\CHAPTER WARNING; THERE ARE MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE AND ATTEMPTED RAPE HAPPENS. IF THIS TRIGGERS YOU, PLEASE DON'T READ. I CAN GIVE YOU A RUN DOWN ON THE CHAPTER IF NEED BE.\

Two Months Later

Zen didn't like Nicator. He didn't hide his distaste and he never planned on it. He was creepy, and he didn't like the vibe he got off of him. His gut told him something was up with him and his gut was hardly ever wrong. But he hated his voice above all of that. He didn't even know why. It sounded normal, he had heard the tone and accent on plenty of other people. Maybe it was just him being biased. His hate certainly wasn't biased though. He couldn't tell you how many times he saw him talking to a soldier that looked so uncomfortable. He intervened every time, making up some excuse that a high ranking soldier needed them or something along the lines. Nicator realized after the second or third time that Zen was lying, that he was purposely intervening. Whenever he glared at him he glared right back. He was already worrying about the Courts and Medicus. He didn't need to be working about some dark elf who wouldn't take no for an answer.

Nicator voiced his displeasure for Zen's presence every time he was in one of the meetings. Malum used to try and explain that they needed him like he was some child, but even Malum had his limits and he just stopped giving his complaints an answer. Zen felt great pleasure whenever Nicator got that crossed look on his face. He thought it was hilarious. His eyes would narrow and his eyebrows would knit together, and he would slouch in his chair as he'd realize no one was listening. It was one of the few pleasures Zen got while he was working as if the end of the world was coming. If he wasn't in a mission, he was in a meeting. If he wasn't in a meeting, he'd be training. And if he wasn't training, he would be drawing or sleeping. His days were busy and they went by in a blur. Before he even knew it, a month had gone by. He hadn't had time to celebrate Chinese New Year. It was disappointing, but he missed it for three hundred years. He could miss it for another so that he could celebrate it in peace next time.

He was working a lot. It was the only way he could distract himself. He was gathering as much information as he could. He started keeping a small leather bound journal when he realized he was forgetting stuff. He kept it hidden in a floorboard in his room, which he had loosened himself. The only journal he kept 'public' was his drawing one, and even then that one never left his room. The days were blurring together and his hair was growing longer, and he found himself having to throw it up in a low ponytail just to keep it from fluttering in his face. Honestly, it was annoying. He really should just take the time to cut it, but he wasn't looking to take the time to find a recruit who could cut in a straight line, and he knew from second-hand experience that haircuts done via swords weren't good. So he just dealt with it, as he dealt with everything nowadays.

His schedule was thrown off though when Nicator started coming onto him.

He hadn't even noticed at first. He wasn't exactly looking for something like that. Romance, especially with such a slimeball, was the last thing on his mind. But looking back, he had a good idea of where it all started. It had after he'd come home from a long mission. His head ached and he needed a shower, and something to eat. He hadn't eaten anything that day, and as his body was beginning to realize that he was getting really irritable. He was rubbing his eye, walking around the corner, when he ran right into him. His hands caught his wrists and when he looked up, dazed and very confused, he saw Nicator smirking down at him in that sleazy way of his.

"Hey, you should watch yourself. There are some scary people here!" He had said, in that horrible voice of his. And Zen, exhausted and hungry, had just snarled and shoved himself away before he stomped past him. He thought he was just being a jerk. It was only around probably the third time, maybe fifth, when it all started that it started to stick in his head that something was up. It was during a meeting Malum pulled him in. They were trying to figure out how to infiltrate the Courts since recent spies had told them that SS had drastically upped the security. The Death Squad members didn't walk around with at least ten guards, which seemed like total overkill but Zen really, really couldn't blame him. Zen, who had been drug out of bed at six o'clock in the morning for this, was starting to zone out when he felt a long and pointy nail poke his thigh. He jolted so harshly that he ended up falling out of his chair, grabbing onto the table and shoving himself up before he hit the floor. He looked around wildly before he saw a very amused Nicator smirking up at him.

The others were staring in confusion, and Malum didn't look pleased with being interrupted. "Is there something you really wanted to add, Zen?" He asked, like some teacher scolding one of his students for interrupting class, and Zen swallowed.

"Uh, no. Sorry. My legs were falling asleep." He hooked his foot around one of the legs of his chair and pulled it away from Nicator, who snickered as he sat down. "Keep going, I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Malum sighed but then turned away, pointing to an entrance of the Courts.

"Originally, Medicus only kept about ten guards there, but SS has essentially double..." Zen glanced over as Malum kept talking and he gave Nicator the harshest glare he could give him.

"That wasn't funny," he spat venomously, but the dark elf just smirked.

