Disclaimer: I don't own Worm
He was standing in the hallway carrying a freshly opened bottle of beer and a pack of chips. I must have opened the door the exact moment he was returning from a supply run into the kitchen.
"Hi dad I'm back" I weakly said to him.
He took in my appearance and immediately placed his cargo on the shoe cabinet next to him.
"My god Taylor what happened to you,"
before I was given the chance to answer his question, he bridged the short distance between us and was inspecting me closer.
"Where are you hurt?" He demanded to know, his concern evident.
"This is nothing dad, just a few scrapes and bruises, nothing to worry about."
He gave me a stern look. I probably wouldn't have believed me either. I hadn't had the opportunity to look in the mirror, but from what I could see without doing that. My clothes didn't exactly survive my little adventure unscathed. That combined with my obvious injuries, on my hands, arms, and knees, made his reaction more than understandable.
"This is not nothing. Go to the living room, I'm gonna fetch the first-aid kit. Those wounds have to be cleaned, and while I do that, you have every time in the world to tell me exactly what happened."
Given his tone I knew there was no getting out of this, so accepting my fate I replied.
"Okay, Dad."
I took off my shoes and waited till my dad was on his way into the bathroom and had his back turned to me. I used this opportunity to take off my socks, too. Thanking the gods that my foot stopped bleeding, it wouldn't have been easy to find a way to explain that. I stuffed the socks in my shoes and went into the living room, and made myself comfortable on our couch.
Should he ask about me being barefoot, I would just tell him that it was far too hot outside to wear them. Considering we had roughly 30 Degree Celcius outside, there was no reason for him to question that. I casually took notice that the game my father was watching on TV was in its second quarter. But didn't pay it any mind beyond that, football never held my interest likewise to most other sports.
Dad returned a few moments later and placed the first-aid kit on the small table, standing between the coach and the TV. He took the remote and turned it off. Then he said.
"Pull back your sleeves."
while I did that, he opened the case and gave me the wet washcloth he also had brought with him. I took it from him and started the painful cleansing process, under the scrutinizing eyes of Dad. When I was done, he took out the sanitizer and started to disinfect my abrasion and scratches. It stung like hell.
"So, you were about to tell me what happened, if I recall correctly." He said with a raised eyebrow.
" Well, I visited Emma as I told you I would. Turns out she doesn't want to be friends with me any longer."
He stared at me unbelieving. Yeah, Dad, I didn't think it possible, too at first. I let him digest that before I resumed with my tale.
"There was this other girl. I have never met her before. But she and Emma looked really close like I imagine Emma and I did in the past."
I stopped there gathering my thoughts.
"Honestly, dad I got no idea myself of what exactly happened there, I arrived, and this other girl got mean to me for no reason, and instead of siding with me. Emma, I don't know, she was impassive at first, and when I started talking to her, it was as if she hated me."
I started sobbing. I was surprised at myself, that I had any tears left after the crying I did not so long ago. Dad interrupted his work and hugged me.
"She began to say really mean things to me dad," I pressed out between sobs-
"What things exactly Taylor?"
Dad asked in a grave tone.
"That's not important dad; what is important is that I don't think we can be friends anymore. It is over. And as far as I can tell, I've already gotten replaced. There is no need to worry about spilled milk."
I didn't exactly know why I was unwilling to answer him. Perhaps I thought that the things Emma had said about me were in part true, and I didn't want my dad to think of me the same way. He was hit hard enough by mom's death as it was. He didn't need the added worries this would undoubtedly bring him and to be put on his already full plate.
We ended the hug, and he looked at me. He was about to say something I could see it, but apparently deemed it better not to and instead continued disinfecting. Which meant I had suffer the stinging anew.
"Okay, I won't pry," he said. "But that still doesn't explain how you got your injuries. They didn't attack you, did they?"
"No, they didn't," if I didn't count them trying to trip me as such. "After, that happened, I just wanted to get out of there. I started running, not caring where I went and ended up somewhere in the docks."
He paused for a moment, probably already guessing where this was gonna go.
"There I came across some guys, who were really creepy dad," I said.
This let him listen more attentively than before.
"What kind of guys, Taylor?" He asked cleaning my wound forgotten and fixing my eyes.
"They were ABB. I recognized their gang-colors. When they saw me, they approached me. I don't know something in the way they did it, rubbed me the wrong way, and I just started running."
I started sobbing again, this time I couldn't help myself but start crying. Dad hugged me again.
"shhh, Taylor you are safe now. Everything is gonna be okay. Everything is gonna be okay." He soothed me. "I'm gonna make sure of that. I promise."
I didn't know how much time I spent in the embrace of my father, trying to get back my bearings. Not knowing what was wrong with me, nothing really bad happened to me, and I killed those guys, they couldn't ever hurt me again, yet I was crying. I was pretty much unfazed when I had them murdered. So why was I having a breakdown now of all times?
My dad broke the silence by saying.
"Taylor, did they hurt you anywhere else? You can tell me everything you know that, right?" He carefully probed.
The implication wasn't lost on me. I wriggled free of his embrace.
"I got away Dad." I said, "They chased me, and I was able to lose them when I crawled through a hole in a fence. They were too big to fit through."
He looked at me quizzically.
"That's where I got those wounds. I was essentially diving through the hole in the fence in the process grazed a little bit more of the street than I would've liked." I showed him my arms with a weak smile.
"I got away." I emphasized, "and from there, I went straight home as fast as I could."
He seemed to accept that because he continued with his work on my wounds. For a few minutes, none of us said anything. When he finished with that, he bandaged my arms. Given the fact, that my whole underarms were affected to different degrees - with my hands and especially my palms getting the worst of it - I wasn't particularly surprised that, I looked partially mummified when he was done. The large sticking plaster on my knees only added to that look.
"Thanks, Dad," I said and hugged him again.
"Always little Owl."
Before I ended the hug this time, I confessed by whispering in his ear.
"I have never been afraid so much in my life."
When we separated, I didn't meet his eyes didn't look at his face. Instead, I averted my gaze and hid my eyes behind a curtain of my black curly hair, but I could see his hands clenched into fists. I was in the process of standing up, as I heard Dad say.
"Taylor, I know this must be hard for you. But do you remember how they looked like? Those two guys, I mean," he asked.
"No Dad, it all happened so fast, I was barely given time to notice what was up. And then I just ran as fast as I could," I lied.
"Are you sure Taylor? Everything could help the police identifying these guys," he said.
