WE TWO GHOSTS
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⤷ an original story ⤶
coming soon to patreon!
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

PROLOGUE

The frigid air was silent; as cold and unforgiving as a dead man's breath. A single man with hair of deep blue cosmos walked among the rage and ruin of the dilapidated building, carefully overstepping the lifeless bodies strewn about haphazardly in his way.

It was as if a hurricane had ripped through the room, killing nearly everyone and sparing only two.

A broken sob pierced the atmosphere, echoing against the aged stone and overturned metal furniture, causing the man to stop in his tracks, observing the endless darkness of shadows cast upon the wreckage.

"Harvey?" The voice was ridden with tears, sounding raspy and quiet.

"I'm here." The blue haired man responded instantaneously, side stepping a large, crumbling brick in his hunt for the source of the voice.

Iridescent beams of light emitted from the few open windows, warming Harvey's minimally exposed skin with shimmering gold-tinted rays, revealing a drying splatter of dark reddish-brown substance along his pale cheek and rustled-up shirt collar.

He momentarily grabbed the end of his tie with his unoccupied hand and used it to wipe the blood from his chin, relieving the incessant itch it had begun to cause. The other hand stayed practically limp at his side, a cooling revolver residing in a loose grip.

"It's over." Harvey spoke again, absentmindedly using one polished black boot to nudge a stiff, outstretched arm away from his chosen path. "We need to report."

His eyes finally fell on the figure he'd been searching for, curled in on themselves as far as one could get from the settling horror within the room.

"Will," Harvey tried, keeping his voice level with an almost disturbing air of serenity, "We need to report back to the league, get up."

The man that Harvey now stood over had toffee coloured skin, light blond hair, and a wildly terrified look in his tearful eyes.

"I killed him." Will uttered softly, his gaze returning to his lap where he carefully cradled a shiny black pistol.

"That was the job." Harvey dismissed, glancing around at the casualties that he and his partner had created. "You did the job."

Will shook his head quickly, "I don't wanna do this again. I don't want missions like this, Harv, I-..." His voice faded off into nothingness, leaving a stale sadness in its wake.

Harvey sighed slightly, turning away from his traumatised partner and lifting a silver moon-engraved pocket watch from his pressed slacks, pressing down the crown and watching it snap open to reveal a clock face and miniature compass within the compact instrument.

"Mission report. Move to complete." He muttered to the unassuming device. A click was heard, followed by a distinct mechanical whirring.

The man waited for a second confirmation click before tucking the watch away once again.

"You gonna be okay?" Harvey asked, returning his revolver to his belt loop holster in favour of placing a cautious hand on his distressed partner's shoulder.

Will shuddered uncomfortably under the feather-light touch, looking as though his entire body had been plunged into icy cold water, his lips and nose twitching faintly with every suppressed sniffle... It was clear to Harvey that he wouldn't be getting a coherent response from the man anytime soon.

They sat in the stillness of the imposing structure a little longer, settled semi-comfortably into the ravenous atmosphere until the exact moment a light crack sounded out against the irreparable wasteland that had become of their situation.

Harvey's posture straightened almost instinctively at the coming of a new presence, yet he held himself in a dormant sort of pose, recognizing the non-threatening figure before they had made themselves known.

A distinct clicking began to sound out from the darkness, causing Will to flinch at the sharp noise as it progressively got closer.

"You boys have made quite the mess." The voice was feminine and stern, though the pleased smile that revealed itself as she entered into the light gave away to her careless disposition, "Congratulations on completing your mission, Agents."

"Yeah," Harvey returned in a bored tone, pulling a pair of red-stained white gloves from his blazer pocket, "Thanks."

The woman's heels continued to clack uncomfortably loud against the stone as she advanced to her intended destination, stopping just in front of Harvey, looking up at him given the stark difference in height.

"You're to return to the league, Agent Tarot." She uttered, tapping a perfectly manicured nail against her pristine wristwatch, the weak sunlight refracting off the encrusted white gemstones surrounding the face.

"Understood." Harvey nodded, tucking his gloves back in his pocket when he'd noticed the previously clean, primed silk had become an almost alarming shade of rosewood pink.

Despite his previous word of acknowledgement for his next task, Harvey hesitated for a moment, turning slightly to glance at Will, who remained curled in on himself, refusing to say a thing, still shivering slightly, his eyes red and glossy.

"Agent Demolition won't be far behind." The woman assured kindly, though her eyes stayed rather neutral, giving away to her inattentive nature.

"Right." He dismissed, rolling his shoulders and tugging at the ends of his sleeves, removing the wrinkles that had developed in the material, remaining unbothered as the woman pressed her index finger against her wristwatch.

He simply watched as his hand seemingly turned to dust before his eyes, beginning to fall apart in a swirl of ashen mist.

The line between reality and speculation altered. Harvey's vision blurred. Calamity became tranquillity. Barbarity became kindness. His mind cleared as though the crimson-coated memories had been carved away, leaving only an indifferent statue of cold, plain marble. An outer shell. A layer of protection for the vibrant past within.

author's note

as promised as part of our Thankmas fundraising efforts, I'm sharing the prologue teaser to an original story i've been working on (: eventually this story will be posting exclusively to patreon— but let me know what you think of this little chapter! ♥️