "Thanks for your purchase, miss."

"You came," Lillian noted, and she raised an eyebrow at her observation. "I don't think you've had breakfast yet. Do you want one?""

"Well—" He hesitated before taking a fresh apple from her bag, biting into it and relishing the sweet taste it left in his mouth. "Thank you for that, then."

She merely scoffed in response, adjusting her hood over her head and looking up at him. "By the way, I didn't come here to engage in small talk with you. I was trying to convince our clients not to give up on what we're doing."

"Don't you think you're coming off as a little forceful, though?" Avis blinked, taking another bite of his food and glancing at her in confusion. "I mean, you seemed pretty aggressive towards that vendor we saw just now."

The shorter girl ignored him with a huff, turning away and sinking her teeth into her own apple. "None of them agree to continue working with us," she muttered. "They're like second pairs of eyes, and it would be a big loss. Thankfully, I have a lead from yesterday."

"What is it?" He wasn't interested in what she was doing, but he felt a pressing need to keep the conversation going.

Lillian stared ahead of her as she spoke. "It was important," she explained. "Though, it's a very general clue. I've found the rough direction in which the most recent attack came from."

§

woo sorry I haven't updated in forever :// school started,, and I was sad and unmotivated before that LOL

I know that as the author, I should ship Lillian and Avis now but I lowkey ship Fabio with Avis rip my fujoshi heart ;;

who do you guys ship as of now? ahaha I just wanna know

but ehhh honestly I bs-ed my way through this chapter so LOL

Thank you guys so much for 1.3k reads and 175 votes!! :0 You have no idea how much this means to me <3

As always, votes, comments and critiques are very appreciated °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°