"Dad, the only thing I remember is that they were Asian and wore ABB colors, aside from that nothing. I couldn't point them out if they were standing right in front of me, let alone help the police in finding them," I told him.
I let that hand in the air for a while longer. I had to get Dad to abandon his idea to involve the police. It wouldn't do us any good to get connected to, as far as the world was concerned, two missing ABB guys. What if the ABB got wind of this? No, I had to put a stop to this.
I felt bad enough already that I decided to keep everything power related to myself, at least for the moment, and therefore, had if not outright lied to Dad, kept quite some things away and secret from him, and now I had to do this. It didn't sit right with me because I pretty much had to force the feeling of impotence on my father.
Still, I judged it to be the better alternative than the ABB come looking for us with some pointed questions.
"I'm sure dad, there is nothing else. I don't remember anything. Calling the police would only result in us wasting their time. I sorry, that I can't be more useful." I said apologetically.
"Don't worry Taylor. I'm just glad that you are safe. That is all that matters to me. Getting them arrested for trying to hurt you is not important," he mollified me.
Something told me that the last part of his statement wasn't as sincere as the rest.
"How about you get some rest, and I start cooking something. How does lasagne sound?"
"Sounds great Dad, thanks."
At a whim, I collected the scattered parts of the first aid kit and put them back. I took it and the washcloth with me and made my way to the toilet. I looked it behind me and took care of my foot.
I cleaned, disinfected, and even bandaged it. Since I had no socks I had to be sure that my dad was occupied in the kitchen, to make sure he didn't notice. I waited until I was sure the sounds I heard were originating from the kitchen to sneak to my room. I dumped the washcloth in the wash bin on my way upstairs.
The first thing I did; when I arrived there was putting on some fresh socks. I took a look in the mirror and saw that they weren't the only piece of garment that needed replacing. I strongly suspected the shirt I got from summer camp was a hopeless case, with the ripped apart sleeves. The shorts, on the other hand, were pretty much okay. The same couldn't be said about my knees, which had taken the damage instead.
I stripped down to my underwear, which gave me a nice view of the various bruises littering my torso. It was a good thing dad didn't see them. My story would have gone out the window the second this happened. To ensure to keep it that way, I decided to put on a long-sleeved sweatshirt and sweatpants. It was comfortable enough to sleep in and wouldn't expose anything for my dad to see in case I fell asleep. I knew I sleep fitfully and therefore couldn't rely on my blanket to do the job. Most of the time, I had to pick it up from the floor in the mornings. For the same reason, I decided to keep on the socks.
I walked over to my bed, grabbed the bottle of water on my nightstand, and quenched my thirst. I emptied the 3/4 full bottle, I had left there before I left the house, in one gulp. It found it quite interesting which bodily needs get put on the back-burner while on adrenaline. I first noticed my craving for something to drink shortly before coming home.
I placed the now empty bottle back on the nightstand. Then I summoned Aku and Kuro. No, I wouldn't ever forget how you two look like, despite what I told Dad, I thought to myself before I uncommented them again.
I sprawled down on my bed, placed my glasses on the nightstand, and closed my eyes when the exhaustion I was fighting against for hours lastly overwhelmed me.
"Where are we going, Dad?"
I asked while following behind my father side by side with my younger brother.
Without turning around, continuing his brisk walk, we had trouble keeping up with, my father said.
"We are going into the gym. You are old enough that I finally can stop coddling you and form you into what you should be."
"What is that father?" I couldn't help but wonder.
"Warriors worthy of caring the Anders name," was his response.
We arrived in a large room. Weapon racks filled with various different kinds of weapons were lined along the walls. Father lead us to a stand filled with weapons made of wood.
"Both of you take a weapon," He ordered.
I choose to take a sword. I pulled it free of the rack and saw that it was roughly the length of my arm. I swung it around a bit and was content with it. At least to my limited understanding. I never used a weapon before.
"Good, now come here. Regina, you stand there opposite of Max," Father directed.
"Are you gonna teach us, Dad?" My little brother wondered.
"Later, for now, I want to see what you and your sister are made of," Father said.
"Huh, what does that mean? Aren't we made of flesh and blood?" I asked.
"That's not what I meant." Father responded, "I want to see how you fight. I want to see if you have what it takes to be a warrior, a leader, and most important of all if you are worthy of carrying my name, and eventually continue my legacy."
"I don't understand," Max said.
"You will, with time." He appeased. "Stop your question, and get ready. When I say start, I want the both of you to fight each other, give it your all, and try to win. The fight will be over if one of you surrenders or I stop the fight, understood?"
Max just nodded along with his words.
"Father, doesn't it hurt to be hit?" I wanted to know.
"Of course it does, pain is the best teacher, after all. How else will you learn not to get hit?" He wondered with a wicked smile playing on his lips.
"But I don't wanna hurt Max," I said.
My huge father kneeled down in front of me. He once told me he was over 7 feet in height, but now he was only a head taller than me.
"That's commendable of you, not wanting to hurt your own, but from now on, every time you step into this ring. The one on the opposite side is not an ally or a friend, only an enemy that has to be destroyed with everything you got, do you understand?"
I nodded my head.
"You want us to pretend to be enemies. Like we do, when we play."
"Yes, exactly like that," Father confirmed.
"But I still don't want to hurt my brother." I protested.
"You will do as you are told, or you will be punished." He admonished me in a sharp tone. Reluctantly I nodded again. I shivered at the thought of being punished by Father. He stood up and left the ring. When he reached the sidelines he turned around and commanded.
"Start!"
Max immediately bridged the distance and swung his sword at me. His swing was wide, therefore it was easy for me to anticipate where he tried to hit me. I used my weapon and stopped his. He withdrew his sword and tried again. This time, it too was a wide swing but from the other side. I took a step back, and his attack missed me by a mere inch. I grinned at Max. That was fun.
He scowled at me and thrust his sword towards my tummy with more fervency than before. I hit his sword and managed to deflect his thrust. Although his attack was going nowhere, he didn't stop his advance. Instead, he continued it, following behind his diverted sword's path when he was close enough. He suddenly struck me with his free hand clenched into a fist. It hurt.
Surprised by the force and unexpected pain. I lost my balance and could do nothing when his sword, freed from the entanglement with mine, returned with vengeance in a backhanded strike. I was hit hard in my side.
It took the air right out of my lungs. I fell sideways as I was lying there helpless, Max lunged at me again. His sword raised over his head and about to be brought down upon me.
