"Morning sleepyhead." Lyra smiled down at her as she opened her eyes blearily, everything coming back to her in an instant as she sat up, staring around her bedroom.

She was back in the Hawkdale Region.

Her adventure was over, and it was time for her to face the music.

Her hands shook, rumpling the clean white sheets. "Where is he...?"

"Rylan decided to let you get some rest before a certain Alpha is glued to your side." The Luna Queen said. "You should've seen him when you left..." Her laughter was tinged with sadness. "He was liked a kicked puppy..."

"He's in the overprotective caveman stage of your relationship." Juniper added, drawing her attention onto the second Luna in the room. "So you should be expecting a lot of invasion of personal space from now on."

"You've got to be kidding?!"

"Afraid not."

A foot kicked the door down, interrupting their conversation, a very familiar Alpha striding into the room.

"And so it begins..." Juniper grinned, waving goodbye as she and Lyra both saw themselves out despite Genesis pleading with them to stay.

"Genesis." Grey eyes stared into her own. "I apologise for what I'm about to do, but I don't really have much control over it..."

"Huh?!"

Finn wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her scent deeply, his breath tickling her neck as she stiffened in his embrace. Lips gently pressed against her neck in an earnest kiss, making her shiver as she sat on her bed with the one man destined to be hers.

"Why?" He pulled back with a visible effort, settling instead for resting his hand over hers. "Why did you go?"

"Don't ask me about it... please..." Tears pricked her eyes, an odd bolt of pain lancing through her heart as she struggled to hold back the impending flood.

"You don't trust me." Finn wasn't asking a question. He was stating a fact.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's nothing to apologise for." His hand drew warm circles on her back, his soft smile twisting daggers deep into her chest.

"Why did Flix pair me with you...?" She clutched at his shirt, hiding her face in his simple smart white shirt. "What did I do to deserve this...?"

"What's wrong with us?"

"Everything." Genesis pulled away, quickly grabbing a fresh set of clothes, striding quickly into the bathroom, grateful for the brief moment of space.

Finn was still there when she came out, staring out through her window, a pained expression scrawled over his face. "What can I do?" His soft voice yanked her out of her inner ramblings. "What do I need to do to make things better?!"

"It's impossible..."

"Why?!" His voice rose.

"It just is." Genesis wrapped her arms around herself, sobs wracking her chest as she stared intently at the door. "Don't ask me why!"

"Tell me." His hands were clamped around her arms in seconds. "Please..."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to hate me." She wriggled out from his iron grip, her vision blurred, one hand wiping her face as the other rested on the doorknob.

"Where are you going?"

"I want to be alone... just for a little while..." She sighed, walking out of the door, and surprisingly enough, Finn didn't follow.

***

"What did I do...?" Genesis stared at the small shrine, flicking a silver coin into the offering box. "What did I do to make you hate me...?" Her tears had long since dried up, her eyes feeling oddly dry as she stared at the small statue depicting the God Flix.

The one who'd bound her and Finn together before they'd even been born.

The one who'd known her fate.

That was what he held dominion over, after all.

Fate.

Some even said he could see the fates of other Gods and Goddesses.

Even without that rumour, though, he was still the strongest God.

In the end, everything was decided by fate.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

The voice startled her, pulling her attention away from the empty hollowness she could feel in her chest and onto a set of pink eyes.

"Pink?"

The man smiled, running a hand through his brown and pink hair. "It's not a common colour, I know."

"No... It's not." Genesis sat back. "I've only ever met one other person with pink eyes..."

"Really?" He tilted his head, curiosity written across his face. "Most people haven't even seen one..."

"Did you dye your hair to match?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was born with hair like this?"

She shrugged, rubbing her head as a strange pounding started in her head, her skin feeling oddly tight while she continued to sit there. "I suppose anything goes these days..."

"Yeah. It does." He grinned toothily.

"Azushimuri!"

The shout cut their conversation short.

"Ah, duty calls, I'm afraid." Azushimuri sighed, rising to his feet, his gaze drifting over to the treeline of the nearby forest. "I'd advise you leave the area... Me and my... friends... are involved in a bit of a ruckus..."

"Huh?"

