This chapter is brought to you by Things We Lost In The Fire by Bastille.
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This sucks.
Nine woke up with a heaviness to his limbs and an apathetic numbness in his head.
"Awake?"
Lord Eartha stood over him with an unreadable expression.
Nine tried to respond, but couldn't. His throat was dry.
The man sighed and helped him up. He pressed a glass of water to his lips.
"Drink."
Nine sipped the water slowly and tried to speak again.
"What happened?" His voice came out rough.
"The healers decided to dose you with sleeping potions during the surgery. It's been three days."
Nine blinked.
He felt a surge of irritation and anger at being put under, but the emotion was fleeting when the soreness hit.
He winced.
Then he felt a noticeable dip in the bed and turned to see what it was.
He spotted ash blond hair and a blue shirt.
Bel was fast asleep next to his bedside.
"Peacemaker's been there since day two. You know, there are rules in the ranks against courting, but I don't think I need to worry about it if it's the two of you."
Nine blinked again.
He turned back to Lord Eartha. "Debrief?"
The man nodded. "Tell me what happened."
So Nine recounted the assassination. His encounter with the first three Mantle agents had given him the injury on his back. He fought them off but didn't have time to fully eliminate them, so he dropped a poison smoke bomb on them.
"Lady Calypto's incense?"
"Deadly. It's used in the training ground."
"Hm."
Nine explained how he didn't have time to check if the agents were dead.
"That's a failure on your part."
"I realized this when they called for backup."
While he believed he only needed to get through the target's personal guards, two more Mantle agents showed up.
"We fought and one of them gave me the second injury. They were strong opponents, both equally skilled."
"How would you rate them?"
"... If it had been one, I would have won. But..."
Lord Eartha narrowed his eyes in thought. "The two of them together would have taken your life."
"Yes. But they didn't."
"Pluto told me about that. They went rogue?"
Nine nodded. "I assumed. Tamer, one of the agents, collapsed after saying something. It's... I believe it's about an incident relating to me."
Lord Eartha crossed his arms. "You will need to report that to your uncle. If Mantle agents had gotten into Claypto's affairs, that meant there was a leak. The mission with Paudu and the Imperial Family could have been used as a front."
"A front?"
"That's not my business anymore. Even if they interfered with a sanctioned mission, their main objective was obviously you."
Huh.
Nine hadn't thought about that.
"The boy with nine lives finally found his calling, aye? You know, I expected you to go and avenge your loved ones after what happened, but you're pretty cold-hearted, huh?"
What did Tamer mean by that?
How had he known about the village and The Arena? The papers had been burned by his Lord Uncle and the village... the fire had taken everything.
Or did it?
He hadn't seen the aftermath. Only the smoke rising into the sky.
And then the men dressed in black came and he was suddenly saddled with children who needed to be fed and dressed.
Everything had happened so quickly and there was no time to think about the incident.
It was merely a tragedy among the numerous others.
But what if...
Lord Eartha wrote down a few more statements for the debrief before he stood up.
"Have a good rest, Cat. I recommend you discuss the rest of your encounter with Lord Calypto."
Nine nodded slowly.
The door clicked shut.
"Mmmhh..." Bel made a sound in his sleep.
He shifted slightly, turning to his side and exposing his face. The dark circles under his eyes stood prominent against the white bed cover.
Nine reached out and stroked his head.
---
He stubbornly fought against being given another dose of sleeping potion and tried to escape the healing ward several times within the next three hours.
The healers finally gave up when Nine attempted to jump out of the window.
He was given a bottle of numbing cream for the wound and quickly kicked out.
Bel remained sleeping inside the healing ward. Nine didn't have the heart to wake him. It was better for him to get some rest as well.
He made it back to the Calypto Estate by evening.
"Tobus!" Jovette gasped.
Nine had climbed onto her balcony and swiftly made his way inside.
"You should be in the healing ward right now!"
Nine took off his cloak and jacket and rolled up his sleeves.
"I'm fine. Where are the others?"
Jovette huffed and went to pick up his discarded cloak and jacket.
"In the Sun Room. They were very worried about you."
Nine grunted.
He plucked the cloak and jacket out of Jovette's hands and started to make his way out the door.
Jovette quickly followed after him.
"Summon the kittens and bring them to Lord Uncle's office."
"What?"
"There's something important to discuss."
She didn't ask further questions and turned around, heading toward the Sun Room.
Nine continued his trek toward the main wing of the estate.
"Lord Uncle."
"... You should be in the healing ward."
"That's what Jovette said," Nine responded, walking into the office. "Not important. Debrief."
His Lord Uncle sighed and took off his reading glasses.
He looked up and met Nine's eyes.
"What happened?"
---
They have been summoned to Lord Calypto's office.
It was late in the evening and they were playing with the cats, trying to get their mind off of the fact that their older brother was stuck in the healing ward.
When they arrived at the office, they saw Toby standing there in front of Lord Calypto's desk.
Oh, how they wanted to tackle him in a hug. Jovette had recounted his injuries, and they all knew he was supposed to be in the healing ward for another week.
Toby had never stayed in the healing ward longer than a few hours.
He also never sustained injuries that required him to recuperate for such a long time.
