Thinking about the teen with the pale hair that faded into blue made the man feel - well it made him feel and that was the root of it all. Emotions were not something he felt outside of muted aspects, fuzzy shades of gray on the corners of his senses.
He understood anger, because that was white hot and raging. He understood pain, because that was physical. He had a grasp on nostalgia, because Alkaid - Kaia - always brought that to the table when they met. Faintly he understood grief and sadness, because that was looking at his mother and seeing her as a shell of a person, lost to him like his father was lost except - Lara was alive and yet, she was still wasting away, unable to really keep fighting for life even for her son.
He understood what it meant to be bitter, because he was bitter against Iris for scaring him when he was young, he was bitter against the senshi because they were the reason he lost his dad, and he was bitter because he was a loyal solider boy who kept getting pushed and pushed, became more and more of a broken, splintered individual.
He did not know how to care, not in the sense that other people cared. He was a possessive person by nature. When he decided something was his, he gripped tightly and did not let go. It extended to people, to his recruits that he’d been gathering along the way.
Chase knew it was an unhealthy way to think, but he couldn’t stop if he tried.
But Regan was, well, different. He actually cared about her and that was what brought him to the garage weeks later with a folder full of newspaper clippings held tightly in his grip. It was late, as it always was when he came, and he pushed open the door without so much as a knock.
If she knew he was coming, she would turn him away and for once, Chase wanted push instead of just let Regan build a wall between them.
--
It had almost been three weeks since Alex had peeled her off the pavement and she had her first hospital visit. Her uncle had been informed, and in short, had taken more measures to ensure Regan’s safety. Camera’s lined the shop walls outside, as he told her that were directly streamed to inside the shop AND to his phone. He had also, in a fit of rage at how much damage had been done to her, invested in a rifle in his office and a Tazer for her.
She didn’t like either of the things, but if it made her uncle feel better, she would carry the tazer in her back pocket. News had spread through the shop and of course, pity almost choked her to the point where she came to the shop when everyone had left.
Something she wasn’t really allowed to do either. Her broken hand was functioning at half the rate she would need for real work, and the bright blue cast around it made her sigh. She hated it. She hated every single moment since she had stupidly asked Alex to take her to the hospital. She didn’t think she was suicidal, but she thought, perhaps, it would’ve been so much better to just let it all go.
The thoughts fermented and warped as she sat in her section of the garage, staring at the flowers, the cards. She missed….Hermes. She yearned for a ride where she didn’t have to think of such things.
In truth, she missed Alex. Her own fault though, for pushing the man away. For pushing the only person who might have some sort of understanding of her. She rested her head against the cabinet. The warning bell of someone entering, had her pushing herself up with her good hand and looking over at the person.
Surprised, she stared at Chase without so much as a word to say.
--
He didn’t know what to say, which was problematic because there were a lot of things he could say but he didn’t know where to start. Seeing her, and not having her tell him to leave, had an effect on him he wasn’t expecting. Chase felt like the world had tilted beneath him and then started spinning in the wrong direction.
“I know you told me to stay away,” he said slowly, easing the door closed behind him so that it clicked shut softly. He stepped toward her hesitantly, watching to see if she would shy away. He had to approach this gingerly, gently lest it end up with him stomping off all over again. Anger was something he relied on too much and - he wasn’t angry with her, he was never angry with her but the situation.
The parallels.
“I want you to go on one last ride with me.” There, he put it out there, manilla folder pressed firmly against his thigh. “I brought these with me,” he held the clippings out to her if she wanted to take them, “because they explain a lot. I - I’m not so good with words or explanations any more.” He used to be, but he was out of touch with his humanity.
Regan made him feel a little more human and that, in itself, was terrifying.
It should have made him walk away when she asked, to stay away, but he’d always been a glutton for punishment.
“I know what it's like Regan - to want freedom you don't think you deserve.”
--
“I did.” She added, but she didn’t ask why he was there now. For some reason, her heart raced. B...but the feeling was so overwhelming. Feeling of just...something of seeing him. It didn’t tilt her world, but it made her stiff, and confused.
