𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 — tear it up

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 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐒 of the Volcra seemed to come from everywhere; the flap of their heavy wings sent gusts of wind their way and Aleksa's hair blew into her face. She didn't falter as she followed Kaz up the creaking steps to the mast where Inej had last been seen; where a dagger had left the Wraith's hand and impaled Aleksander's chest.

 They were getting closer, Aleksa could feel it. Even if the Volcra were nothing but monsters with pointed teeth waiting to claw and tear at their flesh, they were still shadows. They were still a part of her.

 Aleksander had made them with power that should never have come to fruition, but even so, shadows lurked within the Volcra's skin, they twirled within what little hearts they had left.

 The shrill screech of a Volcra surging forth made Aleksa freeze for a moment, eyes glued to Kaz as he continued on. The Volcra were shadows, and the shadows had been the only friends she'd grown up with... So why couldn't she move past the fear that seized ahold of her in their presence?

 The beast had landed on the skiff; its weight shaking the boat. Striking teeth snapped and blood dribbled from the Volcra's mouth as it grew closer to Inej. It could smell its next meal. Its jaw snapped again, a horrific growl rumbling from the depths of the thing's gut.

 Aleksa's stomach dropped as she clambered up the rest of the stairs; Inej's form that so commonly glinted with an array of pointed knives was bare. Not a single sliver of sharp metal lined her belt.

 Before Aleksa could raise her hands and test if Inej's words 'have you ever tried fighting fire with fire?' applied to the shadows, the familiar — and ugly — glint of Kaz's golden crow-headed cane swung in an arc and implanted itself into the Volcras skull. Even after everything, Aleksa still found herself forgetting that beneath Kaz's billowing coats and showy vests laid a lean body that was far more than capable of crushing bone.

 The beast screeched and thrashed, wings beating uselessly as Kaz pulled his cane back and grunted as he swung again. A crack rang through the air as the Volcra's movements became slower with each swing.

 Neither Aleksa nor her crows noticed the sound of pounding wings growing closer. The cane clattered against the beast again, and before Kaz could pull it free and swing one last time, his eyes widened, "Aleksa!"

 The Summoner pivoted on her feet, eyes wild as a Volcra surged towards her. The weight of the ghastly beast sent her to the wooden planks as saliva dribbled onto her cheek. Her hands pushed at the monster's chest as it snapped its teeth and tried to grow closer to her flesh.

 She wanted to run, to slide away and hide like a crying child. Her body wanted to freeze as her heart thudded loud enough for her to hear. She was petrified. But there was no escape, nowhere to run and hide and cower. She had to fight, or she'd die.

 Her arms shook as she pressed against the monster, yet nothing was enough for the beast to retreat. It was hungry, and its meal was right before it.

 The Volcra screeched as something dove towards it. A small sliver of darkness surged through the air. The caws were enough to know that her silly, ugly little bird had come to help the best he could.

 Aleksa could still hear Kaz trying to wrench his cane free from the Volcra he'd killed. She could hear Inej crying out her name, unable to help without a blade in her hand.

 But then, as ever, a ripple flitted through the Summoner as Cas, the strange little bird that had somehow found her within Ketterdam, landed by her head. It was as though the little thing knew when she was in trouble, in tune with her thoughts and powers. Its beak pressed into her hair and the power of an amplifier flooded through her veins.

 She could feel the buzz beneath her skin; chittering and chirping... alive.

 Aleksa closed her eyes, a heavy breath splitting through her lips as she planted her palms flat against the beast that was trying to tear out her throat.

 It was just a shadow. Darkness curled within its flesh and tainted its heart; so why wouldn't she be able to control that darkness? Why wouldn't she reach inside and call out to the shadows to lend her their aid? The shadows were not her soldiers, yet still, they followed her orders.

 Aleksander moved the darkness like pieces on a chessboard, Aleksa wielded them as though they were an extension of herself, merely another limb.