Before the hit could connect with my head I closed my eyes. I waited, but the hit never came. After a few seconds, I warily opened my eyes and saw the sword stopped directly in front of my face.
Father had caught it with his hand. He looked at me, displeasure clear to see on his face. With a scowl send my way he turned to my brother.
"You did good, Max. Go, your sister and I have to talk."
Max grinned over both ears and rushed out of the gym. I wasn't surprised, compliments from our father are as sparse as water is in the desert.
"That was a pathetic performance child. You are seven more than a year older than Max, and he still bested you," he chided.
"Max is taller and a boy," I tried to defend myself.
"Oh, you want me to treat you like a girl, a little princess. I can do that, despite the fact that you aren't born a boy. I wanted to give you the chance to be the master of your own fate, give you the chance to claim what should be rightfully yours as my firstborn, my heir, which is why I brought you up as a boy. But if you'd rather not utilize this chance I have given you, that is acceptable, too. I'm sure Max would be delighted to take your place."
"If I don't have to hurt my brother, I want to be a girl," I declared.
"I see," he said disappointed. "You should know that this means you will become worthless for me aside from being a bargaining chip."
"A what?" I asked.
"It means that if you don't fight, that if you aren't strong, I've got no use for you. Therefore I will trade you for something useful for me, something useful for the cause."
"You will give me away," I whispered.
"Yes," he said confirming my fears. "You will be married to someone, which might then help me in exchange."
"M... ma... rry?" I stumbled over the words shocked. "Don't you only marry the person you love? Because you are together with them forever and ever."
"Silly child. Indeed, this is usually the case. But that is a right only given to the strong, the worthy. If you are weak and worthless I get to decide. In this world only if you have power you are allowed the freedom to make such a decision for yourself."
He paused and fixed me on the spot with his gaze.
"So you see, you'd better think hard about what role you want to play in life, daughter." He spat the last word out with disgust and
with those words to think on, my father left me behind in the gym.
I was driving on a sideroad from Boston to Brockton Bay returning from a business conference when I sensed a metal deposit in the distance. I first thought nothing of it. I came across ore concentrations in the past. It was fairly rare. Usually, the only metal I can feel in nature are trace elements.
But when I got closer and my perception got more detailed, I could clearly make out that it wasn't a natural occurrence making up that deposit but a car, a heavily wrecked car.
Since this road was quite abandoned, the very reason I decided to use it in the first place, not wanting to get hold up in the jam the ones traveling on the interstate were stuck in. Thanks to part of the road being washed away in the heavy rainfalls of the last few days.
I stopped at the beginning of a sharp tight curve, leading alongside a steep slope. I got out of my car and took a closer look. On both sides of the street, up and down the slope trees were growing in abundance. I noticed the absence of a guardrail or anything that would warn the driver of the hazard the curve represented.
I didn't need to use my imagination to recognize that this could pose a large problem during weather conditions, like the ones of the last few days. Combined with bad visuals, a driver that is unfamiliar with the stretch, and this was a death sentence waiting to happen.
I got close to the edge of the road following the direction my power said the car had to be and tried to find it with my eyes. It turned out to be no easy task.
It took me more than a minute of concentrated effort straining my eyes to make it out - and that was me knowing it was there in the first place.
For everybody else, it might just be invisible mostly hidden away inside a bush growing around the tree the car crashed against.
I went back to my car and opened the trunk. I went through my bags until I found my jogging shoes and took them out. I replaced my black pump shoes I wore with them. I would have done the same with my clothes, but I had nothing packed despite my business suits, and I refused to wear my unwashed jogging clothes. Which meant the outfit I was currently wearing had to do. At least I wasn't wearing a skirt today.
I returned to the edge of the street and congratulated myself on being smart enough to change my shoes. Since trying the descent with pumps would have spelled disaster for me.
As it turned out, even with better footwear, it was a nightmare to get to the car. I more than once played with the idea to abort this endeavor, and just inform the authorities of my find. But like everything else I started, I had to see through to the end. A good thing I did, when I finally reached the car worse for wear I expected to find a lot of things, a jammed young woman wasn't on the list. Judging by the state of her clothes, the stench that reached my nostrils she must have been here for days.
I circled the car to get on the driverside. While doing so, I used my power to excrete a thin film of metal on my underarm. I manipulated the liquid metal and formed it into a metal blade, resembling a machete. Armed with it, I reduced a good chunk of the bush, barring my way, into mincemeat.
I checked her vitals through the smashed driver window. To my surprise, I felt a weak heartbeat. How the hell did she survive? Because on closer inspection, I saw remnants of blood on her forehead, the wound responsible was barely recognizable nearly healed, therefore it couldn't have been just days more like weeks; she had to be here. Even if she somehow was able to get enough water by collecting rain with her hands she should have starved by now. How was she able to survive?
I decided the answer could wait. If I didn't get her out of here, it wouldn't matter. She was gonna be dead. Her life was hanging by a thread, with her body shutting down. I liquified small parts of the door hinges, which allowed me to easily remove the door. I rammed my blade in between the seat and the dashboard and slowly let it grow to a cylindrical pole with flattened ends, when it began to mount enough weight, I dissolved the metal attachments of the dashboard. I gradually extended the pole, and with a start, I was able to get the girl free.
Her legs were drenched in feces, but that wasn't what worried me but the blood spilling out from a puncture wound. The metal sticking in it or the pressure applied from the dashboard must have closed it up. I didn't have much time in her condition, even a little blood loss could be fatal, and it would be a shame to lose a white girl with such a will to survive. Luckily for her, I could extend my sense of touch through the metal I was touching. Therefore it was fairly easy to plug the leg with some metal, which should at least have bought me some time. Time, I better used to get her to a clinic. Otherwise, the oxygen shortage this might create could result in her losing her leg.
I looked up towards the street and immediately reinforced my belief that there was no way I could get her up there without using my powers. Hence I didn't hesitate. I liquified the metal the door consisted of into a silvery substance and enclosed the girl in it mostly around the torso, careful not to hamper her breathing. As I made my way back up to the car, I levitated her, encompassed in metal, right beside me.
I laid her down on the spacious back seat of my Mercedes. I withdrew the excess metal and blasted it back into the forest. Not my best work in erasing my tracks, but I did not have the time for a thorough job. I returned behind the wheel and started driving towards the bay. With the hands-free device, I called ahead.