She didn’t move as he came closer, because she had and wouldn’t shy away from Chase. No matter what her father had done, or the way she moved away from Fritz. Chase had never...NEVER harmed her. She looked at the folder, with its clippings. How they were important, she didn’t know, but she was curious.
She reached over. She took it. She read. She didn’t listen to him but she read, and what she saw, she now finally understood on her own. Whether she felt so easy with him before now, her shoulders sag when she saw why. Abusive fathers, she thought, could come in many forms. Her father bit with physical violence and scams. But Chase’s….
She set the folder down. Her hands clutched on the counter and then she let go.
“What do I do?” She whispered. “I don’t feel like I deserve it. I don’t feel like I deserve anything. So what do I do?”
--
The newspaper articles were about the technology tycoon that both Chase and his father had worked for, highlighting several events that he'd been dragged to - discomfort and unwillingness to go to - and there were financial articles that tried to pry into Samuel’s home life, spotlighted the rebel teenager who went to Azure. They talked about the rumors of the unhappy home life, where Chase had so much potential only to throw it away when he went disappeared. One in particular focused on Samuel’s rage at his missing son and how the boy had ended up in the hospital only to be whisked away, returning to the spotlight by his father’s side - dressed in the business attire his father had forced him into.
Then, the last one was an article centering around Samuel’s death and the speculation that Chase had played a hand in it. That one was the most worn, the one he hated more than anything.
He didn't explain, didn't tell her that the allegations were true because he'd hated his father - but he's never wanted the man dead.
“You take a small step. It's not easy, thinking you don't deserve anything that gives you pleasure,” he told her, surprised that his voice did not shake, that it was firm and strong. “Hermes was the first step after my father died,” he admitted quietly. “I never shared him with anyone else, until you.”
Perhaps his comment could be seen as romantic go some, but Chase trusted that Regan understood the importance. “I'm not going to tell you that you deserve to be happy Regan,” he stated kindly, or as kind as he could get, “because there are days when I don't feel like it's something I deserve but I saw you after the ride - “ a careful pause as he tugged on the pink tuffs of his hair “ - don't give that up and -” he sighed, swallowing hard. “Don't shut me out, I can help if you let me.”
--
“Small steps.” She shook her head. “How can I make a step...when I do, I am knocked back?” She held up her hand. “I enjoy something, but it gets taken away. Just as easily. He...he broke my hand.” She held it up and out. “I can’t fix bikes now.” She looked up at him. “It was suppose to be safe here, and I was suppose to…”
And then there was the bikes. She had fixed Hermes, and grown attached to him. Like Chase, surprisingly, the bike meant more to her then he wanted to know. It was something she prided herself on, and when he had offered to take her out, it became something she flew on. To share Hermes with her, and to know that it was also his first step, made Regan feel just a bit better. Just a bit more hopeful.
“I don’t know how not to give up.” She sighed, “I’m weak. A small female with a skinny body, who gets thrown around. I’ve never stood up for myself, and when I did...I almost died. I wan...I want to be like you-” She closed her eyes, “But I can’t stop thinking. What will happen next?” She looked at him and then sighed again.
“I was wrong. To tell you to go.” She rubbed her hand, “I have never had someone like you in my life. It scares me.”
--
“When you get pushed down, when your dad does - “ his jaw clenched at the thought of Paul touching Regan again “ - whatever he does, what do you? You get back up.”
He admired her ability to get up and put on a face like nothing was wrong. He just hated how many shades of himself he saw in her, his life was not an easy one for all of his privilege and hers was equally difficult. It was not something he wished upon her, but he would do he could to give her the tools to protect herself, when she let him.
“It’s not permanently broken right? Achilles and Hermes can wait.” An easy promise to give her even as he stepped closer, pulling the folder from her hand and setting it down on the floor. He smoothed his hands over his jeans and offered her the best attempt at a genuine smile.
“You’re not weak,” he told her firmly. He’d seen weak and that was not something he’d just to describe her. “I can teach you - I can - “ he stopped, frowning. “Let me show you a better, different way.” It felt weird, talking to someone with the intent of making their life better, easier. He was used to using his intimidation factor, and his strength hidden beneath his lean frame. It’d been too long since he’d used his words.
But he was going to try.