 Her fingernails dug into the beast's skin and blood trickled down her wrists like slick oil. She called out, whispered into the dark and when she heard the smallest of responses, she pressed her fingers deeper.

 The darkness within the Volcra battled with itself; loyal to the Black Heretic who had called upon Merzost to create monsters, soldiers, yet still it couldn't help but answer to the young Shadow Summoner's call, as though the person that the beast had once been was begging her to slay the monster they had become.

 It felt as though she was trying to split a rock into two with her bare hands. Sweat had gathered on her skin, and ebony blood had seeped into her white shirt and dribbled across her flesh.

 Just when Kaz's hasty and uneven steps filled her ears, she pulled her hands back. The creature above tried to seize its chance and snapped its jaws closer, yet before those glinting teeth could graze against her skin, she pulled her hands wide and the Volcra was torn in two.

 The monster's flesh ripped apart, blood gushing like a waterfall as it covered Aleksa's body. The remnants of shadows danced upon her fingertips; light wisps curled around her like smoke.

 Darkness billowed from the monster, drifting higher and higher until it was no longer visible against the Fold.

 Aleksa laid there, unmoving as her chest heaved with the weight of what she'd done, of what she had accomplished. Black blood continued to soak into her clothes and trail across her face. Her fingers slackened as she waited for the shadows to depart her hold, and Cas poked his beak into her dirtied cheek.

 Aleksa, though she may have looked and sounded like an utter manic... couldn't help but laugh. It bubbled in her throat and spewed from her lips as she heaved and slumped against the deck. She had killed a Volcra. She had reached inside a monster of her brother's creation and split it in two.

 Her skin, beneath the layer of oil-like blood, glowed like the sun, yet her body ached as though she'd been walking for days. 

 She turned her head, cheek resting on the wooden deck as Inej slid to her knees, hands hovering over her friend as that delightful divot appeared between her brows.

 Kaz stood behind her, and he looked like a boy. A young boy. A bead of sweat was trailing down his temple and his thin lips were parted as he stared at the carnage surrounding her. He almost looked frightened, or was it just shock and bewilderment creasing his brows?

 Alekaa saw his foot lift from the deck, meaning to step closer yet at the very last second he paused, grimaced and stepped back. She knew that look; the one where he'd reach out a hand and recoil as he pulled her to her feet. The look where he battled with whatever had hurt him so very much that he couldn't stand the touch of another.

 She understood and offered him a lazy smile. A droplet of onyx blood dripped past her lips.

 She'd never know how that particular smile had made his heart threaten to leap from his chest and splatter on the deck in a pitiful, foolish lump.

 "Are you —" Inej began, her voice filled with air as she scanned the Summoner.

 Aleksa swallowed and lifted a heavy hand to her face, meaning to use her sleeve to wipe the blood from her face. The frilled cuffs were soaked and she let her hand clatter back to the deck.

 Inej reached out, her bronze fingers pulling her sleeve over her knuckles as she carefully wiped the blood from Aleksa's cheeks, "How did you do that?"

 "The Volcras are shadows, are they not?" Aleksa paused, her lip trapped between her teeth as she pondered before answering further, "I've always been more in tune with the Shadows, whilst my... whilst Aleksander only ever saw them as a weapon. I could feel the darkness inside and I took it. I reached out like I would with any shadow and waited to see if it would answer my call."

 "You were lucky that it did." Inej whispered like the stern and motherly young woman she was. Her eyes drifted around the deck; the Volcra was still, laying in two jagged pieces. Its stringy flesh was slick with blood that seeped into the wooden slats beneath them.

 Aleksa hummed and she could feel her eyes growing heavier, still, she looked at Kaz, "You ought to stop hating my bird," She grinned faintly as the double-headed crow pecked her cheek softly, "He amplified my power."

