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Word Count: 3546

~Zayla

I wander over to Fate, kicking sand with every step. He glances up from what he was reading. Noticing that I'm approaching, he sets the book down on his lap. He regards me silently, as I fall into a seat beside him, careful of the lunch he had set out on the table in front of us.

"I'm bored of this place," I remark.

Fate raises a brow, letting it disappear under a fringe of cobalt hair. "Is that right?'

"Yes, it is," I reply, leaning back in my chair, letting the sun peaking over the side of the cave lip shine right across my upper body. "I'm sitting here doing nothing."

"Are you not putting your master plan into play?" Fate ask, sipping out of a fine china tea cup, watching me over the rim.

I tilt my head. "Master plan?"

At this point, my master plan involved the longest con possible. I've come to realise that brute force and quick wit isn't going to get me anywhere with Fate. If I have it, Fate probably has a version of it on steroids. So, I've concluded that my best way to get out of here, after accidentally rejecting Sinful's offer, is to take my time. I need to deal with him, rather than run and put my family in danger.

"Well I assume you have something up your sleeve to eventually escape this place," he comments, picking up a spoon to swirl the content of his cup around.

I roll my eyes, perhaps stressing my position too heavily. "Please."

"I can't be too crazy for assuming that," he notes. He's not at all. In fact, we both know that a plan is brewing somewhere beneath the surface. Right now, it's just easier to pretend like everything is just fine. "You should eat something."

"I'm not hungry," I reply, my eyes scanning the table laden with food right in front of me. "And you already seem to have taken my stone, and watched me train my whole life for combat, to turn me immortal and render those skills useless."

Fate looks surprised, but not for the reason I think he is. "You're not hungry? You're always hungry at this time of the day."

My nose scrunches up. Typical of him to mention my eating habits as an attempt to distract me.

"Can we get back to what we were talking about earlier?"

"Sure," Fate says smoothly, before he motions down to the table. I've been trying to ignore my hunger, considering the importance of my plan instead. "Once you eat that bread roll."

The idea is to get Fate to take me out of here. I would prefer going back to the mortal lands. Not to escape, but to find out something about Fate. Anything. As long as it gets me a little
deeper into his mind, that he protects with such ease. His past is like a blank slate to me. Anything could have turned him into the man he is today. Whatever it is, my plan is to figure out what.

When Fate seems adamant not to reply until I've eaten something, I swipe up the mentioned bread roll, and bite a piece off. He watches me chew quickly, and then slowly.

"Alright, I'm eating it. Happy?"

"Quite," he exclaims with a slight smile, setting his cup down on the table. "And I didn't take that stone of yours. You lost it."

My eyes narrow on him. "I had it for a reason."

"It never actually worked, you know," he remarks casually.

I cough, neatly choking on the bread stuffed into my mouth. An amused smile dancing at his lips as I sweep up a glass of water on the other side of the table. It's probably his, but I hardly care as I take a few lifesaving sips, and set the glass down.

"What do you mean?" I question, my fists clenched slightly by my side in utter frustration.

"I'm Fate. Do you seriously think a small stone is going to stop me from seeing your emotions? My existence allowed for that stone to exist. Get it?" He explains, much to my disgust. Since he can sense my emotions clearly now, I hope he is receiving a face full of seething disdain.

I take in a shaky breath before I reply. "So you just let me wander around thinking I had an upper hand over you?"

"Absolutely."

My teeth grit. "Pig."

"Creative vocabulary," he provokes, raising an eyebrow and my heated glare. Only Fate would have the audacity to poke fun at someone's word choice while they are angry. In my opinion, the nickname fits his nature perfectly.

"I want out," I say finally.

I'm keeping to my plan. I'm keeping every idea from now on, unless Fate has something else up his sleeve. It won't surprise me, at least. It will be something cruel that will mix the atmosphere between us up dramatically. I'll learn to adapt. I have done so far.

