Okumura Syndicate Ending 2

Chapter 183: Who To Believe

Meanwhile, in the east wing, a certain succubus had a bone to pick with whoever let off the gas in their study. The air was thick, and Catoria could barely breathe it. If her calculations were correct, she knew exactly who was to blame, and pinpointing the source of this gaseous catastrophe, there was no denying it. The study was completely empty, with only smalls specks of blood left in the cold, dark space. Cateria crept silently through the room searching for any sign of what had caused this mess. As she turned another corner, she found a blood trail leading out to the exit, but all her searching got interrupted when a very distinct scent hit the door.

"Oh, poor dear...", his voice uttered softly. Catoria opened the door cautiously and turned to see Vox sitting on a stool next to the desk, leaning on its side with his elbows. A strange smell hung in the air, as if some kind of perfume had escaped from behind a closed door and had lingered there ever since. The succubus looked at the gentleman before speaking up. "Vox, it was you. Wasn't it?". Vox's head jerked up slightly, as if being shocked, but eventually relaxed his shoulders and smiled lightly, "The truth befalls you, Catoria. You told lies to get to the top of everywhere you got your hands on. I didn't do that, I told the truth.".

"It doesn't matter though", replied Cateria, stepping around the table with her suspicions clear in her every step. "This syndicate isn't known for its secrets, so if Edward finds out yours, he'll know where your true allegiance lies. As for your life, well, that's not worth answering.". Vox stayed calm, keeping his expression keen and optimistic, he didn't care what she said, the game always played to his will. "If you think that I'm going to fall for that facade of yours again, you're wrong," Catoria snapped, looking into his eyes, "The world doesn't revolve around you, Vox. Even the most elaborate of tricksters must fall!".

Catoria flapped her wings, getting some height on the fae as the wind from her force blustered in his face. "Trying to get the moral high ground are we Catoria?", questioned Vox, clambering onto the desk after her. Catoria was furious, her fists reaching out to hold her superior down, "You want a fight, don't you?", inferred Vox. There was no response, only anger coming from the flying woman, combat was the only option. Vox and Catoria readied their abilities and began to clash,but before they could battle, someone walked in.

The pair immediately stopped moving and glanced over to the doorway.
Standing on the threshold, the newcomer looked between them. With his purple cape hanging from his back, and turquoise eyes piercing through the darkness, Edward was paralysed by the violent sight. "Vox? Catoria?", their names were all he could blurt out. They remained silent, glaring at each other and preparing themselves. "Why are you fighting?", spat Edward angrily. "Oh Eddie, I was just about to tell you, you see Catoria here...". Before Vox could finish, Catoria slapped him across the face, "We've had enough of that, traitor!".

Edward couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought Vox could do no wrong, he thought he would never hurt anyone, that everything he did was for love, but Catoria's scorn on him stabbed deep in the vampire's heart and he was dumbfounded by his indecisiveness at something that seemed so simple. The vampire then took a few steps forward, "I thought you loved me...", he whispered. His voice trembled, making it sound so weak and pitiful, but even worse was that Catoria couldn't take her eyes off him, the clueless man was gaining awareness, and it was crumbling his world view, maybe even his sanity.

Finally, Vox spoke up, "You think she has your best interests at heart, Eddie? Just look at what she's done in this organisation, she's a selfish bitch!", he taunted him. But Edward remained silent as his gaze fell unto Catoria's eyes, "Why can't you just trust me?", the succubus pleaded softly to him. "I don't know...", he responded, his tone far from the assertiveness of his orders as boss. "Face the truth Edward, who do you think you should believe?", questioned Vox.

Slowly, Edward sank down to his knees and lowered his head. When he finally raised it, the despair had become almost overwhelming. He wanted to lash out, he wanted to put them both under his control, an easy solution to a complex problem, but they both had a firm hold on him, and they were never going to let go until an answer came from their superior. So instead, Edward simply stood up and stared straight ahead. Slowly his gaze swept past the pair, over their faces, and down to the floor, "...It doesn't seem fair...", he said softly, his gaze still firmly fixed on the floor, but still bewildered.

Despite clearly seeing his bias, Catoria still had faith in Edward to see her side. Without a fuss, she flew down to his level and tried to reason with him, "Life is rarely fair, Edward. Look at us right now. We both fought for these people, we saw them past the people they were born as. We use our crimes to rebel against the establishment, but if that medium is taken away for chaos, a world that benefits even fewer people, do you think that the equality you want would happen?".

Catoria cut into the fae's spoken refrain, "The more I see it, the more I realise that Vox isn't aligned with the syndicate at all, he may even be the man responsible for this disaster of a rebellion!", argued Catoria. "You're faithful to the core, but it makes you meek, Edward. You need to make a decision!" Edward's emotions spiralled into instability, all these things he didn't know finally crashed down upon him, and as his realisation began to make sense, Vox finally came clean.

"It's laughable how late to the party the both of you are, the youngsters that we control tried to warn both of you, I'm surprised I managed to get away with it for so long, but now it's out, I guess I can finally relax, because my claws are already so deep in this organisation, it's laughable that anything can make me lose! I always win and there's nothing you can do...". As the truth set in, Edward became hopeless, the chains of Vox's control tied to him like a suffocating grip on his neck, but now, thanks to Catoria's words, something in his mind throbbed with drive, a dim light brightening to break the binds, the last hope was brewing.