"Hello, this is Medhall clinic chief physician, Dr. Jonathan Miller, on the phone, how can I help you?" A playful sounding voice greeted.
"Hi, John it is me, Regina. I need you to prepare for the arrival of a critical patient. The woman is in her late teens or early twenties, undernourished, and undercooled.
She is probably concussed, with severe trauma to her legs, one of which was punctured and as result has an injured major blood vessel. I was able to stop the bleeding for now, but she was in a critical condition when I found her. So make sure to have some blood bottle available." I said in a commanding voice.
"I understand, we start preparing for your arrival right away. What is your ETA?" Was the short reply I received, his playfulness gone replaced by the will to follow orders.
"Around five minutes, oh and John make sure to treat her as a special patient, for all I know she should be dead. No human should have been able to survive what she did."
"Understood, special accommodations will be prepared," were the last words he said before I unceremoniously ended the call.
I came into the gym carrying some flowers with a get well card. Around me, several patients in various stages of their rehabilitation with just as many different debilitating injuries, spanning from lost limbs to amyotrophia.
It didn't take me long to make out the short brown haired girl giving it her all at the parallel bars to train back up her muscles and regain her ability to walk. I walked over to her and her female physiotherapist.
"Hello Anne, how is your patient doing today?" I asked.
"Great, Ms. Anders probably a little too eager. She doesn't know when to quit. I was told from several sources that she sneaked in here at night, disregarding my explicit forbiddance from doing so, to train. I told her a dozen times that letting the body rest in between training sessions is just as important as the training itself. Otherwise, you end up hurting yourself, possibly even worsen your state. But does she listen?"
I chuckle at that.
"Of course she doesn't. Would she be someone who followed normal conventions she would be dead? That's what I like about her."
The girl reached the far end of parallel bars and turned herself around. When she noticed me standing next to Anne. She must have been lost in concentration if she was unable to overhear us talking about her.
Her lips immediately displayed a smile.
"Hello, Ms. Anders,"
was Kayden's short-breathed greeting. She made her way to us in record time, to the apparent dislike of Anne. Who helped her into her wheelchair.
"Good work today."
The physiatrist said, and after a short look at me, she added.
"We are gonna continue tomorrow. If I hear of you training throughout the night again, I'm gonna make sure you are tied to your bed in the future. Are we clear?"
The addressed Kayden sheepish uttered
"Crystal" as her response. Anne handed her a fresh towel and left.
Grinning I asked Kayden
"So how are you feeling today?"
"Good, Ms. Anders."
I handed her the flowers and the card, both of which she placed on top of her lap. Meanwhile, I wheeled her in the direction of her room.
"More flowers? If you keep this up, there won't be a single Aster left in the whole city. My room already has more in common with a flower shop than a hospital room." She half-heartedly complained.
"Well, I would bring you other flowers, but since you keep insisting you don't have a favorite flower you have to make do with mine," I retorted.
"Besides, which girl doesn't like flowers."
Without being able to see her face, while pushing her wheelchair, I knew she was rolling her eyes at my statement.
"Oh, and nice try to change the topic, but you won't get away this easy. Since you are feeling good, you have no excuse why you are once again falling back on calling me Ms. Anders instead of Regina. I'm sure, I have told more than a dozen times not to call me that."
"twentyone times"
"Oh, you remember, I wonder what your punishment should be for being so disrespectful towards your betters,"
I said with a grin. Kayden ricked her head, in an attempt to try to look at me.
"I intended to kidnap you for lunch to spare you from the thing they dare call food here. Instead, I should make you watch, how I eat some real food. All the while, I get the nurses to serve you the most repugnant things the kitchen here produces. Wouldn't that be an appropriate punishment?"
"Please, everything but this. I will do everything but no more torture, please," the wheelchair-bound girl mock-pleaded.
"Please what?" I inquired.
"Please Mistress Regina, spare your unworthy servant of this fate."
We looked at each other with a schooled expression and as if you through a silent agreement started laughing like lunatics. Before we got our bearings we arrived at her room.
"Seriously Kayden, why do keep refusing to call me by my given name? If it's an age thing you've got something coming your way. I'm not even ten years your senior, in the bloom of my youth."
She made her way towards the bathroom, supporting herself along the way against the wall.
I barely heard her mumbled,
"you keep telling yourself that."
I decided to ignore this jab at my age.
Louder she said, "how could I, you saved my life you are paying for my hospital stay, and if that wasn't enough already you are offering me a place to stay, and even went as far as to pull some strings with friends of yours to get me a job."
There was a slight pause until she continued, "I can't ever hope to repay this debt. So the least I can do is..."
"Show me respect in the way you call me, right?" I finished her sentence for her.
"Exactly" she confirmed.
"I hate to repeat myself, but I told you, there is nothing for you to repay. I did this on a whim, not intending to indebt you to myself." I said.
"seventeen times, that is the number of times you have told me that."
"You are gonna be the reason I lose my sanity, you know that right," I said to her.
"If you think there is still something to lose," I heard her say from the other side of the door.
"Hey, I resent the implication," I said in mock outrage. "Perhaps I really should make my threat a reality. Let's see how long you can keep this up on a dry bread and water diet."
She pouted at me as she reappeared from the bathroom.
"I'm serious here, Kayden. There is nothing you owe me. But since I know I can't convince you of this, how about you repay me by being yourself and treat me exactly like you would treat a gorgeous beauty like myself you don't owe anything to. Can you do that?"
"I can try."
"Good, that's all that I can ask for," I said with a grin. "Now, let's get out of here. I'm starving."
"Kayden, are you ready?" I asked.
"Yes," Kayden came trotting out of the bathroom, having a disapproving look on her face.
I looked at her, acknowledging the designer dress I bought her fits her nicely. It was a strapless white satin dress, that hugged her curves like a second skin. It enclosed her upper body up to a short distance under her shoulders and therefore had some cleavage. The dress had long sleeves, and the way it fell towards her ankles, made it seem more like a fancy summer dress than an evening dress. Which just served to emphasize her youth and playful nature.
She wore her hair as a bun, which in turn brought out her cheekbones and gave her a somewhat elfin look, with her slender figure and small stature. She didn't wear any lipstick and instead chose to use some nearly invisible lip gloss punctuating the innocent look. She looked like the idealization of an angel, quite fitting giving her cape name and power.
"I know, you don't like these social gatherings. What were your exact words? `I don't want to be paraded around like an ostrich´,"
I tried and failed to imitate her voice.
