"That son of a b*tch. I'll kill him for hurting you..." Leo growled and looked at Charlotte with fury in his eyes.
Charlotte wrapped herself around one of Leo's arms and kissed his neck. "Me too, baby. He'll pay for hurting you too." Her eyes narrowed as she envisioned a fate worse than death for Cryptbreaker. "He'll pay dearly."
They had just left Cryptbreaker's hideout. To their surprise, it was built into an old subway. The entrance was cleverly concealed with the use of illusion and barrier magic.
First, the hole leading to the lair was covered with illusory bricks that blended seamlessly with the surrounding subway walls. A rough barrier was meticulously placed to fit the various grooves in the wall's exterior. This added to the ruse by giving it the sense of solidity.
It was all to prevent the occasional homeless, curious teen or snooping authority from wandering in.
"Ugh... It stinks in here, Leo," Charlotte griped and crinkled her nose. She then buried it beneath her new coat to ward off the smell.
Stink it did. This was a space that hadn't seen maintenance in many years, so various pockets of moldy dew and filth accumulated. They combined to form an intense odor that could make one's eyes water.
"Hang in there, Yinny," Leo eased. "We'll be out soon."
'This is nothing anyway,' he inwardly added. Thanks to his time on the battlefield, the musk of mold, trash, and dead critters was negligible to him. Once you were used to the pungent stench of rot and decay that came from mountains of bodies, everything else lost its impact. To Leo, at least.
Accompanying the theme of an abandoned subway, the ceiling lights above flickered and dimmed from faulty wiring, making navigation in the underground tunnel difficult, at best, for the two.
Luckily, they were graciously given the latest and best model of smartphones by Cryptbreaker, among other things, so they had a source of light to pave their way forward.
The two lovers eventually ascended up a flight of dirtied stairs from the subway to see the heavens were a hazy black.
Stars were barely visible; the city's excessive light pollution ensured that. However, the pale white moon towering high above easily pierced through the blackened sky, illuminating the two in a soft glow.
Though the sight was far from magnificent, it was breathtaking to the two. After all, they thought they'd never see it again.
A flood of emotions burst within Charlotte, causing tears to flow from her eyes as she watched the waning moon. "Leo..." she stammered, then clutched him tight, burrowing her face into his broad chest. "We're... We're alive. You and I, we're alive, right?"
Leo took a hard swallow of relief as he embraced Charlotte. "Yeah," he said with a slight smile. He then placed his palm on Charlotte's head, rubbing it gently and affectionately.
"We're together still, right?" she asked, clutching ever tighter. In her mind, if she let go, Leo could've disappeared from sight. He could've vanished as if he were just a figment of her imagination.
"Yeah," he replied again while brushing her hair aside. He then planted his lips against her temple. "We'll always be together."
Charlotte pulled her head away, gazing deeply into Leo's silver eyes. Her cheeks were flushed from her quiet sobs, yet she still smiled cheerfully. "I love you so much," she said through short breaths.
Leo leaned down, his lips inches away from Charlotte's, and whispered, "I love you too," before the two shared a heartfelt kiss.
Again, while enraptured in moonlight, their bodies intertwined as they pressed their lips together. Their only regret: their souls were still separate. They were two halves only made whole when together.
At that moment, the lovers genuinely thought they were the only two in the world. No matter how their lives changed from here on, they could weather any storm, so long as they were together.
However, the moment couldn't last forever. Before they left, Cryptbreaker assigned them a month's time limit for a dangerous task. They had to steal an item of legend from the Magical Affairs Bureau: the Asclepius Staff. If they failed... Cryptbreaker wouldn't say. He only madly cackled at the thought.
Why he needed the artifact? They didn't know.
"It's nothing that concerns you," Cryptbreaker had snapped before shoving them out of his hideout.
Sadly for them, there was no option for refusal or running, not so long as the [Master's Mark] remained embedded into their beings. Even from afar, it would detect any action that disobeyed or endangered the master and punish the two accordingly.
"Don't think it's limited to just pain," Cryptbreaker had cackled while explaining it. "My curse is capable of so much more. So don't lose your heads and try to disobey, or you'll literally lose them!"