He offered her his hand, arched a brow hopefully. “Come on a ride with me, I want to show you something.”
--
“I’m getting tired.” She shook her head and closed her eyes. “So tired of fighting to survive. It’s not just him. It’s this system. One day. One day the system will just stop and then…” She was trying not to dwell. Trying not to fall any deeper. It always felt like the hole she was in, could get deeper. That her father could sink her lower. Six feet below, she thought. and under.
“No. It’ll heal. They said it’ll heal okay.” She took a deep breath, “There wasn’t anything he did, that would leave a scar. Not in the way of my body, or physically. They asked if I wanted a counselor. They tried…” She wetted her lips, “To take me from Chase. Except I’m 18, so they can’t. I don’t wanna fall into one of their...pity parties. I don’t want anymore strangers coming in.” She was so tired now, of the looks and the accusations and the speculations.
“Teach me?” She tilted her head, “A different way?” She was curious, but only because she trusted Alex. And she supposed, because she trusted him, that she was willing to see what it would be like. He didn’t make her worry or fear. It would be nice again, to enjoy just a glimmer of that. “If I am riding, you better take it slow.” She looked at his hand, and gnawed at her lip. Then she placed her good hand in his and by extension, accepted his offer.
It was like...If paul saw them again anyways, she wouldn’t have a chance. She bitterly thought, why not enjoy the ride one last time, in case something happened.
--
“It’s exhausting to live in fear of someone who should have loved you and instead did nothing but hurt you.” If there was any bitterness to him it was carefully concealed. Today was not about him, it was about her and he intended to keep it that way.
“If you let me help, I promise that I won’t let Paul hurt you again.” It was easy for him to make the promise, if he needed to lurk in the shadows as Labyrinthite to ensure Paul didn’t get a chance to touch her, he would do it. “I - I’m a safe space Regan.” Even if she thought he couldn’t follow through in his promise to keep her father from hurting her again, he could keep that one. “My places are safe too, if you need them.” He hadn’t taken her to his home, but he would if she asked.
At the very least she had his coffee shop.
His fingers closed over hers and he managed to smile, a soft real smile at her. He stooped to pick up the folder and led her out the door. Hermes waited a few short feet away, with a saddle bag that he’d slipped the folder into and then he pulled out the same helmet he’d brought for her last time. “Don’t worry, no crazy tricks this time, I’ll save them for when you’re better.”
In Chase’s opinion there would be more rides. Regan was his friend, the first friend he’d had outside of the Negaverse since before he’d become a general.
She was the first person in a long while, likely since Naomi or even Kaia, that he’d felt even the smallest connection to. Selfishly, he wanted to hold on to it.
“Ready?”
--
“I’d say it was funny, but it isn’t. If we can’t depend on the ones who raised us, who can we depend on?” The underlining each other slipped out, and she wanted to believe. She really wanted to believe that Chase could stop Paul. That Chase was was just more talk than words. Her uncle had tried though too, but his hands were tied by the legal system. In order for her uncle to maintain custody, after all, had been through behavior. Worthy of a child.
It was hard to believe someone after 6 years of never believing in someone. Something about Chase made it possible though.
And he was right. He was safe space. Ever since she had met him, she had never felt the need to argue, to fight. He understood, and he was careful with her. Gentle and patient. Those sort of things was what she needed. Not to be pushed and questioned.
She followed him to Hermes and felt the small thrill rise up again. Once, she thought had lost the chance to see the bike, but now. Now she was happy and excited and scared. Just weeks ago she had taken a ride and it landed her in the hospital. Now...what would it bring for her? She took a deep breath.
First steps. Big steps. She needed to trust Chase more. She took the helmet, stared at it and then ran her hand over it.
“How’d you know I would say yes?”
--
“When your personal family sucks, you build a new one.” That’s what he’d done, when he’d cut and run from his parents when he turned eighteen. Of course, too much had happened and now all that carefully pieced together family had crumbled. Chase had his mom and that was it.
But maybe he had Regan now. And Kat, and Suri, perhaps even Archer.
In the end though it all circled back to the girl with white hair and blue frosted tips. A relationship - however it manifested itself; friend, family, or otherwise - with her was more important to Chase than he’d like to admit.