"I didn't say that," she protested. "But I might have implied that I don't want to be leered at."
"Ha, now I remember. You did more than imply that, wasn't it something along the line you don't want to be an inspiration for those old leechers to jerk off on," I accused her.
"Something like that," she conceded as her lips slightly twitched.
I grinned at her, despite our verbal teasing, her mood didn't improve noticeably.
"I also hate those gatherings and believe me given the chance I wouldn´t attend them, either," I confessed. "Unfortunately, you are the new shooting star of the Empire, the one who played an instrumental role in chasing out the slaughterhouse nine, and also in our latest victories over the Teeth. Father says a few more of those and we have sent them packing for good. So regrettably you have to be there at least for today."
She fumbled with her hands, averting her gaze to look at anything but me.
"Look, I know how hard it is to sprout this nonsense about being the superior race and whatnot. I don't like it either, but sometimes we have to do things we don't like. How about I make you deal you go to this one, try to enjoy it, shake a few hands say a few nice things and I promise, I'm gonna make sure you don't have to attend the next, say five times." At hearing this offer she suddenly started to listen attentively.
"Of course, it will be hard on me to endure them without you present, but I'm willing to suffer this torture for your continued happiness. What do you say, do we have an accord?"
Weakly she said. "That's not it."
"What then?" I asked, "If you start to have misgivings again, because you live here with me and about the money I spent on you, don't. I have told you, money doesn't matter. I'm paid more than enough as a board member of Medhall to pamper ten more the way I do you for it to even register on my bank account. And that does not even factor in the money I make and make through illicit activities. Which you will shortly get to know is quite a considerable amount. So don't sweat it. You don't have to pay me back or even contribute to anything. Hell, if you don't want to spend it, save it. Perhaps it might become useful later on."
I rounded the small table between Kayden and me until I stood in front of her. I placed a finger under her chin and used it to raise her head, thereby forcing her to look me in the eye.
"You being here, your very presence is enough of a compensation. Hell, I wouldn't even know what else to spend it. I have an abundance of material things. What I lack are friends. And I'm not talking about people like those opportunistic sacks of meat we will be surrounded with later tonight. People, who would stab me in the back the very instant it would further their interest more than allying with us. No, what I mean are the kinds of friends, who don't value me in relation to my usefulness to how I or, by extension, my resources might be exploited, but who value me for myself with no strings attached. People I can laugh with share my innermost thoughts, my feelings, and secrets with. Someone like that is priceless. You are this person for me, Kayden. I wouldn't trade you for all the money in the world. You are far more precious, in my opinion."
I noticed how her cheeks reddened even through the layer of makeup she wore. She broke our physical contact by turning herself away.
"I'm glad and lucky you think of me this way. But that's not what is on my mind," she said.
"Then what is?" I asked.
"I don't know how to phrase it in a way that prevents you from misunderstanding what I want to say," She faltered.
"Why don't you just try it? I promise to hear you out till the end, to make sure there are none," I encouraged her.
She visibly deflated and walked towards the large window facade of the penthouse. She was looking at the majestic view of Brockton Bay is during sunset, with her back turned to me.
"Let me start by saying that I likewise, value you more than anything. You not only saved my life, but you gave me second chance at it. You nursed me back to health, you opened up your home to me, provided me with shelter, and you gave me things I never even dreamed about. This dress alone would have been an unreachable dream if not for you. You allowed me to truly leave everything behind, which made me leave in the first place, you allowed me to be my true self and helped me realize my potential. But above all else, you became my precious friend and mentor. You made me feel wanted, needed for the first time in my life to the point that this here is the very place I dare call home. So if I say that I'm eternally grateful, it doesn't even begin to do the gratitude I feel towards you justice. What makes this so very hard for me."
Her words were not ominous at all. She hesitated a moment, which allowed my imagination, induced by my fear run wild. Was she planning to leave, or was it something else? - was she perhaps dying?... before my mind could come up with more reasonable and unreasonable situations she continued to speak.
"You see, I thought I know you, like the back of hand. Ever since you made me your assistant, we spent most of our waking moments in the last two years together. So I was reasonably sure there wasn't anything about you, your character that I didn't know of, and even if there was that I could, I don't know... anticipate it, fill in the few blanks there were by myself. Given everything you told me about yourself."
She stopped and hugged herself. I could see the goosebumps on her exposed skin.
"But what you saw yesterday, wasn't something included in your model of me right," I guessed.
"Yes, I knew since the first day you started training me as a cape, what it means to fight as one. You didn't romanticize it like those Protectorate commercials attempt to. So I was certain I had a realistic grasp of what to expect. Although my first real fight was against Psychopaths like the Nine. I didn't think to be confronted with something that could shatter my expectations. But then I saw you fight. You didn't act like the refined and controlled woman I know you as. Sure, you still fought meticulous and precise like you usually work, but the way you utilized this to dismantle your opposition in the most savage way possible, was alien. You could have won this fight any way you wanted, but you choose to do it by torturing them to death. Even for members of the Nine, and all the atrocities they without a doubt committed, they did not deserve that - in fact, no one does. The whole thing didn't seem like you, like something the Regina I know was even capable of doing." She managed to press out and then started sobbing.
"So you are wondering if you were wrong about me regarding that, what else are you wrong about? what else might I have managed to hide from you, is that it?" I probed.
She was able to squeeze out a weakly "yes" barely above a whisper.
"The Regina you think to know is the real me, the one you saw yesterday when I donned my mask that was a fake. She is the Iron Rain character I had to create to satisfy the high expectations of me. So I created this persona, this mask of Iron Rain. The steel princess, Allfathers heir, she had to be this unyielding unbeatable Enforcer of the Empire Eighty-Eight without a shred of remorse or mercy that could not just walk through a valley of death but be its very architect. Nothing less would have satisfied my father and would have been sufficient to cement my status. I did what I had to do at the cost of others to prevent myself from having to pay dearly," I told her.
She now half-turned my way.
"What do you mean by that?"
I sighed,
"do you know what my father told me when I was seven and refused to beat my little brother to a pulp to prove my worth to him? He said, that only the strong in this world get to make decisions, that if I turn out to be weak, I'm useless, useless to him and his cause useless to his empire. He didn't stop there, not that it would have been cruel enough to tell your child such a thing. No - he also told me, that in such a case, - I proving myself worthless. He would do everything to get a return on his investment, which was me. Implying that he was going force me into a marriage with everyone willing to pay his price."
