•|•|•

"She's scared of you."

•|•|•

The door nob turned but Harvest never looked up, eyes trailing down the words spread out before him in the book that he was holding, his lips pursed, jaw straightened as the person walked in-

"Don't-" he began, shutting his eyes when the scene around him changed.

"I better still be seated," he muttered, eyes darkening when he looked up at Raskei.

She stood before him, the dull walls of his room faded into white as the chamber surrounded him, the walls fading back into a resemblance of his room, clearly using her memories to make the chamber seem like he was still in his room.

He looked up at her for a few seconds, jaw clenching before returning to his book, flipping a page over slightly and adjusting his position in his chair.

"What you did was risky," her slow thick accented voice stated as she stood in front of him,  her face void of any emotion.

He didn't bother looking back up at her, eyes trailing over more of what he was reading scoffing a little at the sentence.

"I told you I was going to him," he grunted back finally glancing back at her, "what did you think? That summoning him would be easy considering where he is?" he scoffed, before once more looking back down at the book, a deep crevice in his frown.

"You were prepared to risk everything for her-" she accused.

Harvest froze, staring at nothing for a moment before his sharp blue eyes met hers.

"And who is this?" he dragged out, his tone daring.

Raskei kept on her hard look, though she gulped slightly, "You know who-"

His eyes narrowed on her for a moment, before shaking his head, leaning back in his seat, releasing a dark chuckle.

"I find myself oblivious," he remarked, eyes shining, yet tone low and threatening as he spoke, gaze lazily shifting back to her beneath half-closed eyes.

But she knew him way too well to be frightened.

The only time Harvest threatened anyone was because he simply did not desire anyone to get close and that was why she knew she had hit the nail on the head.

"You risked everything by summoning your father- did you even tell him about the mark?"

Harvest studied her for a second, "was that not the reason for the summon?"

"Forgive me-" she huffed, " what I meant to ask was, did you tell him you are scared of the mark?-"

Harvest chuckled darkly at this, shaking his head, hand massaging his jaw momentarily, for a moment before looking back up at her, eyes glimmering from the straying moonlight, the darkness surrounding him.

He never bothered with the lights on, as he quite enjoyed the darkness and the moon was light enough for him,

"Why, don't you humor me," he replied, his lips pursing, pushing his coat to the side, looking at her expectantly.

She took his offer head-on, finally walking into a straying slice of moonlight so her features were illuminated, her tattoos glimmering on her bald head.

"She showed me what you did to her. The mind and body control, the arena, your feeding, the sirens, your wings-" she paused, "and your threats, everything Harvest," she began to gaze steadfastly at him, and though he visibly showed no emotion, she could tell by the tiny change in his breathing he didn't expect it, his gaze trailed to the window for a second, jaw clenching,

"She's scared of you," she finally finished.

His gaze snapped back at her at the sound of this, dead eyes hardening.

"She made an admittedly clumsy but honest mistake- and isn't the first person to see you there with the bloody sirens, Harvest," Raskei accused, "and yet you stalked the  living daylights out of her,"

"Well, regarding who we know she is, I had to make sure she wasn't a threat," he gritted back, "this isn't harmless, nosy Daya," he replied, eyes narrowing down on her, yet Raskei registered he had suddenly become defensive.

"True, and yet even when you knew she wasn't a threat- I mean you can literally read most of her thoughts, and yet you still pressed on-" she replied, shaking her head, "body and mind control? C'mon you only use that on the deceptions," she fired back in a low huff, "and as if that wasn't enough, you messed up by draining in front of her!"

"Well that's on her since She was STUPID enough to take a swim with a fucking siren!" he growled back, pausing breathlessly, as they held eye contact at his sudden outburst before taking a calm breath out, shaking his head, "they weren't going to spare her after-" he finished quietly.

"-After they sensed what you felt for her," Raskei filled in softly, Harvest pausing, he turned away.

"They had it in for her," Raskei realized.

Harvest rolled his eyes, "why are you forcing these terms on me?" he huffed, "I swear if you weren't my best friend.." he threatened.

