Cassius was awake when Rexton entered the room the next morning. His light footsteps were all that Cassius could hear before a hand entered his vision. Rexton held a knife out and under the ropes. The blade sliced through the rope, a sputter of purple magic drifting up from where the rope had been cut. The magic evaporated. Cassius flexed his hands and sat up.
Rexton looked the same. His brown hair was perfectly swept back from his face. His brown eyes were slack with that laid-back look. He was at ease, but his back was straight in perfect posture—as it seemed to have been beaten into him.
Cassius crouched at the end of the bed. His naked back was still burning from the beating, though it was an ache he could easily dismiss. His eyes roamed over Rexton's tall form. He was in his typical formal attire. The black uniform slimmed him down, but there was no covering up the years of physical training.
Cassius glanced away.
"Put these on."
Rexton tossed a clean stack of folded uniform. The cut was the same as his old one, but the insignia was the Keshtin crest. It was the same on Rexton's. The purple serpent reminded him nothing of Rexton. When he looked at the man, Cassius saw a wolf.
But it would be no surprise if Rexton was able to switch between each form. A snake as he might be, his appearance was a wolf. The cold and withered look in his eyes felt much more like a wounded dog than a vibrant snake.
Cassius pulled the pile into his lap. When Rexton didn't leave the room, he raised a brow.
Dryly, Rexton replied to his silent question. "We're on a tight schedule."
Meaning Rexton didn't want to have to deal with guards.
Cassius let out a huffy breath. He unfolded the clothing and began to strip from his worn pants. The clothes fit better than his older ones only because he'd been wearing them for more than five years. The feeling of change felt nice compared to being stuck with the old for another day. It was simple. It was something he could handle.
He buttoned the jacket, his finger grazing over the metal buttons. The soft touch transported him back to his first day. At just ten-years-old, he'd put on his first uniform. He'd become a soldier in a silent war that day and before he had even been born. This had been his future all along. Yet, it never felt right.
His fingers slowed. He could feel the heat of Rexton's gaze on him. It was like molten lava falling over his skin. The softness of those wandering eyes crept up his chest and over his exposed collarbone. He swallowed. The feeling bubbling in his stomach was a familiar ache. It was connected to depravity and the lust of men. He'd seen this kind of thing before when men were locked together with no other means of an outlet. Their bodies were full of built up tension.
When that same desire of directed in his direction, it didn't feel like a weakness for letting it happen. For a moment, a brief second that he might later regret, he was fine with basking in the warmth. If he blocked out Rexton's face, he might enjoy it even more. But he couldn't escape the reality of where he was. He knew this was wrong. It wasn't even right for him to believe it was when Rexton had been the one to order his beating. Rexton had also been the one to trap him here in Keshtin when he might have had a chance to escape Parlera under Iza's command.
He could think of a lot of things he might do with Rexton. Sex might have been a part of the list; it just wasn't high on it.
He turned away, doing up the last button. He slipped on the pants and sat on the bed to pull on the black socks. When he was done, he sat there. Rexton follows up by setting a pair of black shoes—polished and in the same style of his own—beside Cassius.
Cassius worked fast to lace them up, ignoring the pounding of his heart and the flush creeping up his neck. Rexton was closer now, just a foot away from Cassius touching him with his outstretched hand.
They'd been closer before. Cassius had been inches away from touching his lips to Rexton's. This was different somehow. This was Rexton's quarters. This is where he'd been tied to a bed and made to believe Rexton had been doing him a favor. Something sick was inside of Rexton. It was a parasite infecting the man with the sickest of thoughts.
Cassius stood from the bed. The cut of the uniform made him stand rigid. There was barely any room for him to move his hands. Perhaps that had been the intention.
Rexton watched him, those eyes still burning. Cassius hated how much those blank eyes could make him feel so much. Anger. Lust. Helplessness. All those things were staring back at him, his reflection a pool of all his faults and all the things he wished he could get rid of.
They looked too similar. Without Cassius's darker skin and Rexton's badge, there was nothing to set them apart. Though they didn't share any resemblance, there was a hint of understanding Cassius didn't want to acknowledge. It was a feeling that transferred from Rexton to him like they were connected in a way that could not be seen. It made him think about the Third Eye and the connection he shared with it. Being away from it made him feel uneasy and not quite normal in reality.
Magic might have been born into him, but it never got easy to deal with.
Saying this, he hadn't thought about Rexton and his own magic. A Remu with the ability to control magic must have been hard. Not as hard as a Mekiah, he thought, but still hard.