"Out where?"

"Anywhere. Somewhere that involves people. Normal people," I declare. I've been in this place for a few weeks now. Nearly a month, in fact. I haven't seen another mortal face in a long time.

"You hate immortals," Fate remembers. "Why would you even entertain the idea of wanting out?"

My eyes narrow on him, as I realise his intentions. His trust is as low as mine is for him, and he's clearly not about to let me out to the mortal lands. There, almost anyone could recognise me. I was hoping for this so someone could get back to my brother about it. At least he would know I'm alive, and to some degree, safe.

"Can't you take me to the mortal lands? It doesn't even have to be my Pack," I argue. It's pointless doing so, but pressing is authority and having him know it is satisfying.

"That's not about to happen."

"Please?"

"As much as you say please tugs at the good in me, I have to hear you ask one more time," he says, testing my patience.

That's the frustrating part about Fate. Or at least, having a conversation with him. He has this uncanny ability to allow you a small bit of leash before he yanks you back in. The moment you climb to the top of the conversation, and begin commanding it from there, he comes up from behind with some kind of antagonising remark.

"Has anyone ever told you you're insufferable?" I ask, breathing out to calm my tense muscles.

"Of course," he admits, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "And that person is you. Many times, in fact."

"You'd think you would get the point by now," I mutter under my breath, not necessarily intending for him to hear, but at the same time, knowing he would hear regardless. His eyes gleam as he stares me down, registering my attitude that's communicated through sarcasm.

He rolls his eyes. First time I've seen him make that kind of gesture. "Come on."

"This is childish," I say flatly. Fate easily could have just accepted this as a favour of some kind, but instead, he is drawing this out to get on my nerves. I'm always wondering what he gets out of it each time he makes me want to punch him in the face.

"Some can remark upon the brilliance of youth."

My nose scrunches up, as I take another bite of my bread roll. "You're the oldest person out there, and you're telling me about youth?"

"Correction, Time is the oldest out there," Fate tells me.

If there is any immortal I'm worried about meeting, it's Time. I'm glad I haven't had the chance at all. I think it's the idea of him being able to completely reverse my life, or turn it to pain and torture with a single thought. At least that's how I assume it happens. When someone has that much power, how do all the rest of the immortals deal with it?

"Well I'm yet to meet Time, aren't I?" I say, deciding to turn this on Fate, rather than argue about it. "Already I'm sure he won't act in the same immature way that you do."

"You're not convincing me to let you go anywhere."

"Okay!" I growl, knowing that there is only one thing he wants. "Please Fate, would you take me out? Anywhere. Anywhere where you're not."

"Why didn't you say so at the start," he says brightly. "Wasting each other's time like that."

My jaw clenches, as I fight not to launch myself at him. "I'm going to kill you one day, and when your immortals drag me into a cell for the rest of my life, I'll rejoice."

He chuckles, but doesn't reply, dismissing my threat. We stand at the same time, as I chew the rest of the bread roll, much to Fate's satisfaction. He rounds the table and stands in front of me. We stare at each other for a moment – him amused and me with my eyes narrowed. He holds his hand out. Reluctantly, I take it.

"You know, I'm offended. Is my home not enough for you?" he asks, keeping his fingers locked tightly around mine.

"Shut up," I snap.

He winks at me. All of a sudden, the ground does its usual disappearing act, and I slam my eyes closed. When we land, I fall against Fate, who catches me in his arms. As my eyes open, and I regain my footing, I stumble away from Fate, only to smack into a concrete brick wall behind me.

I look around me, scanning an alleyway. Fate stands by the other wall, head cocked, a smile on his face at the confusion clearly written on mine.

"This is it?"

"Your tone is implying that you don't like it," Fate comments, turn his whole body around as he motions to whatever can be see here. Not much, if I'm honest. A dumpster of some sort, darkness on one end, and who knows what on the other.