 He didn't want to talk about her power, or damned Volcra's that were sprawled over the deck. He wanted to take Inej's place. He wanted to crouch down and gently wipe away the blood that marred her skin. He wanted to see that glow that always shined after the use of her powers. Kaz wanted to take her hand again, but he wanted to linger. He wanted to trail a pale finger across her palm and watch as the coy grin that infuriated him sprouted on her lips.

 He couldn't do that. So Kaz Brekker did what he always did — he buried those feelings.

 "Amplified power doesn't fix the scratched on my desk" He questioned as he shifted on his feet.

 "Put it on my tab." She didn't even have a tab...

 A burst of light glinted from the lower deck, and Alina's yells of her friend's name as well as the bellows from Aleksander was enough to know that Alina was in control now, and that Mal was growing closer to accomplishing his threat of killing Aleksander.

 Even after everything, the thought of his death sent an ache through her heart.

 "Can you do that again?" A hardened voice called, and yet it was as smooth as silk, a rich as chocolate. The Squallor that had turned her back on the General had risen to her feet. There was a blot of blood on her forehead, likely from a tumble she took. "I'll move the sails, but if another one of those..." She scowled at the air, "Things attacks... Can you do it again?"

 Aleksa lifted herself, Inej's hand at her back as she crawled to her knees. The warm blood had turned stone-cold, seeping closer to her skin. Aleksa shivered. Her hands shook as she brought them higher, skin still tainted with blood.

"I'm not sure." Aleksa said honestly, her voice bare of much breath, "But If the time comes, I'll give it my best."

 Zoya regarded her. The Squallor wasn't especially known for her kindness, she was harsh and rude but she was true and strong. The girl on the ground was related to the man that had used the shadows to swallow her home, her family... yet even Zoya Nazyalenski trusted she'd do anything she could to help. 

 "That's enough for me. On your feet."

 It took every ounce of strength that still swam within Aleksa's body to stand, even with Inej holding her arm as though she were an old crone. Cas wasted no time in perching upon her shoulder, his left head nuzzling into the damp and darkened strands of her hair, whilst the right head looked to and fro as though assessing for another threat.

 Before Aleksa could take an assisted step, Kaz intruded on her path. He met her eyes and while he wanted to push her back down to the deck and force her to rest, he simply twirled his cane and held out the head to her.

 It was glaringly ugly but the gesture made Aleksa smile nonetheless. Her fingers curled around the crow and she leaned heavily on the object, taking most of her weight away from Inej who rushed towards the stairs that the Volcra had intruded upon and scooped up the only knife that hadn't vanished in the dark. It just so happened that her remaining weapon was the one with a black hilt; the one gifted by Aleksa.

 Zoya manned the sails, her hands sweeping through the air as she summoned a powerful gust of wind. The light that Alina had summoned grew wider and shimmered as it protected the skiff and those who had tumbled from the sides.

 Aleksa could hear her brother's words echoing in the air as he fought Mal. The gunshot that had done little to harm the man that was the Black Heretic.

 While her energy was slowly coming back to her, Aleksa simply didn't have the strength to climb down the stairs that led to Alina Starkov, she nudged Inej and the Wraith cautiously guided her down.

 Alina hadn't brought her hands into the air, nor had she summoned a burst of light for Aleksa to try and shield herself from. No, Alina stepped closer, unperturbed by the layer of dried black blood that covered the Shadow Summoner. Alina grasped ahold of her free hand.

 "Thank you," Alina muttered. There was still pain in her voice from everything that had taken place. Worry edged in as Mal and Aleksander continued their scuffle atop the dark sands of the Fold. Yet still the girl found time to thank the thief, she still expressed her gratitude for she had witnessed the truth unfold; it would have been far easier for Aleksa to side with her brother.

 Aleksa hadn't the heart to reply. She'd set out intending to capture the girl in front of her all in the name of money and fun. But it wasn't just the guilt that prevented her lips from moving, it was knowing that either Mal or her brother wouldn't make it back to the ship. There simply wasn't the chance that they'd both return.

