Chapter Text
Gunshots ring out.
Two of them, to be more precise.
The man in front of you crumples to the ground and you hear your friends cheer in the distance as a smile forms on your face. You hear the clank of metal as one of them drops the handcuffs that had previously been on their hands.
You’re tempted to turn around and run to hug them, but something tells you that it might be a bad idea, and that something keeps you rooted to your spot.
That very something leads to your hand raising itself to place itself over your heart. Without meaning to, you pull it away and notice something that no one else had.
Blood. And it was yours.
Your vision blurs as the world shifts on its axis and the ground meets your head. Faint cries of your name fill your ear and so does static. Someone lifts your head and you wince at the sudden pressure. “Stay alive, please.” The voice begs and a face comes into view. “You promised.” The voice sobs.
“You of all people should know—” You wince as the world starts to turn again “—I’m bad at keeping promises.”
“No no no no, no please.” Another voice yells.
“I'M GETTING EVELEAH!” The second voice freezes before almost running out of the building and then stopping. “WAIT, I AM EVELEAH. SHIT.”
“I’m sorry.” You mutter out and your eyes close of their own accord, getting heavier and heavier. Yet, you feel lighter and more at peace than you’d ever felt.
The world turns black.
~~~
Void.
Your eyes open to the nothingness. It's not the same kind of darkness that you see when you turn off the lights. It’s the nothingness that fills your vision when you close your eyes. It’s the there-ness and not-really-there-ness and it freaks you out.
Where am I? You think to yourself, your voice echoing inside the empty vacuum. You raise your hands and a bright light—the first indication of anything except void—fills your palms.
You stare at it, trying to figure out what exactly you’re holding—or staring at, really. Curiosity gets the better of you and you poke it, gasping as a picture fills your view.
***
Your feet thud against the hard floor of the parking lot as you scramble through your bag to check for the keys. “If I'm late today, Anju will actually kill me.” You murmur. Anju, your best friend, had invited you out for a dinner to celebrate her new job as an engineer at a formula one team.
Sure, you still had a lot of time to reach, and sure, she wouldn’t actually be that mad, but you didn’t like being late to anything. It filled you with a sense of stress that you didn’t really need.
Then again, feeling anything other than boredom was welcome.
Your job as an accountant didn't exactly check off the boxes of fun or interesting. You had no idea why you had taken it in the first place. Probably for the money. And because you had a love for numbers.
Not that it was helping now.
You sigh, scrambling through your bag once more, fully aware of the footsteps that had now joined you, but you thought nothing of it. You know what, you think to yourself, I'll just empty this entire bag. And yeah, it had sounded like the best idea at the time.
So you did. You took your bag, crouched against a random car and emptied it out against the hood, flinching as your phone came tumbling out, straight onto the hood with a loud thud. I hope they don’t notice. Your hands scramble around the items.
Lipgloss. Wallet. A stray note. Earbuds. There you are. You pick up the keys, sliding everything back into the purse, fully aware of how disorganised it was.
Unlike last time, you fail to notice that the footsteps from before are right behind you. In fact, you don’t notice till someone taps your shoulder. You turn around, ready to either see your boss or an angry carowner but you don’t get to see much because something brown is pulled over your head.
what. the. fuck.
Were you being kidnapped? In public? Surely, someone would notice. Screw that. I’m not waiting. You were no damsel in distress and you sure as hell weren’t going to act like one.
Praying that your opponent wouldn’t expect it, you reach over with the car keys poised between your index and middle finger, and scratch out at where the man’s throat should be. Always reach for the jugular. Some TV character's voice comes back to you.
A grunt and your hand meeting something hard tells you that you did make contact. A hand then pressing something against your nose from below the bag tells you that it was not the throat. Maybe the face?
It also tells you that you were being attacked by a group of people.
You hold your breath as long as you can thrashing around under the grasp of whoever was holding the bag as arms grasp onto yours. If you wanna kidnap me, you’re going to have to fight for it, bud.
Someone hits you in the throat and without meaning to, you breathe in as a reflex and then chide yourself as the chloroform seeps into your nose. Your arms start to get drowsy and even though you try to fight it, your eyes start closing.
Well, shit. You think to yourself and your eyes close.