"I haven't seen much of it yet," I say, glancing behind me to make sure I hadn't fallen into anything gross. "I'm just apprehensive."

He suddenly claps his hands together, the sound echoing loudly through the alleyway. "Alright, well this is where I say goodbye."

"Wait..." I say quickly, before he could disappear before me.

"Oh, you want me to stay now?" he asks with a satisfied grin.

I sigh deeply. I want more than anything for him to turn around and hope to never see him again, if though I know he is coming back, but I know nothing about this place. I might step foot from this alleyway and be in some pit of burning hell. Looking at Fate, I wouldn't be surprised if that is where he has taken me.

"No," I say, "can you at least tell me where I am?"

"You're in my territory. This is one of the many town sets around here," he explains. Oh great, I assume this is most definitely some kind of hell.

I take another look at the exit to this place, seeing nothing but light. "What's here?"

"Be nice though, they aren't used to strangers," he warns, completely ignoring my question. Looks like I'm about to stumble out there with no knowledge of the place, and hope no one comes after me. I don't even know when fate is coming back to collect me.

"That's comforting."

"They won't hurt you. They can't lie," I says casually. He always drops facts like this as if they aren't a big deal, and I should already know these things.

I tilt my head. "Seriously?"

"Well, they choose not to. No point here."

"How can you tell?" I question. As soon as the words come out of my mouth, I feel stupid.
He's Fate. Sometimes I forget.

"I just know," he says with a shrug, "if you need anything from anyone here, just tell them you know me."

"And they will believe me?"

"They don't disbelieve." Of course.

"This place sounds confusing."

Fate nods, still smiling. "I wish you the best of luck."

"You're very-" I begin to say, before he vanishes right in front of me, leaving me completely alone in the middle of this cold alleyway. I throw my hands up in disbelief. "Alright then, goodbye to you too, Fate."

Knowing I have no other choice but to leave here and go through with my plans, I wander down the alleyway toward the light. When I step out, I'm on a street. A very average street.

People brush past me. A part of me assumed to see blue hair and smooth skin everywhere, but I don't. Everyone looks so normal, like mortals, with concentration of going about their day painted across their face. Hardly anyone notices me. A few glance, but with Fate's words in mine, I assumed a whole lot worse.

Standing here, a dumbfounded look on my face isn't going to get me any closer to what I want. So I approach the first person I see. She seems around my age. Maybe younger, actually, like she just came out of high school. She smiles when I stop her, dark eyes twinkling brightly.

"Hey," I say warmly, hoping my approach to this won't seem to strange. "Ah, do you know anything about Fate?"

"Of course," she replies.

Oh wow. She has the same accent as Fate. In a feminine aspect, it's very pretty and delicate. In Fate's position, it's deeper and more drawn out. Fate and I have stark different accents, but I have never been so envious of the accent that belongs to this territory until now.

"What can you tell me about him?" I ask, hoping she would spill an immense amount of information to me that would give me significant leverage over him.

"He's out great leader. Everyone here loves him greatly," she replies, an almost sickening smile on her face.

I tap my foot impatiently. "That nice and all, but do you know anything about his past?"

"I can't say I do," she ponders, with a slight crease to her brow. I wonder if he forces fake information down their throats. That, or maybe he doesn't tell them anything at all. I've never met someone so secretive and mysterious. If his people don't know anything about their leader, than who does?

"Why not?" I ask, "he's your great leader, isn't he?"

"He is. But we only know what we are taught in school. Not even the best professors in the town over know what his past his like. Only those who have had the pleasure of meeting him do," she explains.

I want to tell her that she is quite far from the truth, but I keep my mouth shut. I'm not about to start drama with a stranger. "Thank you for your help."

"Of course," she says, before she brushes past me and walks off. "Have a lovely day!"

Sighing deeply, I wander down the street, wondering what's next. If no one knows what's going on around here, then what am I going to do? All the storefronts seem open right now, despite the darkness of the night. The Moon is large enough to supply light, but I stick to the circle of light under the lamp posts.