"You think he would have done this? He doesn't seem the type." She said appalled.
"No he doesn't, does he?" I conceded. "He likes to play the role of the nice grandfather, the one who can't even hurt a fly. A role he mastered to perfection, but let me tell you, he is anything but. To answer your question - Yes, I'm sure he would have. He wouldn't have hesitated a moment to hand me over to Jack Slash if it would have furthered his ambition more than my continued services could. The only thing preventing him from doing this is the fact, that he sees me as his heir, his successor. I'm the one he attributes the best chances to be able to make his vision of his empire a reality."
"Because you share his ideals his vision like a religious zealot, and you made the savagery he is known for your own," she concluded.
"Yes, I spent the last 20 years to let him believe exactly that," I confessed.
"So in sense, you are a modern-day Brunhilde. A princess so desperately wanting to decide her own fate, her own husband, that she became an unbeatable warrior and promised to marry the one guy who could best her. A guy, who simply did not exist - there was no one her equal - so she could decide for herself who to marry." She joked to lift the dark mood.
I walked right next to her and came to a stop in front of the windows. I turned towards her. She did the same looking up at me with her beautiful brown eyes. I extended my hand and backcombed a loose strain of hair behind her ear. My hand remained there for a moment to give me time to collect the courage to say.
"Not exactly. Whoever said I want to marry a man," I said to her with a raised eyebrow. I didn't wait for her to process my words. Instead, I leaned forward and kissed the still frozen woman in front of me on her lips. At first, she stiffened due to surprise but then started to kiss back and lean into me.
When we separated quite sometime later we were both breathless. Holding her against me our faces mere centimeters apart.
I managed to press out, "we have to go."
She pouted at hearing that.
"We can continue this when we return," I promised.
I released my hold on her and stepped back, examining her to make sure that I didn't leave any noticeable marks on her.
"Use the time at the party to think about this, us, the future. The last thing I want is to put pressure on you. I'm content with the way things are between us, but I crave for more. That does not mean I will do anything to push the issue, Kayden. It is solely your choice if our friendship becomes anything more than it is at this point. If you want things to stay the same between us, then do nothing. I will treat this as if the last few minutes never happened, but if you want something more. You have to act on it, and I will be more than happy to explore where this might lead together with you."
I took her hand and led her to the penthouse elevator. We stepped in after I pushed the button for the parking deck, and the doors closed. I said.
"Kayden, no matter your decision, I hope you are aware of the consequences that might await us if anything that happened were to get out," I cautioned.
"Yes, I know," she confirmed.
The rest of the ride, neither of us spoke a word. The doors opened and gave way to my little brother Max clothed in a certainly expensive Tuxedo.
"Max, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your wife and your child?" I asked.
"I'm happy to see you, too, sister," he said. "Kayden, it is a pleasure to see you. This dress looks exceedingly good on you."
"Thanks, Mr. Anders," Kayden replied.
"You didn't answer my question, Max," I remarked.
"I sent Heath and Theo ahead. They are probably already there. I wanted to talk with you," my brother explained.
"You could have done that at the party," I pointed out. "There was no need to wait here for me just for that."
"Well, the topic is rather sensitive, and I was hoping to breach it to you under four eyes," He said, nearly pleading for me to go along with it.
I relented, "Kayden, you can go ahead. I'll be there with you shortly."
"I was hoping we could do that on the way in my limousine. Furthermore, I have got something to show you," he happily declared. The last time, I remember Max being this elated was moments after dad gifted him his first sports car.
"And that can't wait?" I wondered.
"I'm afraid not." was his curt response.
Yielding to my fate I said.
"Okay, little brother. But if we are late, you are the one explaining that to dad."
"Agreed," he said with a smile.
"You heard him, Kayden. I will see you there; take care."
I could tell she didn't like that.
"I will," Kayden said demurely, nodded, and then walked to one of the waiting limousines. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Kayden walk away. What a magnificent sight, which unfortunately ended too damn fast when the driver opened the door for her, and she disappeared in the car. Max led me to the other one, he opened it, and I got in. To my surprise, there was already someone in there. It took me a moment until recognized her.
"Svea, bist du das?
Svea is that you?"
I asked in german.
"Ja.
Yes."
"Woah, du bist zu einer wunderschönen Dame herangewachsen. Ich habe dich kaum wiedererkannt. Wenn ich mich recht entsinne reichte dein Kopf nicht über meine Hüfte als ich dich das letzte mal sah. Was geben die euch in Deutschland zu essen, dass ihr so schnell wachst?
Woah, you've grown into a beautiful young lady. I barely didn't recognize you. If I remember correctly last time I saw you and your family your head didn't reach past my waist. What do they give you to eat in Germany for you to grow that fast?"
I asked the blushing maid sitting opposite from me.
"Nicht das ich nicht froh bin dich zu sehen, aber was machst du hier? Brockton Bay ist nicht grade der sicherste Ort an dem man sich aufhalten könnte, mit dieser ganzen Slaughterhause Nine geschichte die hier stattfindet.
Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but what are you doing here? Brockton Bay isn't the safest place to be at the moment, with this whole Slaughterhouse Nine business going on here."
I was concerned about her, she was still half a kid.
"Du hast es noch nicht gehört?
You didn't hear?"
Svea wondered.
"Was gehört?
Hear what?"
At a loss of what she was talking about, I turned to my brother.
"Max, what is she talking about?"
"You remember that father sent Victor to Germany," he inquired.
"Yeah, I do. He didn't say why though."
"It was to unite our branches through marriage, to strengthen the ties between us through blood. Viktor was chosen from our side and sent over." He said when Svea abruptly interrupted his explanation with barely contained joy.
"Mir wurde die Ehre zuteil von meiner Familie dafür ausgewählt zu werden.
I was given the honor to be chosen by my family."
So she understands English just fine but chose not to use it. I couldn't help but pity her. I was careful not to show it. She has become what I fought my whole life to avoid becoming, livestock.
I fell back on using English as I pretended to be happy for her.
"That's great so you are gonna live here from now on. I have got to show you around."
"Das wäre großartig.
That would be lovely."
"Viktor, huh."
She blushed at that. At least she seemed to be happy with this arrangement. If she truly felt that way or if there was assistance in that regard I couldn't tell. I wondered if Victor saw her in the same light, with what I knew of him, she didn't seem his type. No matter how I felt about this; it would be unwise for me to meddle. So I mentally wished her the best and let the matter be.