Rexton opened the door to the room. He lifted his jacket. A leather holster was strapped around his shoulders and looped down to the middle of his torso. At his side, a black gun with Xtavia's purple crest etched into the metal hung in the holster. He let his jacket fall, covering the gun once more.
"Remember," he said as he stepped aside for Cassius to exit first, "I'm your general."
Cassius brushed past him. "I didn't forget."
It seemed nothing had changed in the game except the players.
***
The training area looked almost identical to the one back in Parlera. The fenced in yard opened to a dirt covered square where it was easier to practice combat. Targets were painted on one cement wall that faced away from the Keshtin military base. The only thing different about this area was the magic signature.
Cassius scrunched his nose at how prominent the magic was here and how he could feel the arrogance in it. It wasn't Rexton's magic. Rexton's magic was a heavy force that settled in on Cassius, much like how Rexton was doing to him now. Rexton's magic was about control, but this magic was young and confident. It wanted to be the center of attention and it didn't care what it had to do to get what it wanted.
Those first few seconds of being in the training area were all he needed to know he would hate this place. Though he was used to dealing with people like Felix and Iza, at least he could tolerate their magic.
He couldn't pick out the magic bearer as soon as he stepped outside, but he knew the general direction. However, he looked the other way. The first thing he saw were two people practicing hand-to-hand combat. A woman with dark blue hair dressed in black, kicked at a shorter black-haired man. She whipped around and knocked the man back. He flipped backward, landing on his feet. The woman raised her fists, but before she could land a punch, the man kneed her in the stomach. She grunted as she fell to the ground. The man was quick to knock her down. She surrendered and the match ended.
Cassius stopped short at the front of the yard. Rexton stood beside him.
The man and woman weren't the only ones already training.
In the opposite corner, a tall slim man faced away from Cassius and Rexton. His curly dark brown hair was cut short enough to show his neck and his ears. They were each pierced with two silver studs. He wore a black hoodie and jeans with a silver chain dangling from the loops. He didn't look like he belonged here. He didn't even look like he was part of the military let alone part of Xtavia's top SWARM.
Cassius watched the tall man hunch over. He was inches away from the cement wall, his hands out in front of him. The magic, the kind that was full of itself, was coming from him. Once Cassius knew where it was coming from the easier it was to feel the individual currents and the layers that made up the stream coming from the man. He was focused on that one source flowing out from his finger and didn't seem to care that he was being watched.
Cassius was careful to keep his own magic contained. It wasn't much of a problem since his magic was still recovering from its outburst the other night. He continued to watch the tall man. He didn't need to be told that this was the Exteru on the SWARM. This was the Exterminator employed out of all the other Exterus in the nation. He'd expected more. To be honest, he'd expected someone more like Rexton. Not a boy on the verge of manhood.
He crossed his arms as Rexton nodded toward the tall man.
"He's not much of a talker."
Cassius snorted. "Seems like a common trait."
Rexton turned to him, his eyes burning into the side of his face. He glanced at Rexton.
"I want you to know I value my Trackers more than General Iza," Rexton said.
Cassius stiffened. He clenched his jaw.
"It's a little too late to be saying that now." Each word was a punch through his teeth. He glared out into the training yard, no longer paying attention to anything, but the uninteresting metal fence.
"Your hate is understandable." Rexton reached into his pocket. "I wasn't sure if you were trustworthy enough for this, but I know I can't control you even if I bar your magic."
Rexton opened his hand to Cassius. In his palm was a small silver bracelet. It looked like his anklet, the magic blocker that forbade him from using magic unless issued permit and controlled the amount being used.
"It's not a Dissipator." Rexton grabbed Cassius's wrist. His slender fingers snapped the bracelet onto Cassius. They lingered as he spoke. "It's an enhancer. ME is the official term."
Cassius jerked his hand back. He turned his arm around to view the bracelet closer. It wasn't that noticeable, but it stood out from his dark skin. The silver reflected the sunlight, shining into his eyes. He squinted and then looked up at Rexton. He crossed his arms once more.
"So, you're trying to buy my obedience."
Rexton cracked a smile. "Loyalty is what I like to call it. A happy team makes a great team."
Each word sounded like bullshit coming from a man full of shit. Cassius couldn't really take him seriously when there were two different Rexton's in this world. This Rexton who smiled and tried to make jokes and the other Rexton who was dead inside.
The weight of the bracelet or the ME distracted him. He wanted to twist it around his wrist, but he didn't, only because Rexton was there. The other people, the ones who would become his everyday life, didn't matter. Their opinions were jack-shit, but for some reason, he wanted to prove something to Rexton. Maybe it was dominance. Maybe he was just tired of Rexton thinking he had the best of Cassius.