Xaessia stood in the alley's darkness.
Nine bodies surrounded her. Men and women once armed, now were nothing more than wilted decorations in her garden of death. Roses crawled from their mouths, eyes and wounds, blooming through fabric and flesh as if life itself rejected their corpses. The scent was intoxicating with blood, perfume, and petals. She tilted her head slightly, studying her work. She brushed her gloved fingers over one of the roses sprouting from a man's throat.
"This is messy. I'm getting sloppy."
Only one was still alive. It was a woman trembling against the wall at the alley's end. Her assassin's uniform was torn and covered in blood. Her eyes wide with the kind of terror that stripped away pride and training. Xaessia turned toward her.
"You're the last one. That's unfortunate. I wanted an even number."
The woman gasped, clutching her chest and raised her Combat Flux dagger, materialized from pure silver Xana. She flipped it, ready to drive it into her own heart before Xaessia could do worse.
The dagger never reached her skin.
Roses burst from her palms. Delicate vines wrapped around her wrists and fingers, locking her hands in place. The woman's breath hitched as panic overwhelmed her.
"Wh—what are you doing to me?!"
"You were going to kill yourself to protect your House's secret. But that's such a waste of loyalty. Oh, and such a beautiful face to ruin."
She touched the assassin's forehead gently. In that instant, roses began to bloom across the woman's temples, eyes, and mouth. Thick vines forced their way through bone and brain, and she screamed. Her sound didn't last long before it was smothered by petals.
Xaessia held her until she stopped convulsing. When the woman went still, her body sagged.
"If you want to die that badly, then I'll help you bloom beautifully."
The body turned to ashes, collapsing in a cloud of petals and smoke. The alley was silent again. Xaessia sighed and leaned against the brick wall, exhaling slowly.
"The House of Erdict. So they finally decided to move. And here I thought they had some dignity left. To think they'd send assassins after the one person connected to all twelve Houses. The stupidity is astounding."
She lifted her hand and snapped her fingers. Instantly, the corpses dissolved into a storm of red petals, dancing in the wind before vanishing into thin air. Not a single trace remained. There was no blood, no scent or even fabric.
"Always such a mess to clean up but at least it leaves no traces"
Behind her, a familiar presence flickered.
"I found you."
Verdamona's voice echoed through the alley. Xaessia turned slightly, her silver eyes meeting Verdamona's. The younger woman looked exhausted.
Xaessia frowned. "You look awful."
"Thanks. Norphie's with the police. They're taking care of her now. She told us to go to the police department."
Xaessia nodded once. "Good. I'll contact her there."
Verdamona didn't react. Her golden Xana still flickered faintly, but her expression was faint. Xaessia studied her face and then asked.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
It was a lie but Xaessia didn't catch it. Or maybe she did, and simply didn't care enough to call it out. Her tone remained casual and pragmatic.
"Good. Because things just got a lot more complicated for you."
Verdamona blinked. "What do you mean?"
"You're involved now. Whether you wanted to be or not, you've stepped into House politics. That means you have two options. One, you accept protection and become an Officia Fluxer of the House of Argemenes. Two, you die before sunset. The Houses don't tolerate loose threads."
Verdamona clenched her jaw. "You're joking."
"Do I look like someone who jokes? You should take my offer. If I put your name under our protection, the other Houses won't dare touch you."
Verdamona exhaled slowly. "Then I'll rely on you… for now."
Xaessia nodded approvingly. "Wise choice."
But then Verdamona's eyes narrowed.
"Do you even care about the explosion? Or about the people who died?"
Xaessia's answer was instant and cold.
"No."
"What? Why?"
"I don't care and neither does anyone else in the Houses. From the Radiant to the Abyssal Houses, we're taught to be impartial. The weak live and die by the consequences of their insignificance. Only those who matter, those who benefit us or hold power, are worth our attention."
"That's cruel."
"It's true. We have the strongest Flux types on the planet. We fight Fluviums that ordinary Fluxers can't even comprehend, much less survive. You think we have time to cry over civilians? As painful as it sounds, casualties are collateral. Every House member knows that. If you want to be an Officia Fluxer, you'll have to accept that too."
Verdamona's hands trembled slightly.
"So all those people… they were just collateral damage to you?"
"Yes. This was an assassination attempt. A warning shot in political warfare to be elaborate. The dead are statistics, not tragedies. You'll understand once you've seen enough."
Verdamona's expression hardened.
"You're cruel."
Xaessia smiled faintly. "Of course I am. I was raised to be. We all were, especially those of us from the Abyssal Houses. Even the Radiants despise us. So we learned to be crueler, colder and more efficient than them. If you plan to survive in our world, you'll have to decide what kind of monster you want to be. The kind that pretends to care, or the kind that doesn't need to."
Verdamona didn't respond. She just looked away. Xaessia brushed a lock of crimson hair behind her ear.
"Come on. We're going to the police department. I want to see how badly they're screwing up Norphie's report. We'll take a taxi since I'm too bored to run in a casual goth outfit."
As they walked out of the alley, the wind blew behind them, carrying faint rose petals that turned to ash mid-air. Verdamona walked with her head lowered, questioning everything she thought she knew.