Side Story (3) - Chapter 6
The familiar weight of Solace's hideout settled around Raze as he stepped inside, the air thick with the faint scent of damp earth and candle wax. He closed the door softly behind him, his gaze sweeping over the mismatched furniture, overgrown plants, and flickering candlelight casting familiar shadows across the walls. It wasn't his first time here, but tonight felt different. There was an edge to the quiet—a sense that something had shifted, that Solace was ready to share something she had kept buried.
Solace was already seated by the window, a distant look in her eyes as she watched the candles flicker, their soft light reflected in her gaze. She didn't look up as he approached, but he could see the tension in her shoulders, the weight she carried as if her past had finally caught up with her.
"Raze." Her voice was quiet, barely cutting through the silence. She glanced up, and he noticed the shadows beneath her eyes, the slight tremor in her hand as it rested on the arm of her chair.
Without a word, he crossed the room and sat down on the worn couch across from her, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, his gaze steady and open. He knew she didn't bring people here lightly; this was her sanctuary, and tonight, it felt like a place for secrets to surface.
For a long moment, the silence stretched between them. Solace drew a breath, as if gathering herself. "There's something I haven't told you," she began, her voice steady but laced with a raw edge. "About Megan. About why I kept looking for her, even when it didn't make sense."
Raze waited, his focus unwavering, his patience absolute. Solace's expression softened in the candlelight, shadows flickering across her face, illuminating the weight she had been carrying alone.
"I found out too late," she continued, her voice roughened by the memory. "Megan wasn't just someone Zenith targeted. She was my sister. My twin, actually." She paused, the words settling heavily in the room. "I didn't know until it was too late—until she was already gone."
The gravity of her words sank in, and Raze leaned back slightly, absorbing the weight of her revelation. "Your twin?" he echoed softly. The surprise in his voice was gentle, and beneath it, a glimmer of sorrow. "Solace, I… I'm so sorry."
She nodded, her expression tinged with both grief and anger. "It's more than that, though," she murmured. "Zenith… they knew. They've known about my family for years. I found out my father wasn't my real father—he was my stepfather. My mother married him for power and status, and she… she has always seen me as a pawn. But Megan and I… we were hidden from all that by my real father."
Raze's eyes darkened, sensing the betrayal that had been simmering under her surface for so long. He shifted, leaning closer, the warmth in his gaze grounding her. "Your real father… he was protecting you?"
"Yes." Solace's voice cracked as she continued, her eyes trained on the flickering candle flames. "He kept us safe for as long as he could. But Zenith got to her, and when I found out… it was like this whole other world opened up. Everything Zenith does, everything I've been part of—it's so much darker than I knew."
She paused, the memories clouding her expression as she thought back to Sable's trembling form, her haunted gaze after Lynx's attack. "What Lynx did to Sable—it's what they did to Megan. He broke her down, Raze, piece by piece, and I let it happen. I let it happen because I was too blind to see what was right in front of me."
Raze's jaw clenched, his hand instinctively reaching out to cover hers in silent support. "You couldn't have known," he said gently. "You did what you thought was right."
Solace looked up at him, her eyes glinting with a mixture of guilt and resolve. "But I know now, and I can't just let it keep happening. I can't sit back and watch Zenith keep tearing people apart."
As her words settled around him, Raze's grip on her hand tightened. The promise they were making hung thick in the air, and though it felt right, there was a weight to it that he couldn't shake.
He cleared his throat, his voice coming out rougher than intended. "Then we'll stop them," he said firmly. "Whatever it takes, Solace. We'll make sure what happened to Megan doesn't happen to anyone else."
For a moment, they sat in silence, letting the gravity of their vow sink in. But as he looked at Solace, a memory clawed its way to the forefront of his mind—the last time he had felt this helpless, this desperate to save someone. His grip on Solace's hand faltered as his mind drifted back to Sable, to that horrific moment he couldn't erase.
The memory came in jagged fragments: Lynx's hand around Sable's throat, lifting her off the ground, her wide eyes locking onto Raxian's—pleading, desperate, fading. Raze could still feel the weight of helplessness, the horror freezing him in place as he watched her strength slip away. Each gasping breath she took had ripped through him, a haunting reminder of his own powerlessness against Lynx's cruelty.
That image of Sable, so vulnerable, lingered like a scar. Even now, he could hardly shake the fury and desperation that had coursed through him, a silent vow forming that night: he would never let Lynx do that to anyone again.
Raze swallowed, the memory settling like ice in his veins. He met Solace's gaze again, his own eyes clouded with a haunted look. "I know what it's like to see someone you care about—someone innocent—get caught in Lynx's grip," he whispered, his voice barely above a murmur. "The way he… the way he tried to take her life right in front of me. I'll never forget it. And I won't let him keep hurting people like that. We can't let him keep doing this."
