Clouds against the starry sky - Sett x Soraka

Chapter 5

The sunlight was shining through my window woke me up and I stood up carefully. I stretched my wings and looked out of the window. How could the last few days go so wrong? I had tried, I went to this club and I had failed. How could I fail? And how did I end up in the hospital? Who had brought me there?

With a sigh I turned around and changed, brushed my teeth and took a deep breath. I had to try again. I couldn't fail. I never could. With a last look in the mirror I left my room, locked it from the outside and went down the stairs. Gragas was behind the counter, looked at me and smiled. "Good morning little one." I looked at him, smiled and started shaking a little, then looked at the door. "Sorry, I gotta go..." He walked up to me quickly and took me by the wrist. "Hey, sorry for that night, k? I didn't know you were with the boss." I looked at him confusedly.

"What do you-" "I went too far that night, I wouldn't have if I knew you were with the boss." He laughed out loud. "Gosh that guy really had a strong right hook. Just tell me next time, k? Then we can leave out that fight." Grinning he got off my wrist and let me go. So Sett had had a fight with Gragas in that night? Maybe he had brought me to the hospital then?

I pulled my hood lower over my face and went outside, feeling the warm sun through my cape. I loved the sun because it gave me the feeling of warm hugs and hope.

Walking to the alley where the club was, I was very scared. I didn't know if the bodyguard would let me go inside and what I should do. I had to convince Sett to become a better person. All this suffering in Ionia had to come to an end.

Reaching the alley I realized that even in the noon it was darker than other alleys, or at least it gave me weird energies. I froze a little, took a deep breath and walked up to the bodyguard. "Oh, the little one again? Wasn't your lesson a few days ago enough?" I took a deep breath, used my mana to hide my horn and took off my hood. "Let me in please." I looked him straight in the eyes and I could see his surprised look. "Oh, Gragas' girl? I see. Go inside." He grinned and looked after me as I pulled the hood lower over my face again. Nearly noone was there and it was less uncomfortable for me than that night. I looked over the place and didn't find Sett, so I decided to go to his office upstairs.

Carefully I knocked on the door and as he said "Yes?" I entered. He stared at me confusedly. "What do you want here? Wasn't I clear enough or something?" I took a deep breath and walked up to him. "Please. I can help you. This life... I know you don't like it. I can help you get out of it." "How should a wallflower like you know?" He grinned and looked down on me. "What about a deal? I show you my side of life and you show me yours?" I felt uncomfortable looking into his eyes, so I stared at the ground instead and nodded. "Deal."

He sat down on his desk and drank out of a cup, then grinned and winked. "So, beautiful, better cancel all your appointments for the next days. This might take a while." I swallowed and nodded again, then turned around to leave. "Wait!" I stopped immediately. "Where are you going? Not interested in the deal anymore?" I could hear his grin through his voice and turned around to him. "Wait, we start now?" He grinned again. "Yeah, any problems with that?" I shook my head. "Good, follow me."

He ran out of the club, laughing. I followed him, wondering why we were running, but it gave me adrenaline and I hadn't felt that for a while, so I didn't ask him about it. The bodyguard looked at us confusedly and I felt embarassed, but I had no time to explain it because I had to follow Sett quickly. He turned around the corner and I followed him. I kept running after him for a few minutes until my stamina was at its limits. I stopped and nearly fell over. My breath was running fast. He looked back and stopped too, then walked back to me.

"Not used to running?" He laughed. "Take deep breaths, it's gonna be alright." I did as he said and closed my eyes. I really didn't do sports often. "I-I'm okay. Let's go." He shook his head and decided to walk instead of running. "So when we do something you can't run away for long, I will keep that in mind." I looked at him confusedly. What did he mean?