~~~
“Wakey wakey.” Someone sings.
You register that the bag is no longer placed over your head and that you’re somewhere, but you refuse to open your eyes until you get more information about this situation. Maybe some names or maybe their motive for kidnapping a random stranger.
“Ugh,” The same voice groans, “She’s not waking up.” The voice speaking has a tendency to drag the last word of whatever they’re saying. Someone to your right sighs. Immediately, you can tell that there is a man next to you. How you know this? You have no idea. Instinct probably.
“There’s no use pretending to be asleep. I know the exact amount they gave you and you should be awake now.”
Begrudgingly, you open your eyes and close them again when a bright light hits your face. “Sorry!” The first voice says and the light vanishes. Reopening them, you see that it belongs to a woman who looks like she’s around the same age as you, if not younger. The woman has shoulder length brown hair and a bright smile.
“Where am I?” The voice next to you chuckles as you start off the question.
He stays silent. Okay, I guess we’re wasting time. Your eyebrows furrow before you can control yourself. “Are you holding me for ransom? Because let me tell you, there’s no one you can call who’ll willingly give you money for me.” The man’s lips quirk into a smile and the girl squeals next to him.
“She’s the perfect fit!” Umm, what.
“Careful,” he says to the girl, leaning back in his chair before facing you again. “You’re about three guesses away from being wrong.” What in the seven hells does this man even mean?
You glare at him. “You kidnapped me.”
“Recruited,” the girl beside him corrects brightly. You give her a look that reads are-we deadass-right-now and you can tell her it flies right over her head.
“You drugged me, threw a bag over my head, and dragged me God knows where,” you snap. “ There’s no way that was ethical, even by your standards.”
“That,” A voice from the intercom cuts in, “was phase one.”
Silence.
Your stomach drops. Your mind starts running through all the males you know or have talked to at some point in time. The voice that spoke was too familiar for your liking. “Phase… one?” You repeat.
The guy leans forward now, elbows on the table, interest sharpening in his eyes. “You noticed the footsteps but you didn’t do anything yet. That was your first mistake.”
You don’t respond. Why was this guy analyzing your mistakes? And follow up question: Why the fuck did it matter??
“You reacted fast. You reached for the throat. Wrong target,” he adds lightly, “but good instinct.” You notice that neither of their throats have a scratch on it. It wasn’t them. Your jaw tightens.
“The average person freezes,” he continues. “You didn’t.”
“And the average person,” the girl chimes in with a cough, “definitely doesn’t hold their breath that long.”
You look between them. “You’re insane.”
“Maybe,” The guy shrugs. “But we’re also very selective.”
“Okay, let's say I believe you. What exactly am I being recruited for?”
He grins. “My name is Liam. I’m the Captain of the Covert Regent at the Central Bureau of Investigation,” he then waves his hand haphazardly, “or as you know it, the CBI.”
Huh??
“Why exactly is the CBI trying to recruit me?” You say, panic finally soaking into your words.
The door behind you slams open and you turn, jaw-dropping as you do so. “Because I recommended you!” The voice, the same one as the intercom speaks out and you realise exactly why it was so familiar.
“ADIEL??”
***
“Target is entering the building.” Your voice is steady over the comms. This was the first mission you had been trusted to lead. You had done your training and you had done your rookie hours. There was no way you could mess this up.
“Copy that,” Adi’s voice crackles in your ear. “East exit covered.”
“West too,” Eve adds, far too cheerful—as always—for someone currently holding a sniper rifle. “Try not to make a mess, yeah?”
You don’t respond.
Perched on the edge of the adjacent rooftop, you watch as the man disappears through the glass doors below. Your target. Mid-level. A 40-something year old who was balding. Replaceable. The kind no one really notices until he’s gone.
He’d been involved in a sort of trafficking ring—your time with the CBI had informed you of exactly how prevalent it was and exactly how many rich people had been involved in it.
Your fingers adjust the grip on your weapon—nerves spreading through.
You move.
~~~
The hallway smells faintly of disinfectant and expensive perfume.
You walk like you belong. Head down, steps even, badge clipped at your waist—fake, of course, but good enough to pass a glance. You pass two employees. The taller one nods at you, looking as dead as you suppose a 9-5 worker feels.