"Maybe not to you," he said, giggling annoyingly, "but I thought it was hilarious." Zen just glared at him and decided not to reward him with a response, looking at Malum as he tried to focus again.

It only spiraled from there. Zen, to be frank, didn't care for a long time. At least the jerk was finally leaving the others alone. But then he got much more... Intimate. Like, 'pinching Zen's ass while he was in the lunch line,' intimate. Zen didn't get lunch that day and opted to instead storm away from the laughing elf with a burning face while the rest of the soldiers tried to pretend like they hadn't seen anything. He didn't blame them. It was hard to touch such a high ranking soldier without being accused of mutiny. But you know, Zen could've dealt with it. He didn't care. He could break a wrist if Nicator tried to do anything else. But he thought he wouldn't. He didn't think the guy would be so stupid.

But Zen had been wrong. He had been wrong a lot these days.

It happened when he was taking a walk in the small forest that was near the mansion. They were still in winter, but he always preferred the cold. He needed to clear his mind after a difficult mission, and he always loved the cold and crisp smell of winter. It made him think of bittersweet memories, but... They were sweet enough to keep his mind busy. Looking back, he still didn't know if he had been alone from the very beginning, but at that time he thought he had been. He let his walls drop for a brief second and didn't walk so tall, let his shoulders slouch as he bowed his head and rubbed his neck. He let out a sigh and glanced around before he turned around to lean against a tree.

And found himself looking into the violet eyes of Nicator.

He screamed, more than startled, shoving the man back by instinct. But the dark elf only laughed loudly as he grabbed his wrists, forcing him to stay there. "Hey, sorry! I planned on warning you before you saw me!" Zen had a hard time believing that with the smirk on his lips. "Jeez, you're on edge, aren't you?" Zen glared at him and he tried to yank his wrists away.

"Let go of me," he snarled.

"Aw, come on!" The dark elf cooed. "I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

"You were stalking me," Zen shouted at him, absolutely beyond being pissed. Nicator wasn't thrown off by his aggression and if anything he was amused by it.

"Oh, it's only stalking if I've done it for a few days," he informed him as if Zen actually cared.

"Let go of me," he snarled again, but Nicator only snickered.

"Come on, let's talk! I'm worried about you, you seem pretty angry all the time! That's not good for anyone!" Zen was able to get one wrist free and he had to practically claw at Nicator's hand to get the other one away.

"I'm tired," he snapped. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go to bed." He started to shove past Nicator, only for his wrist to be grabbed again in such a bruising grip it almost made him gasp from the sudden pain. "Let go me, dammit!" He snarled, only for aggression to die on his tongue when he saw the look Nicator had. His initial playfulness was gone and now there was only a ray of annoyance in his violet eyes.

"You know," he said, calm but stiff, "I thought this whole game we were playing was pretty funny at first. But now, little Prince, it's getting on my nerves. You," the grip tightened, and Zen did let out a gasp this time, "are getting on my nerves."

"Don't call me that!" He snapped before Nicator grabbed his chin.

"Really, enough with the hard to get. I don't have time for this. In the days I've wasted chasing you I could've gotten at least three other pretties to add to the notch in my bedside." Zen didn't like this. His gut was in such tight twists it hurt and his instincts were shaking in his very nerves.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zen growled, honestly surprised that his voice wasn't trembling, "and I don't wanna even begin to understand. You better get your hands off of me, before I cut them off." Nicator raised an eyebrow before he snorted.

"Oh my god. You must be kidding me." Zen opened his mouth to reassure him that no, he wasn't kidding for even a second when the elf suddenly grabbed him by his hair and slammed his head into the tree truck. It happened so quickly that Zen couldn't have even seen it coming and his body dropped like a bag of bricks. He coughed, trying to gather his scattered mind when he felt a hand grab his collar and yank him up onto his knees. "You mean to tell me that through all of those tricks, those glares, and those little hissy fits, that you weren't flirting with me? You were being serious?! Christ, you really were a waste of my time!"

"F...Flirting?!" Zen shouted even though his ears were ringing like bells. "What the hell made you think I was flirting with you?! I hate your damn gu–" Nicator punched him, and Zen wondered how he didn't notice that the man wore a few rings until this moment.

"I thought all those times you were stopping me from getting laid was because you were jealous!" Nicator groaned as if Zen was an annoyance. "I can't believe this! You were just being some kind of White Knight!"

"Getting laid?! None of those people wanted anything to do with you!" Zen shouted up at him, holding his head. His lip was bleeding from one of Nicator's rings. "Have you ever listened to yourself?! You're a creep!" Nicator rolled his eyes.