So the two continued onward through the semi-tranquil streets of Quincy. An occasional car or pedestrian passed the two as they walked. Their headlights painted the couple in bright light before vanishing into obscurity.
Dozens of concrete titans littered this city. They stretched high to the heavens with glass panes that shimmered against the moonlight, massive billboards, and bright neon signs.
Leo's new black boots and Charlotte's cherry red heels clacked against the cement sidewalk as they trudged forward. Due to their notoriety, they often had to detour into alleyways in avoidance of cameras and small crowds.
Both of them donned brand-new outfits, courtesy of Cryptbreaker and his followers.
According to her tastes for luxury, Charlotte chose only the best to wear in terms of fashion.
She donned a lacy red dress with a black-lined corset that emphasized her curves. Above it, she sported a soft black fur coat from a beast slain outside the safety of the city's towering walls. Tied to her thigh was a hidden leather holster fitted with a handgun.
Meanwhile, Leo was more of a practical type. He opted for clothes that maximized carry space and ease of movement.
This preference formed an outfit comprised of tight-fitting gray cargo pants, a long-sleeved black shirt, and a leather harness for storing weapons, including a submachine gun. His attire was completed by a tall-collared windbreaker jacket.
For hours, they walked through the chill of night to the slums surrounding Quincy. The place where the city's undesirables were cast aside. Luckily, such a place made a fantastic hideout!
Eventually, the two made it to the base-of-operations Cryptbreaker allowed them to use. It was an old warehouse on a decommissioned train line, deep in the city's outskirts, even for the slums, and near the wall that separated civilization from the untamed wilds where monsters roamed free.
"I think this is it," Leo wrapped an arm around Charlotte's waist. "You ready to take a look?"
Charlotte looked toward Leo, matching his gaze, and nodded. "Mmhmm, born ready, baby."
Following Charlotte's agreement, Leo took his other hand and reached beneath his coat. After some rustling, he pulled his sleek grey and compacted submachine gun from his harness. The extended magazine curved slightly forward and the barrel was fitted with several attachments. Two of which were a leather vertical grip and a long cylindrical silencer.
Likewise, Charlotte removed her dark-painted silenced handgun from her thigh-holster before the two prepared to venture inside.
Both weapons had numerous custom attachments. One of which was an S-Tek under-barrel flashlight. The name was short for "Sylvan-Tech" and belonged to an elven-run weapons manufacturer.
If they encountered anything threatening in the darkness of the warehouse, they'd be ready. Ready to blast it with dozens of new holes to regret its decisions with.
In order to enter, they had to bypass a large chainlink fence fitted with barbed wire at the top. A red-white sign with the words "Restricted Area" was mounted next to a large gate bound up by a chain and lock.
Using a key they'd received from Cryptbreaker, Leo, and Charlotte unbound the gate's lock and stepped inside. Then, after resecuring it, they traveled further until they entered the large structure.
Within was the smell of rancid oil and rusted metal. Following the scent was the image of several corroded and condemned train cars. Toward the corner of the room was an engineer's welding area filled with dismantled hunks of machinery and steel tables.
A darkened hallway led to a set of locker rooms and a bathroom, and a metallic catwalk was mounted to the wall. It snaked upward, allowing access to an old office perched high next to the warehouse's ceiling.
"Home sweet home, Yinny," Leo joked. As longtime and known fugitives, the two were used to harsh living.
From seedy apartments and motels to other abandoned structures, the two lived in them all. However, even the foulest living space felt like a castle so long as they had each other.
"It just needs a woman's touch, is all," Charlotte giggled.
The two then explored the building, assuming a tactical stance and formation to watch the other's back. Years of Leo's training paid off as Charlotte showed off combat prowess rivaling even Bellonian special forces.
They opened train cars, checked bathroom stalls, and surveyed rooms. Finally, they completed their task by journeying up the creaking scaffolding stairs into the office above.
When they entered the room, they both remembered one of the Cryptbreaker's last lines to them.
"I left you both a little surprise there. I hope you enjoy it," he had cackled with an evil grin.
And a surprise it was. It left both Leo and Charlotte speechless as they gaped in shock and reached for their weapons.