“I didn’t but - I thought that if you were anything like me, you wouldn’t say no.” He reached for his helmet, resting on the handlebars, and ran his hands across the smooth matte surface. “I figured taking a leap of faith with you wouldn’t hurt.” The admission was quiet and it almost seemed like Chase was embarrassed by it. “You don’t realize it, but you’re a fighter and Co- god I didn’t want to give up on that.”
Whiskey eyes fixated upon the helmet and his head lifted, gaze shifting to meet hers. “I figured if I could take a leap of faith, maybe you’d be willing to too.” Chase made sure to pick the right words, it was clear that he wanted her to do certain things but ultimately the choice was, and would always, be hers.
She trusted him because he didn’t push or force her and here he was trying to respect that.
“I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do.” When he was training his recruits when he was Labyrinthite, he had no problem forcing them to do things they didn’t but that wasn’t who he was currently. Right now he was simply Chase and right now she was just Regan.
If she decided that she wanted to be more than just Regan, well, they’d cross that bridge when they got there.
--
“I’ve been trying to…” She mumbled, thinking of her uncle, who had been nothing short of just amazing to her. Like Alex, Chase shared something in her heart. A place she thought she wanted to keep safe. A place to hold them dear. They were, she thought, very important people to her. She didn’t want to think that Alex was for sure, but something inside said that even if she didn’t want to now, that in the future would be different.
“We’re very alike, aren’t we?” She observed and tilted her head, “I shouldn’t have tried to push you away.” She sighed, “I had a deep hope that you wouldn’t leave me here, and I didn’t think about it till now really. Maybe...I have a lot of faith in you too.” Hope and faith, two words she never really thought she would cling to till tonight. HIs admission of her being a fighter made her blink and then look at the ground. “Is that what I am doing? Am I still fighting?” Wasn’t she though. What another realization. No matter how she said she thought she was better just giving in and dying, everything she did was to scrap by. To keep going. Her face fell into a thoughtful frown. “You almost know me, better then me.” Maybe perhaps because she was the beginning of the same struggle he had went through.
“I know. I know you won’t.” She tugged the helmet on and waited to clamber on after him, taking deep breaths as pain racked. She couldn’t do anything but power through that. “I’m trusting you. Safe space.” She took another deep breath. “I’m trusting you.”
--
“I understand why you did,” he replied easily, unbothered by the fact that she’d pushed him away at all. He’d done the same thing when he’d been younger. “Yeah, but maybe that’s why - “ he paused, swallowing the words down his throat quickly because they were cheesy and suited for something much different than whatever Regan and Chase were to each other. “I won’t leave you alone Regan,” he said instead, soft and quiet as he slid onto Hermes.
“I know you didn’t mean it - at the hospital.”
It was the primary reason he’d taken a chance and shown up at her door again. If he thought that she actually wanted him out of her life, he would’ve respected that and left it. “You were scared and you were hurting because you went after something you wanted and it crumbled into dust right in front of you.”
Chase had never forgotten what it felt like when he went after Kaia and was forced to watch as the world fell apart around him because of Samuel. “I don’t think that’s true, I just pay attention,” he told her, looking back at her over his shoulder, brow cocked expectantly.
“Place your faith in me and I promise I won’t let you down.” A promise he didn’t know if he could keep but damn if he wasn’t going to try at least. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
--
“I don’t mean most of it….” She nodded, “Most of it, I’m just scared.” She thought of Fritz. Of her time talking to him. He wasn’t like Chase, just a bit more pushier, a bit more scary to allow herself to fully trust, but there was something forming between them too, and it was something she wasn’t sure what to do with yet.
Her trust easily fell into Chase’s lap as he started the bike, and her heart all but lept in her chest. Hermes roared with life and she felt it, soaked it up. She was ready to fly again, even after such a brutal beating.
Like a baby bird. She was ready to know.
“Long as it isn’t some weird stuff, I’m ready when you are.” She was curious and apprehensive. What sort of secret would he share with her? She wondered.