 They both coddled vengeance against the other like a child, they wanted to see the other dead as their blood trailed into the sands. Aleksander had created the Fold, he had created monsters, and now his goal was to watch Malyen Oretsev perish before climbing aboard the skiff and continuing what he started.

 As for Mal, he wanted revenge for Alina. He wanted revenge for the people that had died on his journey — his friends — and he wouldn't stop until his heart ceased its beating.

 She could stop the boy, Aleksa knew she could. She could summon the shadows to swallow Mal alive and spare her brother; she might have to face Alina after, but even so, the urge was there.

 She hobbled towards the railing, peering over at the two silhouettes that danced around one another on the sands.

 Aleksa didn't move. Not when Mal cried out, not when the Volcra screeched and cried from outside their bubble of sunlight, and not when Aleksander was plucked from the ground by the very monsters he'd created.

 It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did, yet Aleksa was no master of the heart nor mind and she couldn't make the ache inside of her go away. Aleksander was not the man she thought he was, he was not her brother, and while his intentions to free the Grisha were noble, his methods made him a terrible man.

 So why did it hurt so much to know that he was dead?

 She had been utterly silent as Zoya commanded the winds to carry them free of the Fold, leaving behind the growls of Volcra and the thunder that clapped throughout the darkness.

 Her heart felt as though Ivan had taken ahold of it once more, squeezing until it popped. Aleksander might not have truly been her brother, but Aleksa couldn't see him as anything but.

 His methods had been cruel, but she knew that he did care for her. He had punished her to make her stronger. She had been led to believe that her training would finalise when she and Aleksander would stand side by side and tear down the Fold. His true goal had been to stand together and expand it.

 She should have hated him. She should have been flooded with rage upon finding out the lengths he'd gone to find her. Her parent's deaths... Their bones were likely passed when they'd crossed through the Fold, or perhaps they had become something worse.

 But despite the lies, the hurt and everything else Aleksander had done... He was her brother, and she'd love him no matter what. Aleksa hated it and wished she could take hold of her love and crush it beneath her boots.

 Once the light of the sun had hit their faces on the other side of the Fold, Zoya dropped her hands and let out a heavy sigh.

 Alina allowed the light to fizzle away.

 Aleksa leaned heavily on the cane Kaz had let her borrow, her fingers curling around the beak of the crow. Cas chirped in her ear and took off. His sleek and oily feathers glinted beneath the sun and though the sight would usually bring a smile to Aleksa's face, she couldn't find the energy.

 From finding out the truth to tearing a monster apart, to Aleksander's past finally catching up with him and pushing him for his actions... She was so very tired. The death of family was something that was somehow known, yet unknown to her.

 Aleksa couldn't remember her parents, she'd been but a cooing babe when they had run with her. She had missed what they could have been... But somehow, even though Aleksander was everything terrible, she grieved far more. Her parents could be longed for yet Aleksa could never really miss what she never had. Aleksander had been there for so many years, and now he was gone. Just like that.

 The last of them gathered before the Fold, each staring up with tired eyes. The trip had been far too much for any of them.

 Zoya, despite the blood crusted on her hairline, still looked an utter delight. Her eyes glistened like sapphires, her hair swayed behind her in waves of glorious black, and thanks to the use of her powers, her dark skin looked utterly divine... though Aleksa was certain Zoya Nazyalenski was simply divine at all times.

 Alina glowed like the sun above, even with dirt on her skin and blood on her hands. Her golden gown billowed around her and the jewels in her hair shone like stars dotted upon an expanse of twilight.

 They had both torn their eyes from the Fold to stare at the other Grisha in their midst. It was still odd to them both to see a Shadow Summoner before them, one so young and so very different from the man they had come to know.