Or maybe he wasn't telling them whenever he got injured so he didn't have to go to the healing ward...
"Are you okay?" Otto was the first to ask.
Toby nodded. He looked unbothered by his injuries, his face smooth with nonchalance, and his eyes half-lidded with a hint of exhaustion.
His posture was stiff and rigid. He didn't look injured.
No one believed him.
The more Toby pretended to be fine, the more likely he wasn't.
Otto frowned when he realized how tense the atmosphere was. "What's going on?"
"I'm curious as well," Lord Calypto replied. "Why have you called for a meeting, Tobus? I thought we were debriefing."
Toby didn't look at any of them. He continued to stare at Lord Calypto.
"During the mission, an agent from Mantle called me by the designation I used when I worked in the Arena."
Lord Calypto froze.
"That's... that's not possible. We got rid of your contract--"
"He was also aware of what happened to the village."
Silence.
That was what it was.
The room felt suffocating all of a sudden.
Lord Calypto shook his head in denial. "No, Tobus. They couldn't have known. Everything was burned to ash when we arrived. All of you were long gone. The land was bare and black."
"But they somehow knew," Toby said without emotions."And they expected me to take revenge."
"Will you?"
A pause.
Toby's gaze turned to the window behind Lord Calypto.
The view was of Vesna and its buildings. They could even see the fountain and city square from here.
"No."
Otto didn't know if he should be appalled or relieved.
Vengence... it was never on their mind.
They were all so young.
The things they lost in that fire...
None of it could be given back even if they got their revenge.
It was why Toby tried to make sure they all survived, why he gave everything up so that they would be here instead of becoming executioners for wealthy criminals in the Arena.
Toby turned to all of them.
"I don't need or want revenge for what happened. You are enough for me."
Otto felt his heart beating in sync with the rest of his siblings. They all looked at each other, eyes red with unspeakable emotions as they took in Toby's words.
He shook his head.
"No, I don't need it, either."
Memories of that wonderful village, of their parents and the winters and the midsummer festivals...
All gone in the blink of an eye.
But...
They survived.
Sept stepped forth and bowed to Lord Calypto.
"I think Otto speaks for all of us. What happened to our village had already happened. Instead, I think what we want is closure. We want to know what happened that day... and why."
What did the men dressed in black--the Arena Executioners--have to do with it? Sept and Otto had seen them ride into town that day, so many years ago. They stayed for several days leading up to the festival. Then the village burst into flames and they found them in the mountains.
They were deep into discussions about possible leads and investigations by nightfall.
"The ones you suspect set the fire, they were the ones who took you in?" Lord Calypto asked.
"We didn't call them executioners. Toby was an executioner, but the adults, we referred to them as 'men dressed in black.' It was easier to differentiate who our allies were."
"And they were? Your allies, I mean."
"They took care of us," Tobus interjected.
Lord Calypto pursed his lips. "Technically, you were sold to them. Taking care of you was even more obligatory in that situation. The rest of you were tag-alongs that they thought were cute enough to take in, but you... you were never their equal."
"I wasn't."
"And you accepted that?"
"I did. They helped me feed the kittens and bring them to school."
They were all embarrassed by the old nickname, and even more so at the way Toby looked at them with so pride in his eyes.
Lord Calypto sighed.
"We can continue to discuss this tomorrow. I should have listened to Eartha about that mind healer when I first brought all of you back. You're all dismissed. Goodnight, sweet dreams. Otto, make sure Tobus takes his potions. He is banned from wielding his daggers for another week."
"Lord Uncle--"
"Yes, sir."
They all dragged Toby out of the room and ushered him toward the Sun Room.
It was an emotional night and they all needed cuddles, even if they were technically too old and too big to be held.
---
Bel saw him sitting at the fountain edge, surrounded by his kittens and all the cats.
So many cats.
Several children went over to pet the cats.
Vesna's cat culture has changed significantly in the last decade and a half.
About the time Lord Calypto started the whole cat-collecting spree.
Thank the gods he stopped once the number of cats started reaching the fifties.
Tobus had a kitten on his lap.
Not the human ones, but the actual kitten.
Its fur was ash blond and it had large green eyes.
"Belwyn," Tobus greeted when Bel approached him.
"How are you?" he asked.
Tobus shrugged. "I'm healing."
"You want to talk about what's been bothering you in the last few weeks?"
The other cocked his head.
He momentarily stopped petting the kitten.
"... Tonight."
"Same place?"
Tobus nodded.
They sat together on the fountain edge and enjoyed each other's company.
"Bel."
Bel jolted. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Did you just--"
"This is Bel."
Tobus held up the kitten for him to see.
"Same hair," he said, pointing at him.
Bel didn't know how to respond to that.
It was true that the kitten's fur was the same shade as his hair, but for Tobus to name an actual cat after him was...
He had no words to describe the feeling.
His entire focus was on the color of the kitten's eyes.
Green.
Like emeralds.
His face grew warm.
Tobus tilted his head.
"Okay?" he asked.
"... Mhm."
Gods, strike him down.
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The author has something to say:
Don't worry. The main storyline is still there. We shall still have the whole star-cross lover bit with Jovette and Rowan. Nine just has to deal with his own storyline, as well.