--
“No judgement,” he answered not expanding on that train of thought because he knew he didn’t need to. Understanding didn’t always need to be verbalized. He waited for her to get settled behind him, making sure her grip is strong around his waist before he pushes of the ground and they take off into the dark of the night.
He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t bother to try and make small talk as they ride, opts to let the roar of the engine and the whooshing of the crisp air fill the silence.
The ride is beautiful, in his opinion, with the stretch of road curving beneath them and the line of the city growing smaller and smaller as they go further and further. Eventually the city buildings meld into old warehouses and then - there’s nothing but the expanse of road before them, barren stretches of land that aren’t quite desert but not quite just stone either. That too fades, morphing into an expanse of trees that stretch into the dark, inky, night sky that’s littered with the twinkling of a hundred, thousand stars.
They’re bright and terribly visible without that city lights obstructing their ability to shine.
Finally, Chase pulled to a stop, coming off the road and to the side. He was careful when he halted, worried about jostling Regan and her broken ribs. He slid off first, then extended both arms out to her in an offer of help.
He didn’t know if she would take it, but he knew that she wouldn’t ask for it so he offered anyway.
“I wanted to take you out of the city, show you one of my favorite places and talk.” The unspoken, you or me or both of us. “I know I look scrawny and like I might not be able to hold my own, but I’m more capable than you know. If you wanted, if you let me. I’d dispose of your father.” His teeth grit together when he spoke of Paul. “I could teach you how to protect yourself too, if you’d prefer that and - “ a pause and a slight frown.
“I could give you the power to be more if you wanted.”
--
Regan’s gaze fell to the lights as they passed. It was probably silly, but as they past them, with a speed she would never have as a human, she thought of them like shooting stars. It was like a path in the galaxy and she was riding down it. Her body relaxed into the ride, and soon the shooting stars became one in a few and far in between. The lights faded and buildings ran lower and lower. They were out of the city, she thought, and into the suburbs. Homes, houses, places she could never really feel a connection to...those pass by quickly as well.
The road turned and shifted, and she lifted her head now, resting it against his back and watching as the city turned into dark foreboding woods. They passed by in a blur and she couldn’t help feel sad that they didn’t slow in their ride. Though she wouldn’t consider herself part of nature, she had a fondness for the quiet solemness it brought. The stars returned, though much more farther away, and more quieter then the shooting lights of the city. When he stopped, she took a deep breath and looked up, pulling off her helmet and taking a moment to soak in the setting. Far away from the city, far away from Paul.
She almost didn’t take his hands, but trust came with knowing that he didn’t want anything from her but to help, and she wanted to open herself up a little bit at a time. So she took his hands and slid off the bike, with a small grunt of pain. Much worst if she tried on her own, she thought.
His words though startled her and had her hands falling again.
“You offered it once before.” Regan stared at him and then looked over his form. “Scrawny? Is that what they call you?” She didn’t think so. He wasn’t the bulk of Paul but she didn’t think that didn’t make him more or less lethal. But she wasn’t sure what the young man meant, and so she crossed her arms.
“I’ve never desired anything more than to survive.” She murmured, “but if you were to give me something, what would it be?” She laughed bitterly, “A gun to shoot him, a knife to stab him. Poison, to cripple him. Should I return his violence, with violence of my own?”
--
She took his offered hands and he helped her as carefully as he could, before letting one hand pull away so he could yank his own helmet off. The other wrapped a little more tightly around Regan’s. “I would prefer it,” he said slowly, looking at the trees that lined their backs, “if we moved away from the road.” His whiskey-colored eyes took a second to leave her blue ones when he looked up and down the road, then behind them again. “There’s a clearing that I think you might like. Gives a nice open view of the sky, and the stars.”
It was one of his favorite places, he’d come to learn, when he first stumbled upon it on one of the first real rides he’d taken on Hermes. It was something, like Hermes, he hadn’t shared with anyone else, but he didn’t mind sharing it with her. Chase probably wouldn’t admit it, but somehow, somewhere along the way since he’d stepped into her garage, Regan had become irrevocably important.
He started down the slightly worn path in the grass towards the trees, tugging Regan along gently with a loose enough grip that she could slip free if she wanted. He’d let her, as long as she followed and he was confident that she would. “Your father looked at me like I was nothing more than a child.” One that could be smacked and pushed away and it had left him angry.
