Legends Never Die

I. Ignorance Is Bliss

There was a time where the term ignorance is bliss seemed like an excuse to disregard one's potential to observe - to learn. To push past one's own boundaries for the sake of knowledge. It appeared as if those who lived by that advice used their own cowardice as a scapegoat of denying the truth.

In the safety of Owen's own mind, he was able to admit that his past thoughts were ignorant in their own way, and there was nothing he would rather accomplish than go back in time and tell himself to enjoy the safety of the unknown while it lasted. Knowing was the end of the truth as he knew it - it was actually rather terrifying.

It was in the way his hands shook - how he could feel the terror deep in his bones, chills of suspense crawling up his spine. The wide eyes and faces of his team bleached of color. The black veins creeping under his darlings eyes - a hunger so deep hiding in the irises that haunted his dreams.

It all started with a mission - a mission so simple that a first year Academy grunt could have completed with the ease of a seasoned soldier. Get in, plant the evidence, and get out were her only orders. Nothing should have gone wrong - she was perfectly trained for it.

What he didn't know was that no amount of cameras or communication over the earpieces could have saved her. No amount of North's rage, Nathan's specialty in combat or Silas' strength could have prevented the moment that would change their entire lives.

It may have started with a simple mission, but when it really began, it was with the blood of an enemy and the snap of her delicate neck. The neck he had worshiped with gentle kisses - the neck she needed so desperately to breathe.

But there was no longer any need to breathe, now was there? Why would she need to pull air into her lungs when she was already dead? No, his mind whispered with embers of hope, she's not dead. But she would never be the same again.

"I'm so, so sorry," Dr. Roberts whispered, resting a supportive hand upon his shoulder. Owen resisted the urge to lean into it - to accept the small break of responsibility while he could. "If there was anything I could do to make this better for you boys, I would not hesitate."

Owen rubbed the bridge of his nose, praying that he would not break down in front of his superiors. In the sitting room of the home that he shared with the love of his life, he was surrounded by people he couldn't name, but recognized from passing glances in the Academy halls.

In the corner of the room sat an older, tawny skinned woman with flowing dark hair. Beads and unusual jewelery were covering her neck and wrists, some intertwined in her tangled hair. The last he had seen her, he had figured that she was just quirky in her appearance, but he now knew there was something more to it.

"Being introduced into this life is never easy, I would know," she said with a small, sad smile. Jocelyn Di Rossi, he remembered her introducing herself. "There's nothing we can do to help you with this, other than support the decision your team makes."

"Would you mind explaining our options once again, Ms. Di Rossi? I'm afraid that I'm quite lost."

The team would need to know as soon as possible, but they were hovering outside of Ms. Sorenson's room, uncaring of anything outside of her safety. From what it sounded like, it wasn't her safety they had to worry about, but their own. Anyone with a pulse was in danger.

Jocelyn was quiet for a moment, but once he looked at her sternly, she complied. "In the camera footage, you witnessed the first steps of her transition. When that man forced his blood down her throat, it had the opportunity to heal her or change her depending on what move he chose to make next."

"And since he snapped-" Owen paused, choking on his choice of words. The words sounded crude - not fitting of the peaceful ending that Sang deserved. Instead of passing in her sleep, she lost her life brutally. "-broke her neck?"