 Aleksander had stood tall and regal, akin to a statue, a king... while Aleksa often shifted her weight to one leg, her head cocked with a sly smile. A General and a thief; they certainly looked their parts.

 Kaz stole a glance, he could see the fatigue sweeping over his Shadow, yet there was a glint in her eyes. It was one he'd seen frequently, rage. He always looked forward to that look; though most certainly not when it was rounded on him.

 He watched as she glared at the mass of shadows, her hands twitching. She'd mentioned back in the Crow Club how she had wanted nothing more than to tear the Fold down; that if she were the one to do it, then perhaps she'd roam the streets with shadows dancing on her fingertips without the fear of being carted off.

 Aleksa could feel it. The wall of darkness that stretched so high they'd topple over if they looked far enough — it taunted her. The last remnant of her dear brother, the very thing he'd promised they'd defeat together.

 She held Kaz's cane in one hand, poking it towards him to take. He did so without a word.

 She took a step and could hear the makings of words fade from Inej's tongue. Aleksa took another step, and then just one more as she stood face to face with her brother's past; his weapon, her inevitable future.

 She repeated her actions against the Volcra; hands flat against the shadows as she felt them squirm beneath her palm like a cluster of unruly bugs.

 Cas planted himself on her shoulder, answering the silent call.

 It was just another shadow. Like the ones she played with as a child, like the ones lining the shelves of Kaz's office... Like the Volcra. But was she strong enough?

 Her audience was silent behind her, bar the light steps Alina took until she was just a pace behind the thief. She could imagine their faces; Inej sporting a look of worry, but she knew their Wraith would be praying to her Suli Saints for her safety. Jesper with a look of concern as his fingers grazed over his pistols for comfort, his heart begging fo the sweet relief that came with the cards.

 Mal would likely have his eyes solely on Alina; the poor, besotted fool.

 And Kaz... She knew his face would be impassive. Lips in a thin line, hands clamped upon his cane. His brows were always a little crooked, the right always a little higher than the left, the shadows beneath his eyes would make them seem brighter even despite the dark coffee that swam within them.

 Her fingertips dug into the fold as though she was trying to rip it in two. A ripple began on her shoulder, a burst of power trailing through her blood and veins until it settled into the palms of her hands, nuzzling her like Cas always did. Her fingers went rigid as she tugged at the wall.

 It began to move, to obey her as she pulled with every ounce of strength left in her bones. A small hole where the shadows parted way for her; it grew bigger and bigger and Aleksa felt her head begin to pound and something trailed from her nose and down her lips.

 Blood was falling, toppling from her features as the shadows rippled and withered. They might have been taunting her, telling her that she was still the same little girl that Aleksander had deemed unready.

  But... they might have been begging her, too. They were kin, two shadows battling one another... it almost wasn't right. The shadows could have been warning her, telling their own kind that she should stop and wait. She had to grow and thrive... and she had to have someone by her side.

 It wasn't something to be conquered alone. The shadows would never truly give way to another of their kind... she could reduce it to ashes one day, but without the Sun Summoner to lend a guiding hand... it would never truly leave their world.

 Her legs buckled as she continued, ignoring the cries behind her. She was just too stubborn, too angry at everything that had transpired, the information she'd learned. Aleksander was gone, and this was the closest she could get to revenge...

  The hole grew greater and greater and then, it retaliated. Aleksa was pushed back, and yet in her wake, she'd left behind an indentation in the shadows. A mark. She'd put a hole in the fold.

 Alina was the one who steadied her, warm hands curling around Aleksa's blood-soaked arms, "We'll come back." She softly promised, yet her eyes hardened as she stared the fold down as though it was nothing more than a bully, "One day when we're both stronger, we'll tear it down together. I swear."

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DATE: 24/01/2023

:･ﾟ★ Alkesa? was a bit? of a girlboss? 

oh! if there's enough interaction on this part today, I may just post another chapter tonight or tomorrow! (only two chapters left for act one!)

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