Normal.
Everything is normal.
Until it isn’t.
~~~
“He’s in his office,” Eve murmurs, her voice coming out through the static in your earpiece.
You pause outside the door, hand hovering over the handle.
There’s a moment. Is this really what you want to do? There’s no coming back from this. If you do this, you will be a part of something big. You will be in danger. There will be risks. Adi’s words bounce around your head.
You inhale. It’s a good thing I love risks.
You push the door open.
~~~
He doesn’t even look up. “Leave it on the table,” he says, distracted, flipping through some file, leg perched on the coffee table as the coffee lay on a coaster on the armrest. Some sort of biscuit lay in the middle of the table.
You closed the door behind you, locking it with a soft click.
The man finally looked up. You watched as he went through all the different emotions. Confusion at the intrusion. Recognition that something was either wrong or about to go wrong. Then fear as he spotted the gun.
“Who—”
You don’t let him finish.
Your finger pulls the trigger—thankful the safety lock had already been removed. It’s quick. Your gun held a new mechanism that one of the experts in the IT department had come up with. Liam had called it Mez.
No struggle. No shouting.
Silence as he drops.
You stand there for a second longer than necessary, staring at him. At the way his body slumps. At how still he is.
You wince.
“Target down,” you say, voice quieter now.
“Already?” Eve whistles. “Damn. You’re good.”
“Don’t encourage her,” Adi mutters. The two of them fought often like a married old couple, but they also balanced each other out. Usually, you found their banter interesting and funny. Today, you ignore both of them.
Instead, you reach into your pocket.
The flower is slightly crushed.
You kneel beside the body and place it carefully against his chest.
Your fingers linger for half a second too long.
A Purple hyacinth. Sure, this was your first job and sure, you had actually taken someone’s life—something that would register later when you were in the comforts of your own home—but some dumb and nerdy part of you had wanted to do this.
Some stupid part of you had wanted to satisfy your younger self by doing the same thing Kieran did. Except, you didn’t do it because you’d feel sorry about killing these people. You did it because you harbored a deep love for the Purple Hyacinth webtoon, and nothing would ever come close to it.
“Package secured?” Liam’s voice cuts in, calm as ever.
You glance at the desk. At the file you came for. At the file he had been reading moments prior. At the blood now spreading beneath it.
“…Yeah.”
A pause.
“Good.”
You turn to leave.
Stepping over the body like it’s nothing.
Like this is normal.
This will need to be the new normal.
There’s no coming back from this. You’re a part of us now. You can already see Adi’s smile at your choice to stay, and Liam’s curt nod.
As the door clicks shut behind you, your hand tightens just slightly at your side. And for a split second, you hate the fact that it didn’t feel like anything at all. That killing someone had been as easy as pulling a trigger.
And you had actually done it.
***
The second time you see him, it’s in a coffee shop. It had been a coffee date that the two of you arranged after he miraculously found your number. He stood there, tall and blonde and handsome, scanning the area with a neutral expression.
That is, until his eyes landed on you and a smile broke out.
“You’re late,” he calls your name softly. His freckles invite you and you step toward him, tilting your head with a grin.
“You’re early, Theo.” You mimic.
He smiles at that like he’s won something.
~~~
The carnival lights are too bright.
Everything feels slightly unreal. Ferris wheel rising into the night sky like it belongs somewhere else entirely.
“You trust this thing?” you ask as you step into the capsule.
Theo shrugs. “Not really.”
“That’s reassuring.” You snort. Sitting in front of him.
“But I trust you,” he says.
You look at him. He’s already looking at you. His smile is softer than it usually is and you know what’s going to happen before it does. For once, there’s no calculation in your next move, no motive.
Or at least—it looks like there isn’t.
The wheel moves. The stars shine and the noise muffles out. The world drops away. And at the top—he kisses you. Your eyes brighten up and you laugh at a joke he makes after that.
You don’t notice the look in his eyes.
~~~
After that, things become easier. There’s still no label but you know what you are without it being said.
Hands brushing in crowded places. Laughing over things that aren’t actually funny. Standing too close without meaning to move away. Staying up late just to hear the other’s voice. That’s when you realise it.
For the first time in your life, you felt loved.