A loud roar shattered the still air, the sound making Genesis clap both hands over her ears.

"What the hell is that?!" She yelled over the deafening sound, her wide eyes meeting Azushimuri's pink ones.

It was safe to say her question was answered sooner than later.

"A Black Panther..." Azushimuri sighed, staring at the beast that'd just leapt out from the underbrush.

Shadows seemed to flicker around the animal, black mist rising in wisps from its short inky fur. Pale blue eyes stared between the two of them, a long tail twitching behind it, like a cat about to pounce, and it became evident who it'd decided to target.

Jaws snapped at the pink-eyed man, a guttural snarl ripping from the panther's throat as two other men appeared.

"I don't think we've got much choice, brother..." The white-haired one sighed. "It tore free from the net..."

"I thought you'd want it alive." The black-haired guy said, casting his pink eyes back to where Genesis sat. "Az, I thought I told you to clear the area..."

"I was just explaining that to her!"

"Dammit... Fleet get her out of here!"

Fleet, whom Genesis soon found out to be the white-haired one, turned. "Alright, kiddo."

"I'm nineteen."

"Practically a toddler, then."

"Excuse me?"

"Stop messing around." The black-haired man scowled, his pink eyes narrowing on the matching pair. "If that panther so much as touches her, let alone bites her, then she's a goner!"

"What?!" Genesis jumped to her feet, her eyes wide as the creature's gaze locked on hers.

"I'd advise you run." Fleet said helpfully.

"That thing can run faster than me!"

"Oh yeah." He grinned. "Well, good luck."

Pink eyes crackled in annoyance. "Fleet!"

"I get it." Both hands rose in defeat.

Purple lightning sparked, sigils glowing brightly on the palms of her hands, a sheathed sword appearing in her grasp as she stood there. "I'm not helpless, y'know?"

"A Soul Blade..."

"And you were just complaining that you didn't have a weapon..." The black-haired guy mumbled, tilting his head as he reached for Azushimuri, not even batting an eyelid as his so-called friend transformed into a sword.

"This is mine." Genesis scowled, tightening her grip on her weapon.

Fleet rested a hand over her own. "You can't use this blade to its full potential."

"Says who?!"

"Enough." Two fingers prodded her on the forehead, an odd purple light glowing as they made contact. "It's time to take on the form which that dastardly God gave you, purple eyes."

"Huh?"

"He didn't just give you those purple eyes, you know." Fleet smirked. "He chose you to become his weapon..." He said, chuckling quietly at the look of utter confusion on the nineteen-year-old's face.

She had no idea what he was on about.

And she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out.

Fleet didn't give her much choice, though, as he stepped even closer, disregarding her personal space completely. "My dear brother broke his last one..."

Genesis gritted her teeth, her eyes wide as the pressure against her forehead rose.

"Let's see how strong you are, Genesis."

"How do you-?!"

"Every sword has a name." He grinned, watching as her corporal form turned into purple mist which was soon sucked into the blade, making the letters carved into the blade glow.

The letters that spelt her name.

"Hmm." Fleet stared at the silvery blade in his hands, the metal having an odd purple sheen.

That was only to be expected from a weapon formed by him.

Pink eyes stared down at the unsheathed sword, admiring the purple and black bandages wrapped around the hilt, staring at the wickedly sharp edge. It had no guard, only a thin strip of metal protecting the fingers, causing white eyebrows to knot together on the young man's face.

"Oy, bro." He glanced over, oblivious to Genesis's fading consciousness. "You sure you don't want to swap?"

***

If Genesis hadn't decided to take that walk, hadn't been transformed into a sword, and hadn't taken a nap then she might've been alerted to a threat much closer to home than that panther.

Blaze stared at the numerous opaque bottles in the fridge, having gone on another of his adventures.

"Why did you drag me down here, Blaze?" Rylan scowled. "I've got bigger things to be worrying about than the church's basement."

"We need to investigate this church, Ry." Serious green eyes bore into his pale blue ones. "I'm not kidding around."

"What's going on?"

Blaze opened the bottle, a grim expression on his face. "Can you smell it?"

"Is this-?!" The Alpha King blinked, watching as Blaze nodded.

"They've got bottles of blood in their fridge."

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