Getting into the city is less eventful than you would have expected, with you and Hongjoong slipping into the town with hardly a need for the sword slung around your waist and the gun attached to your hip. There are less sirens than expected: none are in sight, and the streets are eerily quiet.
You can still hear the screams of the civilians echoing around inside the empty chambers of your mind, however.
Swallowing down the guilt, regret and fear that comes crashing into the fragile walls of your conscience like a raging tidal bore at the thought, you beckon to Hongjoong, and continue to pad across the streets of Saeyang, eyes wide, searching for something, anything.
And then you hear voices.
Inhuman voices.
"Hey Lise, come on. There's got to be some humans left," whines the first voice.
"There won't be," the second voice – Lise – says. "We killed them all, remember?"
"Shit," you whisper. You and Hongjoong quickly slip into the nearest building: coincidentally – and rather ironically – a jeweller's. There are a couple of old blood stains dragged across the floor, and a wave of sickness tumbles into your stomach at the thought of what might have happened to the owner of the shop. But you concentrate on keeping an eye on the window and the two sirens that pass by.
"Are you sure you don't want to check all the buildings because you don't want to murder someone with a mug again?" the first siren says snidely as the pair stop in front of the window. For fuck's sake. There's a smirk on the first siren's face as he regards the other, a slightly shorter siren with long curly hair.
"Shut up, Dami," Lise says as she folds her arms, her expression slightly miffed. "You're the one who murdered that poor human Murr. He seemed like such a sweet guy as well."
"Haha, I Murr-dered him," Dami says, chuckling at his own joke, before growing semi-serious, folding his arms too. "But it's not like we could've left him alive – what if he ran off and let other humans know about us? No matter how many of our ancient powers we've recovered, we won't be any match for a full-scale army dead-set on wiping us out."
Your ears perk up at the siren's words. Ancient powers? What is he talking about? Is that why the sirens have suddenly started growing legs?
"If we want to get revenge on the humans, then we need to bide our time," Dami explains. "The only way we're going to have a fighting chance against the humans is to awaken Master – and for that, we need to keep searching for that..."
Your attention is averted from the sirens' conversation as you feel a hand tap your shoulder; you turn swiftly, hand already at your belt, adrenaline forcing its way through your veins at breakneck speed. Thankfully, it is only Captain Hongjoong's face that greets you – what had you been expecting? A siren? A siren wouldn't have the common decency to tap you on the shoulder before attacking. Idiot.
"We should go," the captain whispers. "We're meant to be looking for that damned 'trinket' or whatever it is, aren't we? There's a back entrance – we can get out that way."
You nod, ignoring how your cheeks flare in shame at the realisation that slices through you at Captain Hongjoong's cutting and scolding tone. That's right. You are the one that dragged Hongjoong here in pursuit of an unknown trinket, a goal shrouded in mystery and dipped in uncertainty. All because some fortune teller told you to 'follow your heart'. Whatever he meant by that. You cannot afford to be distracted so easily. Moulding your mind into that of focus and control, you follow Hongjoong, on your hands and knees, through the slightly-ajar door to the back of the jeweller's.
YOU ARE READING
Horizon || ATEEZ
Action[pirate!au] A royal siren killer, they call you. And a damn good one, at that. But all that's gone now as you lay on the piece of driftwood that used to be your almighty ship in the middle of nowhere, waiting for Death to claim you like it did your...