"That's the fun part, Zen. The best ones are the ones who don't think they want it," he sneered. "I thought I was gonna have something different with you, a little bit of a variety. You're such a perfect twink too! The eyes, the hair, your figure; I mean, even the way you carry yourself, come on!" Zen's cheeks burned. Now he really did feel dirty. The hot shower he was going to take after this would put the showers SS took to shame.

At the thought of his ex-brother, Zen felt an unholy amount of rage well inside of him. He leaped to his feet and slammed his fist against the side of Nicator's face and he felt great pride when he saw him stumble to the side. "You're a freak!" He screamed down at the elf, before he stormed past him, towards the mansion. His mind was already whirling as he tried to figure out what to do. He couldn't just this go, but he couldn't let Nicator just get away this! That crap he had said, about ones who didn't think they wanted it, did that mean had he done this before?! He had to tell someone, Vada, Aurelia, Juno didn't like him and she wouldn't believe him, but he had to tell some–

Suddenly, with a flurry of shadows, Nicator was in front of him. His knee dug into Zen's stomach and he crumbled to his knees before he punched him harshly across the face. Zen felt the world spinning as the ground raced up to catch him. His face buried into the dirt he had been walking across just moments ago and he felt a heavy weight on his lower back. He realized it was Nicator's foot when the elf snarled; "You little bitch!" He reached down and grabbed Zen by his hair, yanking on it so hard it fell out of its ponytail. Zen screamed loudly before Nicator's other pale hand slapped over his mouth. "Shut up! This is your own fault, for leading me on!" He grabbed Zen's shirt the end of Zen's shirt and yanked him up by the fabric, and sharp fangs dug into his neck. As the venom dark elves were known for sloshed into his veins, finally, finally Zen realized what this asshole was going to do.

Sheer blind panic ran through him and by instinct, his crossbow and quiver came into existence. His crossbow appeared in one hand while one bolt appeared in the other, and Zen whipped his head around so he could look Nicator right in the eye as he stabbed the sharp end of his bolt right into the hand gripping his hair. Nicator roared like an animal, stumbling off of Zen as he grabbed his wrist. As soon as he was free Zen shoved himself to his feet. He turned around, yanking a bolt out of his quiver before he loaded his crossbow so fast that he was a blur. Years of fighting with this very weapon had made him very familiar with it, and a very dangerous shot. By the time Nicator had yanked the bolt out and looked at him, he had the crossbow pointed right at him.

"Stay the hell away from me!" He screamed, gasping loudly for breath as adrenaline that was very late to the party pumped through his veins. But it was doing little against the venom inside of him. The reason why dark elves had such a bad reputation was because of this venom; it could make the victim weak and vulnerable to any type of attack. That included the sexual kind. Blood dripped from his lip and cheek, both cut by Nicator's rings from the punches. "I'm going to tell everyone! Vada, Aurelia; you're done for, Nicator!"

"Oh, do you really think they'll believe you?!" Nicator snarled. "You, the fallen prince, Medicus's little guard dog whore?!"

"Shut up!" Zen screamed. "Shut the fuck up!"

"I've been with Malum for lifetimes, you little slut! He'll believe me long before he every believes you!"
"What the hell is going on here?!"

Zen and Nicator looked over to see Aurelia, who was gripping her sword tightly as she stared at them with narrowed purple eyes. "Aurelia!" Zen gasped out. "Aurelia, he, he tri–"

"He just attacked me!" Nicator shouted, cutting him off. "I don't know what the hell is going on, I think he's gone insane!"

"NO!" Every bit of composure Zen had was flown out the window. "No, no, Aurelia, please, h–"

"Listen to him, he's babbling like a goddamn fool!" Nicator hissed. "Put him down, he's a danger to us and himself!" Aurelia turned her eyes to Zen and he screamed, tears of frustration prickling at the corner of his eyes. Why couldn't he talk?! Why couldn't he say it?! Was the venom affecting him that much?!

"No, no, listen to me!" He cried. His knees felt weak and so did his hands, and his tongue was going numb. "A... Aurelia, please, please listen, ple–"

"Nicator," Aurelia's snarl made him shudder. "Nicator, did you bite him?!"

"What?! No, that's abs–"
"I see the goddamn marks, elf!"
"It was self-defense, h–"
"LAIR!"

Zen's knees collapsed underneath him. He fell to the ground as his crossbow and quiver disappeared. Tears streamed from his eyes like he couldn't control them. He could hear screaming but it was all so muddled. It was hard to breathe, and he felt hot. Too hot. He glanced up even though black dots were running over his vision, peering over the grass blades around him. He could see Aurelia and Nicator fighting. He wanted to get up but he couldn't. Before he knew it, unconsciousness was wrapping around him. He passed out there in the grass as the venom set in, alone and terrified.