~~~
The mall is loud. Adi is complaining about something like always. Eve is threatening to leave him there. You are holding a shopping bag you don’t remember agreeing to carry, the weight making you lean to balance it.
Theo is walking slightly ahead of you, like he belongs there without trying. Without asking, he leans forward and takes the bag from you, running ahead and you chase after him.
It all feels normal.
Behind you, Adiel and Eveleah stare at your retreating figures. “Never seen her smile that much since we were children,” Adi says suddenly.
Eve nearly stops walking. “You knew each other??”
He shrugs. “We went to the same middle and high school.”
Silence.
...
“WHAT,” she shouts, turning around so fast someone nearly bumps into her. The bag drops from her hand onto the floor and the crack of an egg breaking sounds out.
Adi looks mildly offended. “Why are you shocked?”
“You never mentioned this,” Eve says slowly, pointing at him like she’s trying to solve a puzzle.
“It didn’t come up,” Adi replies.
“It didn’t come up??”
“When the hell was I supposed to bring it up? Over Tea?” He says affronted and she shakes her head.
“You,” She says, still pointing, “are an idiot, Adi.”
“And you,” He points back, lifting his free hand up, “love it.”
She sighs.
“Do I?” She walks off to catch up to you.
Behind her, an annoyed HEY Sounds out.
***
Cold metal digs into your wrists. The rope is tight enough to bite, but not enough to break skin. It reminds you of the time Liam had kidnapped you—the day you had actually joined.
You shift once.
“Stop moving,” Adi mutters behind you. His hand poking you in the back making you straighten.
“You stop talking,” you snap back immediately.
“I wasn’t even talking that much.”
“You’re thinking loudly.”
“That’s not—”
“Can you shut up for literally two seconds?” you cut in, still working your hands behind your back. Your rope rubs against the sharp edge of his handcuff, tearing it.
He exhales sharply. “You’re unbelievable.”
“And you’re distracting.”
“I’m literally tied up next to you!”
“Exactly.”
He huffs.
The room is small, and made with damp concrete. It’s poorly lit—or moreso the lightbulb has fully blown out. That leads to one singular thought.
Cheap security.
Slowly, a plan starts forming in your head and you know it will work when footsteps bang outside. They’re closer than you’d like them to be.
A lock clicks and the door opens.
The man walks in like he owns the space. He doesn’t. But he thinks he does. He’s young, confident, power-hungry, and another person that had been manipulated by him.
His eyes land on you first.
Then linger.
“Didn’t expect them to give me anything interesting today,” he says matter-of-factly and tilts his head, scanning you.
Adi shifts slightly beside you. “Please tell me you have a plan,” he mutters under his breath. “He’s going to be a problem.”
You don’t answer him.
You’re already looking at the man.
He smiles. “You’re the quiet one,” he says.
You tilt your head slightly. “Am I?” You lower your voice, plastering a questioning look on your face. That makes him pause.
He steps closer.
“Not scared?” he asks.
You blink once, peering up at him from your spot on the ground.
“Should I be?”
There it is.
Interest.
He’s fallen for it—hook, line and sinker.
Adi makes a small choking sound beside you. “Are you flirting right now?” he whispers.
“Quiet,” you say without looking at him. The man in front of you smiles brighter and you have to force yourself to stop the shudder of disgust that passes through you. The man laughs softly.
“You’ve got attitude.”
“I get that a lot.”
“From people who survive?”
You smile slightly. “Maybe I like competition,” you add.
His gaze sharpens.
You know you’ve got him right where you want him. You know exactly what he’s going to propose. And you know exactly what you’re going to say.
Behind your back, your fingers shift and pull at the last frayed edge of the rope.
“Let me guess,” you say softly. “You’re not just a guard.” Your voice resembles that of someone who’d actually be interested in the man standing in front of you. Luckily for you and unluckily for him, you’re not.
He leans closer. “Depends what you’re offering.”
You tilt your head again. “Freedom’s negotiable.” He adds the implication.
You nod and a second later, a key jingles against the door. The cell door unlocks. “Don’t do anything stupid,” he says as he steps aside.
You stand. Slow. Controlled.