I noticed that our driver wasn't heading in the right direction. This was why I asked, "where are we going, Max?"
"We are making a little detour to talk, and I have to show you something. It won't take long, I promise."
"If you say so."
A few minutes later. We stopped somewhere in the docks in front of a warehouse. Max opened the door and got out. He urged Svea and myself to do the same.
I looked around but wasn't able to make out the reason for us to take a detour. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been a good idea to be in this part of town at night, but given the state, we left the Teeth in. I doubted they were brave enough to take a step outside of their hiding places for a few days in fear of suffering the same fate as the two-member of the S9 I ran into yesterday. With their cape count down and the butcher being AWOL. We wouldn't give them another choice but to leave in the next few days. If they were stupid enough and tried to fight the inevitable, their journey would lead to the inside of some coffins.
"What is so interesting at this warehouse you had to show me personally?" I asked my brother.
"Oh this, this will be the cornerstone of the future. Why don't you go inside and look around for a moment? I will be there with you shortly."
Since I had no reason to protest I went inside. It turned out to be a completely empty warehouse, the only thing out of the ordinary was some hole that was dug into the earth through the stone floor on the far side, next to it was something that had a remote resemblance to an abrevoir. If this wouldn't have been my little brother that brought me here I would have suspected foul play of some kind by now. I wasn't given the chance to think about it, because Max returned. I noticed that my instincts said the same - something wasn't right - and made themselves known.
I saw him carrying a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
I pointed at his cargo.
"What's the occasion. Don't tell me I'm getting another nephew, or is it a niece this time? Which I can spoil rotten," I said sheepishly.
"Nothing, like that. I thought it would be nice if we could talk one last time alone as equals."
I didn't know where he was going with this.
"What do you mean?"
Surprised at my question, he looked at me.
"Father didn't tell you. Of course, he didn't. He must have wanted to surprise you. Well, no matter I'm gonna spoil it."
He uncorked the champagne and filled the glasses, and offered one for me to take. "The reason for this party tonight isn't to celebrate our victory over the Nine and the Teeth but for father to name you his successor. He intends, given his age, to take a more passive role in the firm and the Empire, essentially gifting you with the leadership and responsibility of both."
"That's..." I started to say.
"A surprise," he chimed in, "I know, it came to me as a shock when he informed me that he had chosen you. I didn't think he would make this decision for another few years."
He paused for a moment before he continued.
"Nonetheless, this is the last time we are equals, both possible heirs to the Almighty Allfather, tomorrow I will be your Knight, your Underling you the Queen. So we touch glasses to celebrate the end of an era and the beginning of a new one."
I took the glass, bumped it with his, and emptied it in one gulp.
"You know, I never wanted to succeed father. I only ever wanted to get my freedom and keep it. If it were my choice, I would give it to you in a heartbeat. But we both know father wouldn't stand for it."
"No, he wouldn't." Max conceded the point, "Which just means I have to take what rightfully should by mine without his permission."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Oh, just that if there is only one heir, there is nothing to choose from."
Comprehension hit me at his words.
"You want to kill me, little brother? You should know by now that my power is superior to yours. The moment you generate any metal, it is mine to do with as I please. You haven't won a fight against me since our very first one. And I would rather not have the blood of my kin on my hands. So why don't we pretend this never happened?" I offered him an out, "you can't succeed."
"But I already have." He said with glee, "you are dead. You just don't know it yet."
I started coughing out of nowhere, my limbs got heavy, and I lost the feeling in them. I looked at my brother and saw the confident smirk on his face while I noticed my field of vision getting darker. I summoned a handful of liquid metal in my hand and tossed it at him. He created a wall of metal, which never took form because I immediately liquified it and allowed my projectile, already exceeding the speed of a normal bullet, unimpeded travel through.
It collided directly with the chest of Max. The heavy impact threw him back a dozen feet. When he came to a stop, on the ground he lay there motionless. I didn't sense him creating any more metal and concluded that he was dead.
I didn't check. There was no need to. I had more immediate problems, my coughing intensified, and the hand I had over my mouth got wet with my blood. Where did that come from?
The whole room started spinning around me. I lost my balance and fell down to the ground. With a distinct lack of feeling in my legs, my waning consciousness, and the loss of my sense of equilibrium, I couldn't do more than crawl, lying on the floor with only my hands able to move me forward. I would have used some metal to form a platform and fly on it out of here if I hadn't lost the ability to do so. I didn't feel the connection to my power any longer.
I was able to heave my body one-two times when even this became too much. My body stopped following my commands. In a last-ditch effort, I was able to roll over on my back. I didn't want to die lying on my stomach with my face in the dirt.
I heard steps but considered them an illusion, my mind playing tricks on me. Until someone bent down next to me and looked at me from above; Max, why wasn't he dead? There should have been no way he could have survived that. He should have a hole the size of a football in his chest.
"How the mighty have fallen. Now you aren't smug anymore, are you?" He mocked, "I can see the wonder in your eyes. I'm sure you ask yourself have could I have possibly survived. Well, the answer is really simple. Svea, since the last time you saw her, she became a parahuman. She goes by the name Othala, and she just so happens to be a trump. She can gift others with certain powers for a limited amount of time like invulnerability. It is quite the interesting powerset, not quite as good as that of her cousins but as you can surely attest more than useful in the right situations."
I glared my hardest at him. He couldn't succeed with this betrayal, not with witnesses. Even if Svea was part of the conspiracy, Kayden wasn't. She saw me accompany him. Fear flooded my system. He wouldn't go as far as to kill her, would he? I cursed myself. Why didn't I make sure to check that he was dead? Now Kayden will suffer for it, most likely with her death. Desperation took over, I commanded my body to move to do something, but nothing happened aside from my brother, noticing my futile struggles.
He laughed at me.
"Tell me, sister, what great discovery have you made in your dying moments. The uncertainty must kill you."
Knowing me unable to answer, he laughed harder.
"Sorry that was distasteful even I can admit that." He said as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "Well, I initially didn't plan on telling you, banking on the fact that any scenario your mind would come up with was crueler than the reality. But you always saw the best in humans despite our upbringing, and you never really got to appreciate the finer arts of intrigues. You were far more direct like father. He never really got it. Otherwise, he would have seen this coming as you should have, big sister."