“I’d give you power Regan, to take matters into your own hands. No weapons outside what you may want, outside of your own hands if that suits you.” He swallowed, considering how to continue. “I’m not commending the violence if that’s not what you want. It’s - “ he hesitated because he didn’t know how to explain how violence was very central to his life and his dealings.
“I want to give you the power to protect yourself, what you do with it after, is up to you - “ a longer pause this time as they moved out from the shadows of the tree trunks and their foliage. The clearing had barely barely blossoming white flowers and was bathed in a mix of moonlight and starlight. A beautiful contrast to the industrial look of Destiny City. “I’d like to help guide you, but everything is your choice Regan.”
Chase planned on never taking away choice from her.
--
“Ominous.” She looked at him with a raised brow. “You aren’t gonna like trap me in the woods right.” She only managed to crook the side of her mouth in a sort of half joke, half grin. She had seen movies, of how the forest could hold dangers. What was it...on her borrowed netflix. Into the woods, or something like that.
She blinked as she was tugged along, but followed easily enough behind the man. Her hand did at one point slip out, because the close contact and the need to feel like she was following with her own two feet, overrode the need to completely trust him. She was still an independent soul, and slowly adjusting to having someone who mattered as much.
“Paul looks at everyone like they are children.” She didn’t feel the need to apologize for her father, but something about Chase’s tone made her wonder, if he was worried that he really could.
“Violence is not something I think I could handle.” She said it simply, “But it doesn’t mean that I can’t learn. Forgiving...that’s much harder, I think.” She huffed, “So you keep saying, but your crypticness makes me wonder if I really had a choice after all.” She rose a brow, “I think, the universe has been leading me to whatever you are offering for a long time.” She let her arms cross again.
“So tell me. What is it you are offering?” She made a face, “No weapons right?”
--
“That depends,” he replied, glancing at her with a wolfish smile, “on if that’s what you want me to do.” Signs of the charming boy Chase once was slipping through as he spoke.
The smile faded and his expression darkened as he walked forward, putting space between them once she’d released his hand. When he changed, he didn’t want to be too close to her. He’d hurt people by being in their vicinity when he made the switch, he wouldn’t make the mistake with her.
He was safe for her and he had every intention of maintaining that.
“Looking at people like that will be his downfall.” One day, Chase was certain, Paul would look down upon him and Regan and then that would be the end.
“I am being cryptic because I never know who is listening and what I’m about to show you is, honestly? Very dangerous, but I trust you Regan so I’m going to show you.” He moved backward, hands spread out at his sides and then - he inhaled and exhaled.
By the time his breath fully left his lips Chase no longer stood in front of her, instead, there was General Labyrinthite. His leather jacket had been replaced by the overcoat of his uniform and over that, was his billowing cloak, hood drawn up over his hair. His eyes had been closed when he let the shift from civilian to soldier overtake him and he opened them slowly, regarding the girl with minor anxiety mixed with anticipation.
“Magic is a very real thing Regan,” he said slowly, looking a little panicked and worried that she might reject him. “And I have the ability to awaken it within you.”
--
Her face was completely blank for a moment. “No.” She said as an afterthought. She did not want him trapping her in the woods for whatever he wished to do. Cause, well….what was he going to do for real? She wondered just a little bit.
“It most likely will.” She tilted her head and then stared at Chase as his outfit changed. Everything about him changed. His presence was much darker and his stance changed. Instead of the easy going more relaxed Chase, she felt like she was looking at a wild tiger. One that could pounce at anything. One wrong move. In her mind, she saw the gleaming metal as it came for her throat.
And the image was gone. And she was staring at a man who wasn’t Chase, but was.
She was not the touchy feely sort. So she walked a full circle around him, then came to stand in front of him.
“What are you?” There was curiosity. Not judgement. There was intrigue, not Denial. “How do you know if I am magical?”
--
Chase always stood straighter when he was General Labyrinthite. An air of power and strength encompassed his entire being that didn’t exist in quite the same manner when was plain old Chase Black. “Like this - “ he paused, head cocked slightly “- I am called Labyrinthite and I am a general of the Negaverse.”
