Gehenna's Gate

Renascence

The moment Vena stepped into Xiao's apartment, her eyes began to sting, every single chaotic emotion from the night finally hitting her all at once.

She tossed her bag to the floor, walking as fast as her legs could manage into the bedroom, quickly slamming the door shut and engaging the lock, resting her back against it as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Her hands clutched at her face, tears flooding down her cheeks as she let out the first of many sobs, her back slowly sliding down the door until she was seated on the floor below, her entire body shaking.

Damon's still out there.
Rae was seconds from death.
Jenna was kidnapped, maybe even dead or in serious danger.
Maya seemed completely set on ruining Vena's life in any way possible, even if it meant killing a human.
Vena forced Xiao to manipulate Rae's mind and change her memories. Make Rae hate her guts, despise her, refuse to ever talk to her or even look in her direction again, just in an attempt to keep her safe.
A complete stranger somehow was connected to her father.
Kazuha was likely grieving Jenna alone right now because she wasn't strong enough to push her own emotions down any longer, even just to be there for him.

She'd known everything was going too well... she was too happy. Something was bound to go haywire, and god, did it. Her entire life had been completely turned upside down within just a few hours.

How naive of her to think she could do this, think she could train and adapt, and maybe have a fighting chance in this world.

Sob after painful sob wracked through her body, shaking uncontrollably as her clothes became strained with tears.

Here she was, all over again, back in that ally watching her father take his last breath while she was powerless to stop it. Just a helpless child, too far deep in a dark and merciless world beyond her wildest imagination.

The world had a cruel way of proving to her that nobody she loved was safe. How badly she wished that she could be the one who didn't survive instead, if it meant they could live. They deserved it far more than she did.

A soft knock could barely be heard over the sound of her own cries and heavy breathing, borderline hyperventilating, yet she ignored it, refusing to let Xiao see her like this.

Reduced to a child, terrified and desperate, wishing for the sweet release of the void instead of having to experience what she was currently feeling.

"You can't lock me out, silly girl." Xiao's gentle whisper reached her ears and she instinctively tried to scramble to her feet and run away, only to have her wrists gently caught, pulled into his warm and tight embrace.

"Leave me a-alone," She stuttered out, hiccuping hysterically, barely able to speak between her frantic sobbing as she weakly tried to pull away.

Xiao held her tighter, refusing to let go.

"Please... just go-" She pleaded, unable to hold back the tsunami of emotions despite how badly she didn't want him to see her like this.

"Let it out, baby. Just let it all out." The man whispered into her hair, softly petting the back of her head with one hand once she'd finally given in and buried her face in his chest, clutching at the fabric of his shirt until her fingers hurt.

Seeing her like this pained him more than he could ever explain. It set fire to the blood in his veins, making him want to see both Damon and Maya dead for this, for the string of events they'd caused. That was a silent vow he'd made to himself and planned to keep, no matter what or how long it took.

"I lost, my b-best friend," Vena pathetically admitted, continuing to sob into his chest, finally giving up entirely on trying to hold any of it back.

"My sister... the o-only person I ever c-completely trusted... I feel- so alone-" Her own sob cut off her sentence.