Adi looks at you like he’s watching a disaster unfold in real time. Let him think what he wants to, I know how to do my job and I haven't gotten so far by doing nothing.
“You’re not actually going to—” He gapes from his corner.
“Shut up,” you murmur.
You brush past the man and he holds your wrist, pulling you toward him.
Your hand moves once.
He doesn’t even finish pulling you before he hits the ground. The other two guards step in too late as the noise finally hits their ears..
They’re too slow.
Too predictable.
You disarm them and shove one into the concrete, banging his head harshly against the wall. The other you hit with the butt of the gun you find on the floor. After they’re both unconscious, you reach for their handcuffs and tie them up to the bed, throwing the key outside.
Adi stares. “I take it back,” he says slowly. “You are the problem.”
You ignore him while picking up the dropped keys.
Perfect.
He stumbles slightly when the ropes come off.
“You could’ve warned me,” he says.
“I did.”
“When?”
“When I told you to shut up.” He glares.
You move toward the hallway without looking back. Fast and focused now. No hesitation. There’s no way i’m letting him get away with this. Not after everything he did.
“Where are you going?” Adi asks, already catching up. You don’t slow down, instead your pace quickens and you curse the universe as Adi catches up with his long-ass legs.
“Get out of here.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is if you’re smart.”
“I’m serious,” he presses, “what’s the plan?”
You stop walking for a second, turning your head to him.
“It’s time to get the locket.”
Nothing else matters.
***
B̶̡͔̱̠̬͇̼̘̘̪͒̔͛̽̈̀̌̽̀͛̍̒͆̈́͐̿̅̽̿̅̚̚͝͝͝ͅL̷̪͕̙̬͚̱̖̜̞͓̗̱̫̜̰͙̝͊̉͐͘̚͝ͅO̵̙̥͋̅̉̃̈́̍̏́̾͐͒̀̈́̓̕͝ͅǪ̵̛̫̥͈̫̻͍͙̻̪̩̪͔͖͚̩̗̼̬͍̬̱͂̑͑̀͌̉͋̀̈͒̈̇̇̔̐̅͜͝ͅḐ̵̟̮̖̫̼̣̠͉̣͍͙̝̤͕̻̻̪̬̹͖̻͈̳̬̱̔̉͆̐͆̓̉͊͂̆͆̊͐̎̿̽͘͘͝͝͝ͅ ̸̡̢̢̲͙̥̩̺̼͖̩̟̞̣̤̱͎͈̣̪̥͈̺̯̩͒̉Ņ̴̧̢͈̠̯͉͍͎͖͚̖̝͉̘͈̥̙̀̑̿̅̈̒̎͛̓̓̅̾̎͜͜͜͝͝Ȩ̴̳͇̩͖̫̙̱͚̱́̃̎̏̊̓̎͋̈́͒͌̓͗͘͝͝͝E̶͈͒̐̾̇̉̒̄̈͒͊̀̈́͆̑͌̊̓̄͝͝͝͝D̴̢̟̲͖̦̊͆̂̃́̎̇̉͌͆̆̿̍̇̉̓͋́̏̃́͛͊̀͑̿͝͝ͅŚ̵̛͕̤̘͈͓͌̌͑͊͆͋̃̌̍̇̈̑́̕͘ͅ ̶̨̨̢̢̡̦͓̱̣͉̪̘͍̼̱̘̫̳̤̖̼͕̭̥̹̘̙̃̈́̃̌͌͆̏͒̂͗̀͌̎̓͝T̵̡̳̳̺̰͍͚̃̀̀͗͌͛́̏̀̊̈̅̈́̀̽̾̎́Ŏ̵̡̪̺̩̬̝͖̣͙͍̹̳͚͙͈̭̲̳̠̥͖͇̥̾̄̓̃͆͊̀̇̇͘̕͜͜͝͝ͅ ̷̧̱̙͙͉̗͎̣̻͍̦̜̏̃̈́̾B̶̛͓̼̼̤̳̬͚̯̏́̏̔̅̀̋̍̄̋̀̽̂̒̔̀̔́͘͝͝͠͠͝ͅÈ̷͓̰͉̙̫̳̽͛̔̍̈́́̎́̆̈̂ ̶̢̧̻̟͎̘̤̼͎̠̹͎̟̩̜̩̲͚͇̀͌͜͝S̸̨̛͕͚̫̻̼̗̻̱̭̬̺̰̱̰̃͊̒́̒̑̽̊̐̈́͊͋̽̇̇̌́̑̇̾̓̕͝͝͝P̶̡̧̢̙͔̩͕̝̞̹͎̦̱̳̜̩͚̫͓̜̬̖͚͙̣̀̈́̓̃́͊͝͝Ǐ̷̡̨͙͉̤̼͖͔̙̣̭͎̱̭̝̳̬̮̠͔̮̮̅̅̏͆́͑̒̆̇̋̃̐̏̀̑̽̎̃̎̽̓͐͒̚̚͝Ļ̸̡̨͇̳̺̬̟̪̞̰̭͓͕̜̫̤̰̜͔̦̺̮̠͙̦͆́̊̄͐̂̎̇͐̄͠͝L̵̨̳̞͙̬̥̦̳̰̬̺̻̠͎̱̐̋͗͑̐̈̈́̇̎̄̎̀̽̕̚͠͝E̷̢̺̜̼͉͍̼̥̘̖̫͍̜͓͇̰̤̭͖̲̰̭̋͜͜͠D̴̢̧̧̗̳̟̤̻̗̠̤̙̦̰͍̗̝͈͚̯̩̻̩͗
***
The air is thick with smoke, dust and metal.
Everything hurts in a way you’ve stopped registering properly. Your ribs. Your shoulder. Your hands. It all blends into one dull pressure that refuses to matter.
And yet, you stand.
Because you always do. It’s the one thing you’re consistent with. Never giving up.
