𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 — as the world caves in

━━━━━━━

 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 to the chapel upon Tamar and Tolya's insistence; and while Aleksa couldn't quite bring herself to finally wish to seek solace in the arms of long forgotten Saints, she continued forth anyway. Tolya and Tamar had their sabres drawn, edges glinting so very wildly.

 The twins had yet to fail Alina, their precious Sun Saint, thus Aleksa had no quarrels in blindly following them into the stark-white chapel. It didn't appear to have any secrets housed within, but Aleksa knew for certain that the Heartrenders would never go back on their oath. They'd never divulge from the pledge they'd made to Alina Starkov.

 The lamps had been alight when they burst inside. Echoes of their footfall still scarcely drowned the gunfire blasting outside the creaking doors. The sound trailed over the walls, the pews and off the glazed blue dome that provided a perfect view of the moon hung above. Cas, finally in his rightful place atop Aleksa's shoulder, had his beaks buried within her hair.

 Nothing silenced the sound of the nichevo'ya, however. Their odd chittering and clicking could still be heard as though the beasts had been whispering into their ears. Aleksa could feel them approaching, each hair on her arms stood on end and a shiver crawled the length of her spine.

 Her energy wasn't entirely restored as she leaned heavily against the pew... thus in a meagre attempt to revitalise herself, Aleksa twisted the shows lurking in the corners of the room. They twisted and flickered, but none of her company noticed... otherwise she was certain they'd have fallen into panic.

 The soldiers that had flooded from the woods with sunbursts smeared over their cheeks, biceps and hands took position by the windows, their rifles in hand as Tolya slammed the chapel door to a close, bolting it shut.

 Tamar lept over the pews and tore past the glistening altar now dripping with shadows. She grasped one of the triptych's wooden corners... and tugged. Aleksa blinked as the water-damaged panel swung open, revealing an endless expanse of darkness. It was a tunnel, it was their escape... it was exactly how the soldiers had gotten onto the grounds, and how that ugly little Apparat had managed to disappear from the Grand Palace.

 It wasn't exactly the time, yet even still Aleksa managed to narrow her eyes at the twins; if they knew of this little passageway's existence... then they had to have known exactly how the Apparat had escaped. They seemed to have failed to mention that fact.

 The few remaining Grisha peered through the hole, pondering where they'd find themselves if they trickled through... but it didn't matter where it led, for the building shook as a crack of thunder tore through the air. The chapel door was blown to pieces, chips of wood and metal sprinkling over the vast pews.

 Darkness flooded through... and Aleksa could feel him before he even entered.

 Aleksander trailed forth on a tidal wave of shadows, each one rippling, lashing out like unruly dogs. Aleksa could almost feel them calling to her; she couldn't have been sure if they were beckoning her forth, or begging for release.

 The nichevo'ya were by his side, great claws made of shadow lapping as gunfire spilt the air once again. But such weapons would never truly be enough; the nichevo'ya writhed and whirled around Aleksander, shifting as bullets tore through their rippling forms... they only chittered, one taking the place of another while Aleksander didn't even break his stride.

 Aleksa was stunned; his display of raw power was unlike anything he'd ever demonstrated before. She'd grown tired after simply reaching out to just one nichyevo... and yet he could craft them with ease, he could call them to fight without trouble.

 Aleksa, no matter the sudden distrust flooding her veins when it came to the Heartrender twins, stood between them as they flanked Alina with guns drawn. The Grisha formed behind them, each and every one of them ready to fight no matter the fear they all inevitably could feel.

 Alina rose her hands, and Aleksa could feel her burst of sunlight warming her back.

 "Stand down, Alina." Said Aleksander, his chin poised high. His stature was the only familiar thing about him these days. He stood tall and regal, as though he thought himself a king... or a Saint. His eyes flashed, and they soon left Alina and fell to his own blood. "Aleksa."

 She could see a hint of amusement dancing within those quartz-grey eyes, the same ones that had fooled her time and time again. He'd flooded them with care and kindness, yet all she could see was betrayal... anger.

 His voice echoed through the chapel, silencing the chittering of the nichyevo'ya at once, "Both of you, stand down... stand down, and I will spare them."

 Aleksa could hear each of their remaining Grisha readying themselves. There was the click of Inferni flint being struck, the light jostle of wind brushing by as Zoya prepared herself, and Tamar scraped one axe blade over another, eliciting a terrible shriek of metal that rose the hair on Aleksa's arms.