Solace looked at him, her expression softening with understanding. She squeezed his hand, grounding him in the present. "I… I'm glad you're here, Raze," she whispered, her voice thick with gratitude and something deeper, an unspoken connection that ran through them both.
They sat together, a silent understanding settling between them, each of them knowing the horrors the other had witnessed. And though the weight of their decision pressed heavily on them, they also shared the fragile hope that together, they could make a difference.
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In the stillness of the hideout, Solace felt the weight of her thoughts press down like a shadow, thick and unyielding. She had shared so much already, but there was something else, a presence from her past she'd buried deeply, a memory she rarely allowed herself to touch. Yet, as Raze's steady gaze held hers, she felt that unspoken part of her stir, inching closer to the surface.
"Kade…" she began, her voice trailing off into the candle-lit quiet. She hadn't spoken his name in so long, hadn't wanted to face the memories it carried. But tonight, with Raze beside her, it felt like the right time to let those memories breathe. "At my introduction to Zenith," she continued, her voice distant, as though reaching back through the years, "he was there. Kade—though back then, he was just Soulchaser. The one who introduced me to League, showed me the ropes when I barely understood what any of this was."
Raze watched her intently, his eyes reflecting a mixture of curiosity and concern. "Soulchaser… so he taught you everything?"
A faint smile touched her lips, her gaze falling to the flickering candle flame, its movement mirroring the bittersweet memories playing out in her mind. "Yeah, he did. He had this way of making things seem easier, like it was all just a game, nothing more. For a while, I forgot I was part of something much darker. He saw my mistakes, my nerves, and he'd brush it off with a joke, something small to put me at ease."
She took a slow breath, her fingers tracing the worn edge of her chair as she continued. "But he wasn't… important. Not to the team, anyway. Kade was always on the sidelines, just another background player in Zenith. I doubt anyone even noticed when he started drifting away, doing his own thing, barely interacting with the others. It was like he was only there because he had to be."
Raze's expression shifted, a mix of sympathy and curiosity crossing his face. "But he was there for you?"
"Yeah," she said softly, her gaze growing more distant. "When I first joined, he helped me find my footing, taught me the basics. For a while, I thought we'd keep that connection, like he was one of the few real things I could hold onto." She paused, the candlelight casting shadows across her face as she swallowed back the ache in her chest. "But he never let me in past a certain point. And then… he just disappeared. No goodbyes, no explanations. It was like he'd been erased from everything, like Zenith had wiped him out completely."
Raze tightened his hold on her hand, his voice steady, the understanding in his eyes grounding her. "He knew something was wrong, didn't he? Started asking questions?"
A faint, regretful smile played at her lips. "Yes. But I think he realized it too late. By the time he pushed back, he was already in too deep. He was gone before I even knew he was in danger."
Raze squeezed her hand, a silent promise conveyed through his touch. "We'll find out what happened, Solace. We'll get answers."
Solace looked up at him, gratitude shining in her eyes. "Thank you, Raze." Finally sharing this part of her past—filled with unspoken words and unresolved loss—brought her a relief she hadn't expected. Kade might have vanished without a trace, but knowing she wasn't alone in her search for the truth gave her a new sense of resolve, a quiet strength that made her feel less like a ghost, more like herself.
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Raze kept his gaze steady, feeling the weight of Solace's words settle over them like a heavy fog. He didn't need to press her—she would reveal more when she was ready. Instead, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, an unspoken promise that he was here, fully present, ready to face whatever truths she brought to light.
Solace took a slow, measured breath, her fingers brushing against the worn fabric of the chair as if grounding herself. "There's something else," she said quietly, her voice barely a whisper, as though voicing it could fracture the fragile trust between them. "I've been digging into Lynx. Not just the rumors or whispers—I wanted to understand why he's like this, why Zenith would keep someone like him around."
She paused, her gaze distant, the candlelight casting shadows over her face. "It's worse than I thought. He's not just another predator for them, Raze. He's… a weapon, something they're deliberately unleashing. He uses fear, breaks people down from the inside out. Sable wasn't just another target. He went too far, and it's only a matter of time before he does it again. Zenith knows—and they're letting him do it."
Raze's expression hardened, his jaw tightening as the implications sank in. "Then we're not just fighting him. We're fighting all of them."
Solace met his gaze, a fierce determination blazing in her eyes, mirroring the flickering candlelight. "Exactly. And I don't know who we can trust—or if there's anyone else out there who's willing to stand up to this."
His hand stayed steady in hers, both a reassurance and a vow. The room fell into silence, each of them absorbing the enormity of what lay ahead. Finally, Raze's voice cut through the quiet, low but resolute. "Then we start here. We find out what happened to Kade, and we figure out a way to bring Lynx down. Together."
A sense of calm washed over Solace, mingling with a renewed resolve. She looked at Raze, her faint smile tinged with gratitude and courage. "Together."