The locket is in your hand and you can feel the energy flowing through it. It was something you had never really considered before. The idea of life in an object? It felt like something that belonged to the Harry Potter Universe or something like that.
Your fingers close around it tighter, like it might disappear if you don’t hold on hard enough.
And then you see him.
Black hair and metal piercings. Theo’s brother.
For a second—your mind tries to make him fit into everything that came with Theo.
Coffee dates. Carnivals. Mall lights. Laughter. Easy silence.
It doesn’t fit. Not anymore.
“You made it,” his brother says, resembling Theo an awful lot and for a minute, you’re tempted to drop everything and run to him. What makes you stop is his tone. Not surprised. Not relieved.
Certain.
You take one step forward. Then another. The world feels too quiet. You reach for his hand. He lets you. Of course he does.
“The war ends now,” you say. You note the grin that spreads on his face. He’s absolutely sure that you’re joking and that you’ll attempt something dumb and die. But you? You know what will happen. You know that you’re not referring to what he thinks. You won’t join him.
Your voice doesn’t shake.
It should, but it doesn’t.
His grip tightens slightly, and that’s when you notice it. The timing. The stillness in the air behind you. The way everything has been positioned just a little too perfectly. Something clicks.
“You knew,” you say softly. It’s not a question. It’s aimed at the blonde ghost standing behind the mastermind. Theo.
He finally smiles. “I didn’t have a choice,” he says. A lie dressed a lot like an explanation. Thankfully, you don’t believe it.
Behind you there’s movement. Footsteps.
Your grip tightens around the locket. Something inside you goes very still. “It ends with me,” you say. For a second, you think of the humor in that sentence. You think of how funny it is that the last words you’ll say will be the title of the book you hate the most.
The gun is already in your hand.
So is his.
Gunshots ring out.
Two of them, to be more precise.
The sound is deafening at first.
Then, nothing.
He stumbles first. Not immediately understanding. Then slowly, realising. Realising that his plan failed. Realising that you were a step ahead of him. Realising that he’s dying.
“You've always… been good at this,” Matty manages.
You don’t answer. His knees hit the ground first and his torso joins it soon after, bent at an odd angle..
You stay standing longer than you should. Locket still in your hand. You hear your friends join you in the room and you can hear the shout of joy that Adi lets out upon spotting the dead corpse. Without turning back, you already know that Eve is letting out a prayer for him, like she does for everyone—no matter how twisted.
There’s blood on everything you touch but they don’t notice yet. For the second time since joining the CBI, you don’t feel like you’re winning. Or losing.
Just ending.
You were finally at peace.