She raised an eyebrow -

He sighed, sitting straighter, "For the last time, there is nothing there," he huffed running a hand through his hair- whilst he set his eyes on the space above his book, trying not to think too hard about it, "The sirens overreacted. They can't help it."

"That siren sensed and came for her-"

"Sirens will be jealous of any female that comes around me, Raskei, you know that," he huffed, "they could have killed Daya or even you if you just get in the damn water for once," he replied recklessly as if brushing off the matter.

"They are dark deceptions, they live to serve- and will always serve. As long as they sense a rivalry for your affection in their delusional little minds they will attack. And you know this quite well!"

Harvest paid her no mind.

"Face it Harvest, you gave her a death sentence when you invited her in that pool with her, the girl didn't stand a chance-" Raskie grunted, "and you couldn't pay me the world to get in there with those slimy devils," she added with a huff, folding her arms.

Harvest couldn't believe his ears, but calmed, shrugging, "Either way- it was either her death or the sirens," he sighed, turning back to his book.

"And I bet you enjoyed every second of it," Raskei replied, causing him to pause.

He stared at the pages blankly for a moment, a ghost of a smile dawning on his face at the memory before grunting, flipping the page over.

"And the threats after?" she asked.

"She saw my wings, I had to make sure she wouldn't talk," he replied, carelessly, eyes trailing over the words, shaking his head at the absurdity written in between the lines, before pausing as he thought about the words, eyes trailing back to Raskei, "you know what I mean."

"Is that why you needed to scare her? Just because you didn't want her to say something?" she asked, taking a step closer to him, her gaze hardening on him-

Harvest's jaw ticked, but said nothing, staring blankly at the pages, mind rattling with images of her, little moments-

in glimpses.

Raskei weighed, her tone low, "You knew she would never talk because she was already scared of you, as you have half of the student population-"

"You're one to talk- The Curser," Harvest muttered.

Raskei ignored him, "and yet you kept, pushing, and pushing the poor girl until-"

"Is there a reason you are suddenly defending her?" Harvest fired, dark eyes on her, seemingly fed up.

Raskei froze, breathing harshly,

"As I recall, you didn't even care before," he grunted, eyes locking on her, " you know what I was doing in the arena," he accused, eyes narrowing, "because you were right there beside me."

Her eyes drowned in his accusing ones and she took a deep breath out, "that was before-"

"Before what? Nothing has changed," he gritted back.

"Everything's changed! she's Unspoken!" she grunted,  "she might be the only other one out there- " she paused, her breathing failing.

"She's not a real unspoken, her dilect, somehow adapted," he grunted back.

"That makes her even more special!" Raskei retorted, before pausing, sighing, "I don't want to see her die- she's innocent Harvest- and if I recall well, you once told me that you would never hurt innocence."

Harvest paused at this, "That was before-"

"Before what?' she replied, tone a low mimic, "Nothing changed."

Harvest looked away, his ringed fingers playing with the edges of the book,

"That was before the world turned ugly- before my family was taken from me, and I did the things I've already done," he replied slowly, looking back at Raskei, dark eyes glimmering in the moonlight.

Raskei swallowed for a moment, "I'd follow you to the ends of the world Harvest, you know where my loyalty lies-" she began.

He nodded slowly, though his jaw was rigid-

"But when you release your father, it might just be the end of the world," she replied lowly.

"The world," Harvest began "has it coming- " he replied, eyes narrowing on her.

"There is ugly in this world, and maybe the prime is to blame for some of the bitterness," she began, "but I know you see the innocence too," she replied, "you stare at her with longing."

He scoffed at this for a second, and she sighed, "You can't deny it Harvest. I might be unable to speak physically, but that only means I observe even more attentively than the average onlooker," she replied, " and I know you feel frustrated around her,"

His jaw clenched at this,

"Because she can't see the way you look at her, and it becomes that desperate that you allowed your heart to betray you-" she replied slowly, shaking her head with a short chuckle, "I never thought I'd see the day. But, I guess if I had a counter and tethered myself to her, I would be the same," she replied still chuckling, "what makes it funny is you always wanted it-

"Enough!" Harvest Barked. His gaze held her prisoner, searching her eyes for a moment, jaw rigid yet heart for the first time in forever, slowly picking up at her words.

