“The Void is what lies beyond all of creation. We know so little about and yet it holds and surrounds everything we care about.”

~Master Ziv Kirit, the Spiritualist of the Spirit

Kouki

Now that I have permission to take Noches down, it’s time to sow the final seeds. The first of which is in Boreas city, particularly in the North Gaia’s Guardian City Police headquarters. That name’s a mouthful. This seed is a very special person and one I have to handle very carefully. Let me think through my logic. I need to present myself to be nothing short of helpless and vulnerable and I need to do it in a place that’s also advantageous to Noches. It needs to be an opportunity so good that her natural instincts of greed will kick in and she’ll take the bait. That’s all well and good but I can already see a few problems that need solving.

A.) Not actually being vulnerable while appearing to be.

B.) Finding a way to force that conclusion into her mind. It’s not like I can just send her a letter saying “Hey, I have my pants down and cheeks spread so come murder me.” Well, it’s more like only a complete moron would believe a letter from me saying that.

C.) I have to accomplish my other equally important goal. That promise might be old and I’m certain it won’t be held against me, but my word is bond and I always honor my agreements.

In any case, the first thing I need to do is sneak in. Which isn’t too difficult outside of suppressing my arcana signature. The darkness of night conceals my entrance into the city and I find myself travelling by rooftop until I get to the GCP HQ. Now for the actual risky part. My familiarity with their security is helpful, but still there’s no need to get sloppy. My spirit sight identifies the usual wards and enchantments on the walls. I’ve easily skirted past them countless times. Just an easy leap from the building I’m perched on to the top of the wall and a short drop into the campus courtyard. From here it’s a straight shot to the dormitories. With a little luck I can be in and out. I make my landing on the soft grass and my mistake becomes apparent: The security was upgraded. I triggered a new Arc-tech artificial ward on my way down. They’ve gotten clever over the years. Gathering my strength, I scramble towards the dorm's door but it’s too late. I can already hear the thing I was trying to avoid coming.

*CHINK CHINK*

The distinct sound of the White Queen armor and it’s coming up behind me. For that extra oomph of difficulty the dorm door opens to reveal the owner of the armor. The big boss herself, captain of Guardian City Police: Josephine Bijou. My wife. I might as well count the seconds till the armor shows up. Whelp, stealth has officially been taken off the table...might as well start the sweet talk now before the fighting begins.

“If it isn’t my sun and star herself.”

*CHINK CHINK*

We make eye contact and you’d think that would de-escalate the situation. Unfortunately the last time I was here I told her that I was going to bury this whole matter then disappeared. Her eyebrows furrough, intensifying her gaze. Then she says one thing.

“Kouki, I’ve missed you.” There are very few things that hurt my feelings, but that’s one of them. Sure, on the surface, “I’ve missed you” sounds wonderful. However, her face reveals her real words and honestly...those words aren’t worth me repeating. Anybody who knows better would be drowning in their own sweat right about now. She’s clearly angry with me and I’m almost surrounded.

*CHINK CHINK*

Just gotta diffuse this situation. I put on my most charming smile, pivot my body to make myself a smaller target while making it easier to run away.

“Josey, I'm sorry. I had the perfect idea and now..well I can’t tell you about that but…look it wasn’t my intention to go after Noches. I only went for another promise and I’m so close to fulfilling it. Besides, I brought you roses, a bottle and steak.”

I expect a succinct, brutal and absolutely unagreeable response.

“We can enjoy those...after you wake up. If you wake up.” With a bit of nervous laughter I further try my hand at calming the situation.

“I’ll sweeten the deal, I bought some expensive massage--” She starts walking towards me...menacingly. “Not a big fan of the way you’re approaching me.” She spits her retort out so smoothly like we’ve had this conversation a thousand times.

“I can’t beat the shit out of you without getting closer.”

The menacing walk becomes a charge. Preparing my body, my elbows go up in anticipation of the first strike. My elbow meets her fist, cutting off the punch before it reaches full power. The ground erupts and in that chaos I don’t see the second fist, theWhite Queen’s fist coming from behind. With full force it goes straight into my face, blasting me into the courtyard wall.

*BOOM…….CRASH*

“Ow! That wasn’t nice, I hope you realize my sore jaw is gonna be your problem later. Using your armor to sneak up on me is a neat trick though.” Clearly this fight is unavoidable. That means I need to stop suppressing my arcana. The smoke gives me cover so I take a deep breath and draw arcana into myself, creating surges of lightning that flow off of my body, upheaving the ground. Giant pieces of rubble float around me. My lightning condenses focusing into chains. She sends the White Queen into the smoke and I send it back out riding it into the ground in front of her. I wrap my chains around two of the bigger pieces of debris, jump up and slam them into it. Josephine jumps to meet me in the air, arm cocked and ready to strike...But I’m ready for it. My chains break and reform. One slings around her body, immobilizing her while another attaches to an anchor point. With pure strength I pull her in too fast for her to unload that bomb she calls a fist. It’s over and she knows it. The connection to the anchor point allows us to land softly and with me on top. Making eye contact, I’m in kissing distance.

When we’re this close it’s hard not to take in her unparalleled beauty, her golden radiant soft skin and luscious curly hair. Her scent of vanilla, those honey colored eyes that can paralyze and these perfect pouty lips adorned with red lipstick. She’s like a perfect oasis in the desert and I’d give an arm to drink from her. Casually mounting a goddess is usually bad for your health but, I’m willing to risk it. I didn’t want to avoid her because of the fight I knew we’d have. No, the dangerous part is in how easily she makes me forget my purpose. My love for her is the kind that melts ambition and eviscerates any desire to fulfill responsibility. She’s a void, a single person that encompasses everything I need and care for. A void that I can never truly escape and moreover I don’t want to. She struggles underneath my weight and my arcana force. She knows she can’t overpower me, at least in this situation. I normally wouldn’t mind letting her tire herself out but, the friction is inspiring impure thoughts.

“Are we done here? If we keep up like this, the ground isn’t the only thing that’s going to rise.” She rolls her eyes and pouts. Let me tell you, the way she did that is so cute. It’s rare that failing at stealth is so rewarding.

“Fine, Ko. But you better have that steak or we’re doing this again and I’m actually gonna take it seriously.”

End~