 She hadn't yet called to the shadows... for unlike the Grisha around her, they came when they needed. There was no preparation, no time to bide. They rushed forth on a mere thought.

 Aleksander hadn't spared a glance at the flames, the winds caressing his sharp cheeks, nor the axes within Tamar's hands, "Look around. "You cannot win. You can only watch them die. Come to me now, and I will do them no harm — not your zealot soldiers, not even the Grisha traitors."

 Aleksa wasn't often one to give up. In the midst of the most terrible of heists, Aleksa would always twist her head to Kaz and trust that he'd concoct some kind of plan to get them out alive... he had never failed her. But he wasn't here, was he? It was just her, a lone crow in a flock she didn't quite belong to.

 She liked to think she was almost on par with Kaz. She could guess the things slitting through his devious little mind... but this... how could anyone get out of this? Aleksa swallowed... and then, she could feel it. Fear.

 Aleksa Corvina Morozova was afraid.

 She didn't want to leave with him, she didn't want to fall straight back into the arms that had already harmed her in so many ways. He'd never apologise, and he'd never grow into a better man... it just wasn't within Aleksander's nature.

 Merzost might have taken Aleksa's energy, a year off her life... but it had stolen what little had remained of Aleksander's rationality, of his sanity. Power had become something more to him... it was all he craved, and Aleksa knew that when he looked at herself and Alina, that was all he saw. Power.

 The Grisha looked to them both, begging for the two of them to perform a miracle they just simply were not capable of. Alina might have been a Saint... but she was still just a girl. A teenager with the world atop her shoulder. Aleksa tried to lessen that weight, but even she couldn't help carry the load in its entirety.

 There wasn't anything they could do.

 When Tolya cocked the triggers on his pistols, Alina snapped into that facade. She lowered her voice and rose a single hand, "Hold."

 "Alina," Tamar whispered, "We can get you out... Both of you."

 "Hold." Alina said, her voice firm.

 Each sun soldier lowered their rifles, and while Tamar obeyed Alina's commands and lowered her axes... her fingers remained taut around their handles.

 Alina broke her display for just a moment, allowing her free hand to move forth, entirely invisible to Aleksander. Her fingers gently brushed Aleksa's back... a silent comfort, a promise that things would be just fine.

 Aleksa tapped her own fingers against her thigh, and that was enough for Alina to raise her head, "What are your terms?"

 Aleksa could almost feel Mal's inherent frown and Tamar's absolute dismay... but it seemed that Alina was of the same mind as Aleksa; they both knew it was likely a ploy, that even if the two of them joined him despite their desire to run as far as they possibly could... they had to take the chance in saving the lives of the few that stood with them.

 "Give yourselves up." Aleksander dipped his eyes, a vast expanse of nothingness staring straight through Alkesa. His anger at her betrayal was palpable... and she really wasn't looking forward to her inevitable punishment. This time there'd be no false hope to keep her head high, there would be no lingering thought that everything he did was just out of love, "And I'll let them go free. They can climb down that rabbit hole, and disappear forever."

 He sounded rather entertained with his own words.

 "He's lying," Mal said, "It's what he does."

 "I don't need to lie... they want to come with me."

 "They want no part of you!" Mal spat, fingers growing impossibly tight around his loaded pistol.

 But poor Mal was wrong, wasn't he? Because no matter how hard they tried, neither Aleksa nor Alina could find even a hint of solace within themselves at the thought of the Black Heretics' demise. They had cried for him, back on the skiff. They had wept for the boy who had become so very twisted that he'd lost all sense of self.

 There was a small part of them, a part so desperate to find who he really was. They had loved him when he'd been kind, when he'd professed all his grandiose desires to save their kind... Some remnant of the little girl that Aleksander had saved still lived within Aleksa, no matter how hard she tried to quash her.

 "No?" Aleksander asked, hands linking together before him. He stared down his nose at Mal, and even though Merzost had torn away at the skin on his bones, leaving him thin and pale... he still looked as noble and imposing as he always had. 

 His dark hair glinted like oil beneath the flickering lamplight of the chapel, "Look at my sister," Aleksa swallowed at the lie, "She isn't even wearing her own face. A lie has been smeared all because people fear and resent her. Alina, I warned you that your otkazat'sya could never understand you... was I wrong? Does he find your power beautiful, or does he fear it? Does he scorn it?"

 As ever, he made a truly befitting argument. Aleksa had to make the choice to obscure her true face, all in the fear that if they won... someone would still see the blood rushing through her veins as a curse to come. As for Alina... Mal loved her, that much was evident... but there was a part of him that did resent her power.

