The Last Hope

42 - Leslie

SONG FOR THIS CHAPTER - Dancing after Death, Matt Maeson. Linked above!

It's a long one, grab some snacks and settle in.

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Mercy had thought the Miran citadel had been a maze. Compared to this, the citadel was a walk in the park. The chessboard spread into stairs, descending, and ascending. Fracturing into thousands of tunnels and alleys. Each of them becoming more complex with every step they took. Mercy was sneakily suspicious, though she couldn't be sure, that they'd passed the same spot three times already. One of the obsidian tiles had tiny crack slicing through it, it seemed to be smiling at her, taunting her.

When they arrived at the same cracked tile for the fourth time, Mercy huffed in frustration, raking her hands through her hair. "It's a protection spell," Sebastian informed her, even though she still wasn't speaking to him. "Which is a good thing, I suppose. Who would go to this much effort to hide a book if the book weren't here?" It was a good point - but it didn't stop Mercy from disregarding it completely as she continued forward. She had nothing left to say to him.

They didn't have the time for protection spells sending them in circles, they had less than thirty minutes. She needed to find the others, find the book, and get out. She didn't have to listen to Sebastian's ramblings, and she certainly didn't have to acknowledge his presence. Gathering her thoughts, she started along another pathway, stopping dead when Sebastian addressed her.

"So first, you threaten me, and now you're back to ignoring me?" Sebastian asked candidly, his face the picture of angelic grace. She refused to meet his gaze, breezing past him. He tipped his head inquisitively, "how long for? How long until you forgive me?"

There was that rage again, white-hot, and ready to be unleashed. "Forgive you?" Mercy scoffed, whirling on him, "usually in order to beg forgiveness, a person has to apologise first."

Sebastian smiled wryly, eyes glittering, "I knew that would work." Mercy looked away in disgust, fighting the urge to punch him. His previous bruise - courtesy of Mona - had already healed, leaving him once again with his usual perfection. Mercy scowled at him before going back to ignoring him.

"Reid, I'm sorry," Sebastian said the words like they caused him physical pain - like he'd never said them before. Mercy watched him closely as he struggled for his next sentence. "I should have told you. I was going to tell you, but..." he trailed off lamely.
"But what?" The words were eager, searching.

Sebastian looked away awkwardly, readjusting the cuffs of his sleeves, "you wanted to be my friend. I've never had a friend before - I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to tell you and ruin it. I didn't want you to start looking at me the way you're looking at me now - like you hate me."

She couldn't give in and take pity on him. Steeling herself, she said, "so, you decided keeping it a secret was better? Friends don't keep secrets, Sebastian."

He cocked an eyebrow, matching her tone, "really? Because your little band of misfits is doing nothing but keeping secrets."

"Do you really want to argue about-" Mercy trailed off, reading it on his face. "You know about Svahera, don't you? You know what happened." She paused briefly to assess his reaction. That infuriatingly blank expression, which meant he definitely knew more than he was letting on. "Tell me," she demanded.
He looked around warily, "not here. Too many ears could hear us."
"What are you talking about? There is literally no one here. You're just full of shit," she derided.
His eyes flared, voice dropping an octave, "just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they're not here."