He let it sink in for a minute even though he suspected that she wouldn’t know what that meant.
“It’s a - magical organization that is set on protecting the Earth among other things. The magic that grants you this form hurts, at first, but it also provides you with strength, power, privileges you might not have otherwise.” He swallowed hard, tongue running across his lips in a nervous gesture. “I deal with a weapon, and I’m very good at it, but I wouldn’t force usage upon you outside of what you needed for self-defense.” He extended his left arm out, inhaled and in his hand his bone-scythe began to form in his hand.
It was heavy and arched forward despite the one hand gripping, and holding, it strongly. The curve of the beak-blade glistening in the moonlight.
“I have been apart of this for - years now and it has helped shaped me. It’s provided me with things I never thought I should have or really deserved and - “ he took a shaky breath when he banished the weapon and took a tentative step forward.
“I don’t know if you are, but my gut says you are and it hardly ever leads me astray and well - we could try.”
--
“Labyrinthite.” She struggled with the word for just a moment, slowly repeating it. “Is that some type of mineral?” Most of them ended in the -ite sound beyond the more common ones.” She wished to touch the attire and make sure it was real, and not really some illusion that was hidden in here.
“The negaverse? What’s that?” It sounded like...super sketchy at the moment. Perhaps because she didn’t understand the organizations around destiny city anyways. She had, and always been obsessed with her small slice of safety.
Even this place, was very new to her.
“Well, that’s certainly...uh..a scythe.” She blinked and tried to think of something else. “Very sh..sharp?” Like did he want a compliment? Did she compliment his weapon? Did he kill people with it? Perhaps that’s what he meant when he said take care of Paul. Morally, she saw no problem with it. Logically, she was very curious. And he seemed so hesitant with her.
“Well, with you, it’s all about trying, so I wouldn’t be opposed to trying this as well.” She looked up, “If it hurts, you’ll take care of it. I’m not scared of pain.” She shrugged. “What’s a little more, for something that could be more beneficial to me….and perhaps to you?”
--
Most people didn’t question his name, but then again, Regan was not most people so he nodded after a beat of surprise. “It is,” he answered slowly, “we take up mineral names to ensure that our regular identities do not get compromised. For safety.” He would better explain glamour to her after, once she had her own to consider.
He could tell she wanted to touch so he approached her carefully, weapon sent back to subspace because there was no need for it here. Regan was safe with him, he was sure of that.
“You can touch, it’s real.” Everything about him was real. “The Negaverse is...an army give or take. I am more or less a soldier.” One of the elite as the thought himself. “A General. It will - “ he sighed. He wasn’t good at this, the whole explaining thing. Not when he cared.
“Okay, I - “ he reached his gloved hand out, hovering in the space above her chest. “I have to touch you. Well, that’s not quite true but it’s the same concept,” he admitted. “It’s not about me Regan, this is about you. I’m just a benefit.”
--
“I see, you won’t get in trouble then, for telling me?” She, of all the things, really didn’t want the man to get in trouble for revealing himself. “If it’s for your protection…” It meant there was a enemy by far worst then her father...Some people out there much scarier.
She did touch his uniform once. It was quick small touch of fabric before she let go and clenched her hand. Very real, and it wasn’t like he faded into some weird half illusion. The uniform didn’t feel soft or hard. Coarse maybe.
“General is a pretty high rank.” She tilted her head and then stopped, “This is a recruitment. Will I serve under you as a soldier?” His hand came towards her and she didn’t mean to flinch, her body moving on her own. She looked down on it. “Well….” She hesitated, “We….ok...okay.”
--
“Unless you’re on the other side no.”
He hadn’t even considered it as a possibility but he also was sure she wasn’t. His gut told her that he could trust her and it never led him astray. “It’s only a recruitment if you want it and - “ he paused, gave her question careful consideration before nodding. “I’d like it if you were.” If Regan fell under him then he’d be able to protect and teach her without interference from anyone else, besides the general-sovereigns.
“Sometimes I’ll seem harsh, cruel even but it is out of my intent to prepare you for the harshness of war.” He was bringing her into danger, he knew, but he was also offering strength and power, tutelage. “I’ll protect you though, don’t ever worry about that.’