 Aleksa had seen his face when she'd made use of the mirror discs the first time. Fear. Anger. He wanted back the girl from the orphanage, the soldier... not the summoner, and certainly not the Saint. It was somewhat a selfish desire, but it was entirely pure. He just wanted her safe, free from the shackles made of sunlight that bound her wrists.

 "You were wrong," Alina said, her voice as steady as she could manage... But Aleksa knew of the doubt resting in her heart. She'd come to Aleksa on numerous occasions pleading for advice, wondering why her life had become so very complicated.

 Aleksa could do little more than sit with her in the silence. They were alike.

 Aleksander shook his head, "You cannot lie to me. You called to me, and I answered..." Then his focus switched once more, "And you, sister... You still so desperately call to me. We're blood, you and I... No matter what you may think, you still need me, and I... You're my sister,"

 If there was any one thing that had brought Aleksa and Alina closer than ever... It was the man who visited them at night. The one who would linger in the corner of their rooms, drawing closer and closer as the nights bled into one another. Soon enough, he'd been close enough to whisper into their ears, to hold them tight.

 "I've seen what you truly are. I know you both better than anybody could ever strive to. I've never turned away, and I never will." Aleksander jutted his chin, "Can Mal here say the same... can those thieves of yours, sister?" He brushed a hand as Mal spoke, vehemently denying the Darkling's claims, "Come with me now, and it all stops — the fear, the uncertainty, the bloodshed. Let them go... let them all go."

 "No." Alina choked, but there was no fight in her voice. Her facade of the Sun Saint had fallen, shattering into a million pieces... because she knew there was something beckoning her to him.

 And Aleksa... Aleksa could feel the pull. It was no longer just words calling to her, it was blood. She could almost feel every cell in her body rushing to her heart, making it thump so painfully she couldn't breathe. The shadows beneath Aleksander stretched out, mere whispers of his power trying to reach her, to bring her home.

 But he would never be home again. Ketterdam was. Inej was home, Jesper... Kaz.

 Aleksander sighed as he glanced back over his shoulder, "Bring her."

 A figure shuffled forth, all hunched and slow-moving... a shawl was curled around them, fingers buried within the material; not an ounce of flesh was on display, and when Aleksander loomed behind the figure, peering down at them as though they were a mere bug beneath his boots... the shawl was unravelled.

 Aleksa could only tell who it was by the hair on their head. It had to be Genya Saffin. Alina had once described her as one of the most beautiful people she'd ever met; with pretty porcelain skin unburdened by a single mark or wrinkle. Billowing waves of hair that looked like a sea of flames... but that was not the girl standing before them all.

 Genya's skin was smothered in bites. They were everywhere... raised black ridges of flesh. Twisted lumps of dark tissue that would never be healed... Aleksa felt her own scar writhe. But this was not the work of the Volcra, those were the remnants of the nichevo'ya. Genya's hair had lost its shine and hung in pitiful coils of copper... but worst of all, the poor thing had lost an eye.

 Alina swallowed, and the sound reverberated, "Genya?"

 There was a beat of terrible silence, and when Alina had made to step forth, David barreled past her. He pushed past the altar and down the steps, almost tripping in his haste, but Genya cringed away from him, pulling her shawl taught. She hid her face away.

 Aleksa couldn't bare it; from the tales Alina had told, the ones Zoya and Petra had spouted... Genya Saffin was as luminous as Alina's sunlight, yet there she was, cringing away from the boy she had looked at with stars in her eyes. Poor David slumped as her shoulders shook from the sobs wracking her form.

 But for Aleksander, it was just another display of his power, of the lengths he'd go. There was a silent threat 'turn away from me again, and they'll all end up like little Genya'

 Aleksa stepped forward just a pace, avoiding the lurching hands of Tolya. The Grisha behind them looked to her for their instruction, and they looked to their Saint for protection. But there was nothing left to give, Aleksa had no instructions, no plans or ploys...

 She thought of her crows then, as Cas squawked in her ear, seemingly warning her. Aleksander knew who they were now, he had seen their faces and heard their names from her own tongue... he'd find them, and he'd kill them... No, he'd turn them into monsters.

 "Look at this..." Aleksander whispered, a grin slowly settling into place. It looked wholly wrong on his face, and Aleksa had only just become aware of such a fact, "What have I always told you, sister?"

