Gehenna's Gate

Monochrome

"You ditched me yesterday." An irritating voice spoke into her ear before sliding into the seat next to her on the bench she was resting at.

Clearly he'd gotten better at tracking her, annoyingly enough.

She was back at the same boardwalk that her and Xiao had ridden the Archangel together at, but instead of parading around the many shops or arcades, she'd wandered down by the beach, simply admiring the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore and the call of seagulls.

"Yeah I figured you'd take the hint." Vena spoke flatly, annoyed that her peace and tranquility had been disturbed by Scara yet again.

"Do you ever take a break from being a brat?"

"Otvali."

Scaramouche frowned, exhaling a deep breath before turning back forward to face the setting sun with her, his arms crossing over his chest.

"I hear your talk with Xiao last night didn't go well."

Vena had half a mind to take her knife from her pocket and stab it into his jugular, even if he wouldn't die. At least he'd be quiet for a little while.

Clenching her jaw, the girl couldn't help the sarcastic little smile that sprung across her lips, turning to face him with a scary look in her eyes.

"I'm not having this conversation with you, Scara. Goodbye." Vena stood to her feet at the speed of light, boots clinking against the wood of the pathway below as Scara jumped after her.

"Wait- wait," He called, a hand planting firmly on her shoulder to stop her in her tracks, watching as she spun around on her heels to face him again.

"I give up, Scara. I can't do this. I can't just blindly trust someone, okay? Not when every part of my being is screaming that somethings wrong. Not when Xiao refuses to give me any sort of explanation. Do you know how hard it is when your mind is your own worst enemy? I'm tired, I'm exhausted and I just want to disappear." Vena's eyes glossed over a bit, but she refused to cry, choking them back and finally pausing whenever she felt them threaten to boil over again.

"Listen to me, for once, okay?" Scara held on to both of her shoulders now, trying to draw her attention back to him, wanting to make sure she really heard him for once.

"I don't think he's doing this of his own free will."

Vena's eyebrows knitted together, confusion lining her features as she gave a shake of her head.

"What is that even supposed to mean?"

"Hear me out, okay. I think she's holding something against him. Either threatening him, or has something important to him... something. I've been back in town spending every day with the guy since he's met you practically. Watched him turn from wanting to sacrifice you to falling for you... I don't think he would just turn around and do this if there wasn't a good reason."

For once, Scara didn't seem to be joking around or trying to get on her nerves. This felt genuine, as if he really was trying to comfort her.

"I don't want to try and be hopeful anymore, Scara. Do you know how much worse it hurts to hope for something and only have the opposite happen? I'd rather rip it off like a bandaid and get the horrific suffering over with sooner." Vena smiled sadly, patting the top of his hand before stepping back out of his reach.

"Regardless, I'm not giving up on him. Whether you want me to or not, I'm going to find out what's going on. And then I plan to murder Maya in cold blood." He spoke it as a promise, and Vena didn't doubt him for a second, but she wasn't sure if she was going to wait around and see.