We reached a bar and went inside. As the people saw Sett they got quiet and he got a beer immediately without even having to order it. Sett sat down at the bar counter and pointed at the barstool next to him so I would sit next to him. "What are you having?" "Uhm... water...." He grinned and looked at the barkeeper which was already on the way to bring me my water. "Uh.. s-so... what's the plan for today?" Sett took a sip of his beer and looked around. "I thought about showing you the Underground of Ionia first." I nodded and took a sip of my water, then looked at the barkeeper with a smile. "Thank you." He looked confusedly and Sett laughed. "First rule, don't thank anyone or apologize. Geez, noone should know you don't belong here." I nodded. "Second rule, stick to me." He looked into my eyes and I got goose bumps. I nodded again and stared at my glass. "Third rule, don't listen to anyone but me. Get it?" "Y-yes..." He finished his beer and looked around the room. Noone dared to look at him and I wondered why everyone was so scared of him.

As I finished my water we left and outside I looked back sadly. "Shouldn't we have paid? That man surely needs the money..." Sett laughed. "Oh please, when you're with me there's no need to pay. Ever." I looked at the floor feeling disappointed of myself. I always paid, even when the prizes were too high. It felt wrong. "Don't you feel guilty about it...?" Confusedly he looked at me. "This is my place. My rules. Chill." He walked through the alleys and I followed him. I already felt bad about that deal we made, but I had to go through it 'til the end. I had to fulfill my mission.

Our next stop was a house that looked quite normal. I hoped he would do something normal, not criminal or anything that way. We went inside and I smelled something weird immediately. I had never smelt something like that before. It gave me goose bumps and I went after Sett quickly. He walked up to some people and grinned. They just looked at the floor. "Something to make this young lady chill out." He looked at me for short and I swallowed. This was a bad idea. This was a really bad idea. They gave him three joints and he took me by the arm and left. Outside he gave me a joint and a lighter. I started shaking. "W-what is this??" "Marijuana? Nothing bad, it helps you calm down. Chill." I looked at the joint. I had never taken drugs before and I really didn't want to. I gave it back to him. "N-no thanks.." He sighed. "Come on. I take one, you take one and the last one is as a reserve, k? I go first. It really isn't dangerous."

He took the lighter off my hand, lighted the joint and took a deep pull.  "See?" I nodded a little. Didn't look dangerous. What could possibly go wrong? He held the joint in front of me and I also took a deep pull. I coughed a little and closed my eyes. "So, how are you feeling?" "I don't know." "Want some more?" "Mmmmm..." I opened my eyes and took another deep pull. He grinned. This time I didn't cough. "That's enough for now, let's go." I nodded and felt a little dizzy. As I tried to walk I noticed a big wave of tiredness coming over me and I nearly fell. "Woah, was a bit too much huh?" Sett laughed and I held onto him. "Mmmmmmm..." "Come on, we walk that out a little."

We walked a while, I don't remember where, until I felt something soft under my back. "Stay here, I get you some water." "Mmmm?" I heard a door closing, but didn't really realize what was going on. I sat up and looked around. The world seemed to be surreal. Slowly I stood up and went to the wall, where pictures were hanging. One showed a little boy with read hair and a woman. She held him in his arms and smiled. I had never seen such a pure and happy smile. The next picture showed the little boy sitting on a swing, laughing a lot. He was a little older on that one, maybe 10 or 11 years old. This picture made me smile. The third and last one showed a family, mother, father and the little son, but the father's eyes were crossed out with a black pencil. Looking at that scared me a little and my legs stopped working out. I fell down and laid on the floor shaking. "Idiot idiot idiot", I mumbled to myself and cried. I didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, it felt way more uncomfortable than before.

The next thing I remember is quick steps coming my way and someone rolling me to the side. I remember throwing up and crying and not really being aware of anything. Someone whispered "Deep breaths", but I couldn't. I just couldn't take deep breaths. I didn't even know why I was crying so hard, but it felt terrible. I felt how this someone took my cape of and how he gasped for air, then put something under my head and covered me up.