 Aleksa swallowed, wishing she could bite her tongue... but Genya's sobs were enough for her lips to part, "Like calls to like."

 "Like calls to like..." he repeated, grin curling ever higher. He focused on Alina who was mere moments away from joining Aleksa's side. Just one more push, "I've waged the war you forced me to, Alina," he said, arms spread wide, "If you hadn't run from me, the Second Army would still be intact. All those Grisha would still be alive. Your tracker would be safe and happy with his regiment. When will it be enough? When will you let me stop?"

 Alina stepped closer, fingers brushing Aleksa's as he continued, "You mourn the people killed in Novokribirsk, the people lost to the Fold. But what of the thousands that came before them, given over to endless wars? What of the others dying now on distant shores? Together, we can put an end to all of it."

 He was back to his roots once more. Spouting words that sounded so very fantastical.

 Together we can put an end to it all...

 Alina exhaled, eyes closing for just a moment. She savoured her freedom, but even she couldn't dismiss the odd sense of relief that flooded her veins. No more fighting. People would be free... she could rest, "Alright." she whispered, and her finger coiled within Aleksa's.

 Like calls to like. The shadows and the sunlight were so starkly different... and yet Aleksa and Alina had never butted heads. Their powers had never sought to consume the others. Aleksa knew that if Alina was with her, it might all turn out alright.

 She might never see her dear crows again. Darling Inej with her motherly scoldings, her most favourite sharpshooter and his inability to step away from a deck of cards... and Kaz Brekker. The boy who had become a monster beneath the eyes of the barrel, the boy so cold and calloused he pushed away everyone who dared come near.

 The boy who had managed to seize Aleksa's heart in those warm, gloved fingertips.

 Perhaps it was for the best then.

 Mal cried out, his attempt so desperate and futile. Alina said nothing to him, she couldn't even bear to look at him, "You'll let them go?" she asked, "all of them?"

 Aleksander cocked his head, "We need the tracker, for the firebird."

 Aleksa tightened her grip, silencing Alina before she could utter a word, "You have the Sun Summoner... You have me... you can't have him too."

 Aleksander paused, sweeping his gaze over the pitiful crowd of Grisha rallying behind them. Their faces were flooded with horror and yet none of them said a word... not even Zoya. Aleksander inevitably nodded, they'd find the firebird regardless, whether it took an extra year or not.

 In the end, no matter how much Mal tried to fight, no matter how much Tolya and Tamar wanted to argue... Aleksa and Alina found themselves approaching the man they had tried so very hard to leave behind. But no amount of running or pleading had been enough.

 Aleksander just stood there, waiting. He didn't move an inch, not to meet them... no, he let them come to him. When he could reach out with a slim and pale finger and touch Alina's cheek, he spoke, "We are alike. The three of us... as no one else is, as no one else will ever be."

 It was twisted. So very twisted that Aleksa felt sick. He wanted them; he wanted Alina to play the part of his devoted lover granting him the light of the sun, and he wanted Aleksa to slip right back into the role she'd played for the most part of her miserable life; the devoted little sister who saw her brother as a hero.

 He held out his hands, and as Aleksa watched Alina's fingertips glide over his palms, she could feel it.

 There was something in the pits of her stomach telling her to run, that danger was near. It was then, when Alina parted her lips and said 'my power is yours' that Aleksa recalled the journey through the fold.

 Aleksander had reached within Aline, he'd drawn forth the sunlight all on his own...

 Alina whispered again, "My power is yours..." Her free hand hidden within the skirts of her singed golden kefta bumped against Aleksa with all the force she could muster, "And yours is mine."

 The word echoed, and Aleksa stumbled backwards at the sensation filling her gut. It was like a thousand knives had been pushed through layers of flesh, each twisting and twisting until she could no longer bear it.

 She fell against a pew as Aleksander reared back, "What are you doing?"

 But it was obvious, wasn't it? If Aleksander could call to Alina's sunlight, why couldn't she call out in turn? Why couldn't the sun bring forth the shadows?

 Aleksa felt that pain twist into something new, something so raw that tears sprung to her eyes. She peered down, and the hand clawing at the wooden pew was smothered in obsidian. Black tore through her skin and trailed past her sleeves. She couldn't see it, but she could feel the shadows writhing beneath her cheeks, the flesh of her neck... they were flooding her heart.

 Alina wasn't only calling to Aleksander's power... but Aleksa's strength too, only in a different way.

 She commanded Aleksander's shadows, yet called out for help to Aleksa's...