***
The image in your hand vanishes and you realise that you just went through the events of everything that had led to your death. It hadn’t been painful like you once feared. It had been sacrificial. For the greater good, you tell yourself. But you know the greater good would never have done anything to save you.
POP
You startle easy and the void shifts to a brighter and louder version of a circus. You can hear the acts going on and the people talking, and you can smell the food being passed around—but if you listen closer, you’ll notice that no one is actually saying any words. It’s gibberish.
Ahead, a stereotypical robot beckons you forward and you oblige, hesitantly placing one foot ahead of the other.
Next to it, there's a large wheel of fortune with random names written. Harry Potter? Shatter Me?? SHADOW AND BONE???
You must be in heaven, you think to yourself. And then you shake that thought away because there's no way you would've ended up there—defibitely not with everything you read and wrote.
“Where am I?” You ask the robot.
“Welcome to Heavenscape! A place in heaven where you go to be isekai-ed!” Then the robot lowers its voice, “terms and conditions apply.” Waddafuq. What terms and conditions could POSSIBLY apply when you're in heaven?
“Yo,” the robot flinches at your casual greeting, “can I get more info on the t&c?”
“This audio has been pre-recorded.” I just saw you flinch though? “Please spin the wheel.”
Realising that you weren't going to get any answer from the robot you place your arm on the wheel before chucking it around and waiting as it passed all the different fandoms.
And it finally landed on one.
Confetti threw itself out from the robot's brain as you stood there blinking. “Congratulations! You've gotten Avatar: the lady air bender! You will be an avatar along with Aang and your love interest is—”
“You're so boring, Ange” A voice drawls from your left. You turn your head and your eyes find a white man with curly black hair. Who invited him?
“I'm doing my job, Dev.” The robot says, breaking out of the monotone voice. Not pre-recorded anymore, I see.
“Boringgg,” black-hair drags. He looks like a stereotypical asshole. “I've been following her work for a long time and gotta say—” he turns to you with a grin, “I'm a fan.”
Your head tilts with a confused expression occupying it. “...Thanks?” You offer and he barks out a laugh.
“That's it. I'm sponsoring her “
Before you can say anything to black-hair, the robot yells next to you, “WHAAT?! YOU'RE ALREADY USING THE SPONSOR? THE MILLENIA JUST STARTED?”
Black-hair fixes it with a glare, “This is the most boring century since the 100s.”
Did… did this man just confess to being alive since the start of time?
“Big G won't like it.” The robot finally sighs.
“I don't care.”
“Your funeral.” Robot man says and just as you open your mouth to speak, it snaps it's mechanical fingers and you see black again.
You're in the void.
For the last time, you hope.
~~~
“You think she'll be fine?”
“She's getting an extra power at birth, of-fucking-course she will”
“...”
“You're gonna call him aren't you—”
“BIG G!! DEV IS CUSSING AGAIN.”
“oh for the love of—”
***
Something is itchy.
And you're not referring to your dress. Hell no. That shit is the most comfortable dress you've ever worn.
You're talking about the fact that you can feel grains of sand around you for some reason.
What the—
Your eyes open wide like you've just woken up from a war-flashback. Weird dream. You're expecting to see Adi or Eve or even Liam.
Hell, Theo was someone you were expecting to see.
What you weren't expecting, however, was to be surrounded by sand—in the middle of a random desert with only a big casino to be seen.
…
HUHHH?
“Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you what world you're in!” The robot's voice from your dream speaks up. “You're in—”
“Welcome to the world of One Piece, lovely.” The black-haired guy interrupts in your mind.
HUHHHHHHHHHH?
“Good luck.” Black-hair chuckles again. You can hear him fighting with robot-voice over something but you're only doing one thing. Replaying everything that you remember.
Dying. Void. Memories. Void. Circus. Robot. Wheel. Black-hair. Void. Sand.
Holy shit.
You had just been isekai-ed to an anime. One Piece out of everything too! The only anime you hadn't bothered to watch because of how long it had been.
You vividly remembered a few months ago when Adi had forced you to start it. You had gotten till the Alabasta arc in the live action but then you had gotten lazy and just read the spoilers (and the fanfictions).
Holy shit.
HOLY SHIT—