"Did you really never notice how I despised you for succeeding, where I failed. For getting the attention and recognition that should have been mine." He hatefully spit out, "Or was I that far beneath your notice that it escaped yours in its entirety?" He wondered after his uncharacteristic emotional outburst. "Well, it doesn't matter any longer. Tomorrow everything you ever possessed and held dear will be mine. In a few years time, you will be forgotten, only to be remembered as the sister of Kaiser."
That's when Othalla came into the hall.
"Svea, come here. Regina isn't well. Perhaps you might be able to heal her." My eyes pleaded with Max not to do it, but he ignored me.
Before she could even touch me, Max took out a bone spike from one of his sleeves. He moved behind her and buried it so deep into her back that it remerged from her chest. She was dead before she hit the ground. He then walked towards my feet, grabbed my ankles, and pulled me towards the hole on the far end. While doing that, he started talking.
"That leaves just one more conspirator worthy of mentioning alive. Oh, you seem surprised. Don't be. You see, she will be found later tonight in the remains of the limousine together with the dead driver and a note, stating that Marquis kidnapped you. It will further state that he is willing to trade you for the former territory of the Teeth. Father, no doubt, will be enraged when he hears about this, abandoning caution. He will demand blood. Not in a small part because the loss of Othala will threaten our good connections to Germany and the Herren Klan. So he will be inclined, more than eager to go, rescue you himself when he will be told where Marquis is holding you captive."
A grunt of exertion interrupted his speech.
"You really should more mindful of your figure, dear sister. You are heavy. Where was I? Marquis... right... Father will not be opposed to the suggestion, that he and I kill Marquis together. For the transgression that he went after family. Unaware, that it won't be him and me fighting Marquis, but Marquis and me fighting him. Frankly speaking, he won't survive. I will then return, with the sad news of his death, which will be attributed to you, because father sacrificed himself in an attempt to free you, getting deadly wounded in his effort to do so."
He rearranged the slipping grip on my ankles and with barely any pause continued his rambling of a mad-man.
"This will leave me with the choice between going after you and Marquis or trying to save father. I will, of course, chose father. Because logic dictates your continued wellbeing will be necessary for the extortion to work. I mean, who could predict the irrationality of Marquis. When he is gonna decide since we tried to free you once already. That it is in his best interest if he can't get what he wants, then he will content himself with the consolidation price of denying us a strong parahuman permanently."
Succinctly he added,
"of course, your body will never be found. Fathers heroics to lose his life in an attempt to take revenge for Othala will bring me the good-will of her family. For the single purpose alone to uphold the honor of their Klan in the eyes of others, they will have no other choice, but once again commit to marriage, this time offering up one of the more useful cousin. Most likely, the one who holds Victor's fancy. Since I will be the one making this possible, his loyalty will be mine. Before I can take revenge for both of you, the Brockton Bay Brigade will come into possession of information that will allow them to find out the civilian identity of Marquis. Given the animosity between them and the rumor about this New Wave movement, they are planning. I'm sure they will take care of him for me."
Again, he had to adjust his grip, reveling in his success, he went on to explain,
"in the weeks following this event, Marquis will be shipped off to the birdcage, and I will declare this fate being far more fitting than death because it serves to prolongs his suffering. I will have successfully avenged both you and father in the eyes of the Empire, cementing my claim on leadership. Shortly after that, I suspect Brockton Bay Brigade will go public with their identities as part of their New Wave movement, Since they created a precedent in this city by going after Marquis out of costume. A statement will have to be made, to dissuade them and anybody else from doing something similar ever again. The death of one of them should suffice."
Despite my misgivings of being the first causality to this plan, I had to admit to myself that it could actually work. I hoped it wouldn't, that at one point or, another something doesn't pan out. But that might be just wishful thinking, Max seemed far too confident in this plan otherwise he wouldn't have acted on it.
"I like my life as it is, far too much to allow any meddling into it. After this is done, I will demonstrate that the Empire upholds the unwritten rules and is more than willing to enforce them, impartial if hero or villain are victims of transgressions of this rule."
We arrived at the hole, he unceremoniously packed me into transparent plastic wrap and used tape to provide an airtight seal. I took note of the fact that if not for the poison killing me, I would suffocate.
"And with this, only the Empire remains in the Bay under my rule. Isn't it nice how your death will allow me to do all this? You must ask yourself why, why I'm telling you all this. Why I monologue like a bond villain? Well, it is easy to answer. This whole conspiracy is my magnum opus for it to be that, it has to be kept secret. Do you even know how that makes one feel? You bested every opposition in one fell swop in the most elegant way possible, and nobody ever can know about it. It's infuriating, which is why I just couldn't resist to at least tell someone, and who would be more suitable than a dying person, sister."
He threw me into the hole and went to the abrevoir and emptied its contents on top of me. I get buried in an endless stream of cement, it only takes a few seconds for my body to be submerged. My last thought, before my world turns dark is of Kayden.
What the? I awoke with a start. That was the strangest dream I ever had. Being buried alive is as far from a fun experience as it was possible. But was this really a dream? It all felt so real.
According to a short glance towards the clock on my nightstand, it was in the middle of the night. My stomach growled, and I didn't think I could find any sleep for a while after experiencing this nightmare. Didn't Dad say he was gonna cook something? Why didn't he wake me? The question already asked I noticed a piece of paper under my glasses that wasn't there went I went to bed.
I put on my glasses and inspected the paper in the dim light the light post provided outside of my window. It was barely enough to make out the words written on it.
Didn't want to wake you. Lasagne is in the fridge. Don't worry about school. I took the day off, and I'm gonna excuse you.
Love Dad
Oh, that was why. School, I completely forgot about. But in retrospect made a lot of sense, given that I got home on Sunday the day before school was about to start.
Authors Note: I'm aware, that the murderer of Fleur was sent to prison and was at the time of the murder not part of the E88. (see Ward: Beacon 8.9)
In this story, however, the murderer was an overeager young member of the Empire, acting on the orders of Kaiser. Of course, he made sure no one knew of his involvement and rewarded him for a job well done by crucifying him on the front porch of Fleur's home. Written in the blood, leaking out of him with a metal spike penetrated heart, was an apology from Kaiser; stating, that the Empire plays by the rules and enforces them with extreme prejudice.
On an additional note, a few might have noticed what I did with Othala. In this story, she is the first girl offered up for marriage. The cousin mentioned in canon that held Victor's fancy but died will be the one whose hand in marriage is gonna be offered in Othala's stead.
You can consider those things AU elements for this story.