"But that fear of hers always gets in the way," Raskei added quietly, eyes still trained in his.

She shook her head, looking at the floor, before finally leaving, heading to the door.

"Did she say that?" Harvest asked, his heart thudding slowly. The question broke through the silence.

'Say what?" Raskei asked, turning around to face him.

He scoffed at her impudence, knowing she wanted him to say it.

He let it hang for a few moments before looking back at her, "that she was...scared of me? Those exact words," he clarified, jaw ticking, "to your face?" he asked, a breath trapped between his lips, raising an eyebrow.

Raskei's eyes shined, walking back to him, "No, but I could see it in her eyes, and the sound of her heart racing as loud as a drum, just trying so hard to protect that little secret of hers from you," she replied.

He shifted in his seat, gaze falling, fists clenching, "almost like I can see it in your eyes," she continued.

Her hand traveled to his wrist, pushing the sleeve of his coat back gently where his completed mark burned a low red, then her hand moved to the book he had held, closing it, its pink princess cover sparkling in the moonlight and his jaw clenched, leaning back in defeat.

"Pink was never your color."

He looked up at her with a slight eye roll-

"But-" she hummed, "she likes you-"

Harvest's eyebrows furrowed, but scoffed nevertheless,

"True," she replied, reassuring him, "she just doesn't realize it yet, but keep up those cute little poems, and that less alarming side- she'll warm up."

Harvest raised an eyebrow, "you were there?"

Raskei chuckled moving back to the door, "I said I would follow you to the ends of the earth right? Surprised you didn't sense me? You should be ashamed comparing me to HER spy."

Harvest paused at this but shook his head with a chuckle, as she moved away, closing the door behind her. The Chamber deformed.

He stayed in his seat for a few seconds, glancing down at the book, and shaking his head again, though a small smile was on his face despite his better judgment.

After contemplating for a few seconds, he gave in.

Just one more good deed, see where that would get him too he convinced himself, glancing down at the notebook in his hand, getting to his feet.

About to leave his room, he froze at the sound of a knock on his door, the smell of perfume reaching his nostrils long before his extra senses could ever have identified who it was, making their job easier.

"Daya," he grunted beneath his breadth, jaw clenching as he eyed the shadow at his door, knocking again. He glanced around for a moment, before he paused at the open window, shaking his head, "how low have I fallen?" he mumbled, walking towards it.

He glanced one more time at the door, before escaping through the window.

The night air was cool when he landed courtesy of his wings, shielded by the darkness around him, then disappearing as he looked around for a moment, before grunting.

He would have to walk the long way around to avoid Daya and get to her room. He glanced at the pink princess notebook in his hand for a moment, sighing, running a hand through his curls.

He didn't know what he was doing but one thought was echoing at the back of his mind.

He hoped Raskei was right-

He treaded around the Scepters, pausing horizontally at her room, knowing around this time, she was peering through her window,

but not today.

The room was way too calm, and her scent couldn't be taken from there. There was no aura either.

He paused when he caught a whiff of it, his eyebrows furrowing as he turned in the direction of the King's court, eyes narrowing in that direction.

His spun around, coat flowing after him as he treaded towards it.

Entering the King's courts, he walked in, pausing when he saw the two figures in the distance.

Had Gravis called her for another meeting?

"Telling stories again?" he huffed shaking his head at the figure before catching the scent of deception, his breathing became slower as he prodded himself to approach, eyes on the two figures, watching as they drew closer.

His breathing suddenly dragged, a constriction in his chest as he watched the narrowing space between them, lessening with every nonexistent heartbeat-

Unwarranted anger blazed through him. One he couldn't explain or control-

"TALANDA!" He barked.

•|•|•

Someone's not happy.

Ya'll aren't lucky enough for two updates 🥹 but I thought I'd give y'all something. For the right guess 🫠

•|•|•