 Aleksa's shadows, however, were not so easily swayed. They jumped and coiled at the chance to slay the beast that had tried to tame them. They twisted and clawed at Aleksa's flesh, begging for a release...

 So, she granted it.

 When Alina forced the shadows to spill from Aleksander's palms, Aleksa let that tether within her snap. All fatigue was banished, and the pain in her gut buzzed in utter elation. The shadows toppled from her fingertips like oil into the sea. Onwards they crawled, jittering and billowing... until faces appeared. Until claws and wings and legs formed beneath the waves.

 Three. This time, it was three nichevo'ya that Aleksa had managed to craft from her shadows. Taming one of Aleksanders had been a task, and creating three beings from power that should never have been discovered felt like... like a tickle. Taking a chess piece from Aleksander's board had felt like fire in her veins, but moving her own felt like second nature.

 The nichevo'ya she puppeteered surged forth. Their teeth bit at Aleksander's legs, arms and chest. Never once did they touch Alina...

 But Alina couldn't stop. She kept pulling and pulling on that tether linking her to Aleksander. If she pulled the nichevo'ya relentlessly from his flesh... he'd inevitably be rendered as nothing more than a bundle of bones, and so would she.

 Aleksa grunted, teeth clamping together as Morozova himself scolded her use of Merzost, "Alina!"

 "You'll kill us both!" Aleksander cried.

 Alina nodded, and the nichevo'ya kept coming, "Yes."

 It was the look on Alina's face that struck Aleksa... even the Sun Summoner could sense the desire for more power. Even Alina Starkov craved more...

 The darkness flooding the chapel buzzed and clattered as though a thousand irritated beetles, flies and locusts were beating their wings. The nichevo'ya shrieked and howled, their bodies wavering, flickering and flashing as though they'd explode.

 But Aleksa could feel the string attaching her to her own creations. They were not influenced by the two at the centre of all things. Her monsters tore through Aleksanders, beating away the ones yet to swear fealty to Alina.

 Mal surged forth as Alina began to buckle, and nobody had the strength to keep him away. His dirtied fingers dropped the pistol in his hold and seized Alina's. It was like he filled her with that final bout of strength she needed.

 Aleksa urged her shadows to follow Alina, and they did so without quarrel. Each nichevo'ya latched onto Aleksander until not a single inch of his pale skin could glint. Then, the monsters rose in a whirling storm of black. They crashed against the walls of the chapel, shaking the little building until cracks crawled along the walls, until pews clattered... until the altar toppled over and shattered like glass.

 Mal took Alina into his arms, and in a desperate call, Alina urged one of her creations to scoop Aleksa up. The monster's claws coddled her close as though it had realised that she was just like it. A shadow forced to do the Darkling's bidding.

 Slabs of plaster fell from above and the glazed blue dome swayed as the columns keeping it upright began to crack and shatter.

 Zoya appeared by Aleksa's side, her nose upturned in distaste at the nichyevo by her side... yet the Squallor didn't falter as they ran, disappearing into the passage. They were plunged into darkness and the smell of wet earth and mould... it oddly reminded Aleksa of Ketterdam.

 Aleksa could hear the thundering footsteps of their Grisha and soldiers. She could hear the chitter of the monster keeping her close, the muttering of beautiful Zoya cursing the Darkling even in his last moments.

 A boom erupted from somewhere far behind them as the chapel collapsed in on itself, swallowing the Darkling... but the impact chased them. Dust and debris surged into the passageway, the walls rattled and shook and then... they were all flung off their feet.

 Aleksa wheezed as the nichyevo pushed her, letting itself get swallowed by the impact. She tumbled, hands smeared with fresh grazes and blood, cheeks slick with mud and water...

 The world caved in around them.

━━━━━━━

DATE: 04/11/2023

:･ﾟ★ and THAT is the last chapter for the siege and storm flashbacks (if there are some things you'd like me to write about regarding aleksa's time with alina in the palace, lmk and I might do some oneshots at the end of this act)

also.... I'M SORRY FOR BEING GONE FOR SO LONG LMAOOOOOOO. writers block, lack of motivation and autistic burnout can suck my humungous shlong <3 n e way - presently working on a satoru gojo fic <3

next chapter is called AYE, EYE (i'm so incredibly hilarious for that,)

please remember to leave feedback & comments. i require a certain number of comments before i publish the next update. please give me a follow to keep updated and receive sneak peeks! do not leave 'update' comments, you will be muted.