As I pass each of them, not sure where I plan to go, I spot one with a bunch of paper stuck to it. I decide to pause, looking to see if there is anything there that will give me a better feel of this place.

Instead, I find something even better. A note.

Fate, if you're reading this, then I miss you!
When am I going to see you next?

Your lost lover, Mae.

I strip it off, noticing an arrow on the front pointing to a convenience store in front of me. A smile seeps onto my face as I realise what this might mean. Someone who may know something about Fate that I don't.

Inside the store, I see someone stooped over the desk front, reading a newspaper. When I approach, she brushes bright red curls from her face, and smiles. Is everyone here very friendly and hospitable, or is it her job? Considering what Fate is like, it doesn't make much sense for them to be kind. That is, if they do follow their great leader.

"I saw this on the post outside," I say, placing it on top of the article she was reading. "Does this belong to you?"

"Indeed it does. Would you mind taking it back for me?" she asks, sliding it back to my hand.
I frown, sliding it back. This may hold the answers that I came here looking for, and for her to reject it isn't on my agenda.

"I want to speak about it with you."

She sighs. "Yes, but he may walk past and see that at any time. I need to make sure that if that happens, he will see and come back me."

"Trust me, he's not going to come," I tell her firmly. If Fate can't stick around here with me wandering around, I doubt he's going to walk down these streets normally. Not when it seems as if everyone is his biggest fan. That's the impression I've gotten thus far, from the two people that I have met. "How do you know Fate. Have you met once?"

"Oh absolutely. He visited me one night," she tells me.

I smother a smile, trying not to seem too happy about this.

"What happened?"

"Oh he told me everything about him. And then he took me to bed and-"

Instantly I hold my hand up, my stomach churning in disgust. This is the last thing I want to know about Fate – his love life. We may have kissed once, but I would much rather appreciate him keeping that kind of thing to himself. "Stop, I don't want to hear that."

"Really? I can assure that it is an amazing story of passion and romance," she says dreamily. I refrain from looking too disgusted right in front of her.

"That's already too much information for me to stomach," I tell her slowly, shaking my head as if it could help me clear the images. "Can you just repeat to me what you know about his past?"

She seems to think for a moment. "Well he didn't tell me all that much. He just told me he's magical, and he can do a lot of magical things."

"Like what?" I question. I'm slowly starting to think this lady is either crazy, or she was dreaming. Both of them seem plausible right now.

She was about to reply, when someone came up from behind me, and slammed right into me. I was lurched forward, my stomach hitting the bench. I whirl around, ready to abuse someone for their clumsiness. I see a young looking guy, who scowls at me.

"Watch it," he snaps.

I stare at him, slack jawed for a moment at his audacity. "You ran into me, prick."

He doesn't reply, instead turning to dash outside the store. I shake my head in disbelief.
When I turn around, the store clerk is staring at him as he departs.

She looks stressed. "I think he stole something."

My jaw clenches. Of course, I should have known the moment he showed attitude toward me like. For that reason alone, I'm happy to consider chasing him down and retrieving whatever he stole. It might get me some more information, too. That is, if it's real.

"Wait here," I tell her firmly. "Call whatever authority they have around here."

She nods frantically, before I run out the store, looking left and right for this prick. He pushes his way through the crowd to my right. I follow him, and once he realises, he begins to run, pushing people out of the way, giving me perfect room to gain on him.

He slides around an alleyway. Before I could concentrate on the fact that I'm following a stranger into an alleyway, I turn the corner in pursuit.

That's when he strikes. Right in the head. I collapse onto the concrete before anyone could have possibly noticed.

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So since it's summer here, it's been so ridiculously hot, and completely inescapable.

Writing has been a little harder because of it.

I'm trying to manage it best I can.

~Midika 💜🐼