Labyrinthite took care of his own.
So he reached, slipped his hand into that space where the starseed rested, fingers gingerly curling around the crystal. Then, he inhaled and closed his eyes to focus and opened up the chaos channel. It funneled forward, tried to seep into the gem but it wasn’t working. Something was wrong. It wasn’t like Wolfeite or Tourmaline.
He pulled back immediately, looking troubled.
She nodded, taking a deep breath. In order for her to bond though, instead of closing her eyes like most would, she left them open and watched him. When his hand sank into his chest, she gasped. The pain hurt, more then she had really thought and her reaction was to grip his arm and tear it away.
Instead she gently laid her hand on it and waited, for whatever would happen next with it. When he pulled back, her gaze fell down and she looked at him.
“...I’m not good enough am...I?” It stung a bit, but perhaps she wasn’t meant for greater things. Perhaps she wasn’t meant for power. Perhaps. Perhaps she wasn’t meant for freedom again.
Her heart felt crushed, and the small flicker of hope started to dwindle.
--
“That’s not - “ he stopped, swallowing hard as he curled his fingers into his glove, retracted the hand and pressed it against his chest. His heart beat rapidly in his chest from the confusion, the disappointment, the worry. “You’re good enough Regan,” he said firm, looking more determined than when he’d walked into her garage that night. “I don’t have the capability to awaken you. That’s not - it’s not your fault it’s mine.”
Here, Labyrinthite was not strong enough to tear open the chaos channel and flood her with what was necessary. It made him angry, though it was an emotion that simmered beneath the surface, lightly lidded as to not alarm the white haired girl.
He didn’t want to have to ask for help, he didn’t want whomever Metallia would send him.
It was selfish, and foolish, of the general to think that he could awaken the dormant power within Regan and keep her a secret, but he’d hoped. Had wanted.
But disappointment was what he got for wanting he supposed.
“I have to call for assistance,” he admitted reluctantly, looking irritated at the prospect. “There is a rank above mine, that directly serves the source of my magic, they can do what I cannot, but I have to call for them.”
Oh how he didn’t want to, especially if it ended up being Laurelite. He didn’t trust her and she’d likely be irritable from all of her injuries but -
He didn’t know who else would come.
Labyrinthite - Chase - would deal if it meant bringing Regan into his world. They shared enough experiences, what was one more?
--
“Oh.” She mulled on the words for a moment and then pursued her lips. Magic was confusing and weird and she wasn’t quite sure she could understand it. She believed him, after all his transformation...and his hand in her chest without doing anything to the skin? She had made sure to feel over to see if any new wound appeared but it was still the same soft skin.
“You don’t want too?” She tilted her head, trying to understand his reluctance, though at the same time, she felt it. She didn’t want another doing what he had just done to her. A stranger? She didn’t want a stranger, no matter what kind of power they gave to her. It just..I wouldn’t be the same.
“If you can call them, they’ll help you…” She despised the idea of it but...but for Chase, she could bear with it, if it meant that she could become something a little more. “It’s okay, if you want too.” She looked at him, “Will you still be here?”
--
He didn’t answer her.
Labyrinthite didn’t answer because he didn’t know how to. He couldn’t begin to fathom how he was going to explain the complex swirl of emotions in his chest when he thought of introducing her to one of them so soon. “I’d been hoping to keep this between you and I, without them involved, for a little,” he said finally. His gloved hand, the one that had dipped into her chest, moved his pant’s pocket, fishing for the square purple crystal.
“I would have liked the chance to introduce you to this new life alone, before I had to mar it with anyone else.” Not being able to awaken her was punishment for his selfishness, for daring to want.
He should have known better.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said very firmly, tentatively reaching out his other hand to grasp at her shoulder. “They couldn’t make me leave okay?”
They were kindred spirits and somehow, somewhere, she became important to him and, Labyrinthite protected his own, took care of them. He - Chase - thought of her as one of his. It was that simple.
So, General Labyrinthite made the call to whomever was listening.
pixie nyxie
the space cauldron
We would prefer Laurelite because of her history with Labyrinthite, but will take whomever is available
