He hopped back onto his bike, revving the engine furiously.
The wheels screeched as he accelerated, cutting through the wind. When he neared the quarantine site once more, he knew he had to be quick.
Finally arriving, he noticed the limousine parked carelessly along the driveway, oblivious to the bomb inside unfolding. Without taking the time to remove his helmet or even bother to park, he leapt off, charging toward the door.
He then burst through the entrance. Cyrus stood there like a statue with too calm of a demeanor. The moment their eyes met, Cassian yelled, "Get out of the house now!"
Cyrus remained unmoved, his icy blue fixated on Cassian, seemingly unperturbed by the urgency in his voice.
Cassian advanced. But before he could take another step, Cyrus raised his Band with a casual nonchalance, aiming to freeze Cassian in place.
In response, Cassian activated his own Band, countering Cyrus's hold.
The two bands seemingly clashed through their invisible forces as Cassian charged forward, seizing Cyrus's arm, determined to drag him out of danger.
"Wait, what—" Cyrus began, surprised as Cassian pulled him toward the exit.
The ground beneath them rattled with the seconds ticking away until—boom!
The explosion erupted, releasing a wave of heat and sound that engulfed the entire house. Cassian and Cyrus were thrown backwards, tumbling through the air as debris rained down around them.
They landed hard, rolling along the ground before coming to a stop several yards away from the devastation.
Cassian pushed himself upright, breathing heavily, his helmet cracked but still intact. He blinked against the haze of smoke rising from where the house had been, just seconds away from obliteration.
As the debris settled, he turned to see Cyrus rising, dusting himself off in surprise. There was confusion on his face as he registered what had just transpired.
"You…" he said, looking at Cassian. "You saved me again."
But there was something odd about his declaration. He sounded irritated more than shocked.
Cassian stood his ground, brushing himself off as he regained his composure. He simply replied, "A thank you would have sufficed."
Those words spurred Cyrus on, causing tension to rise between them, despite the burning wreckage.
Cassian broke the silence, assessing the fallout.
"What were you doing here anyway?" he pointedly asked.
"Why do you care?" Cyrus countered, dismissive.
Cassian could see the clear wall between them due to them both inhabiting different paths. He had no expectation of camaraderie, yet he found the exchange maddening.
Without caring, he turned towards his motorcycle, ready to leave this disjointed conversation behind.
As Cassian prepared to mount his motorcycle, still processing Cyrus's being here, he felt a sudden grip on his shoulder that spun him around. He barely had time to register the icy glare in Cyrus's eyes before a punch rocketed toward him.
Cassian instinctively ducked, the blow narrowly missing him as he shifted his weight to evade the strike. Unfortunately, his foot caught on the bike's stand, sending him sprawling to the ground, the motorcycle clattering beside him.
Before he could recover, Cyrus pounced, landing atop him. The weight pinned Cassian down, and he blinked in confusion.
"What are you doing?" he exclaimed, trying to squirm out from beneath Cyrus's grip. "Now's not the time for this!"
Cyrus's icy demeanor cracked for a moment, revealing a fervent intensity as he seized Cassian's collar tightly.
"How did you know about that bomb?!" he roared. "Who planted it, and what's the son of AU's head doing here in the first place?!"
This was uncharacteristic of Cyrus, which surprised Cassian. Had the man from Libra truly not been aware of things? Clearly, Cyrus was clueless, and this situation ran deeper than expected.
Cassian managed to steady himself, feeling the pressure of Cyrus's hands.
"Get off!" he grunted, trying to push him away.
They rolled in the dirt, both grappling for the upper hand, the ground not helping with either of them using their own weight against them.
In a sudden burst, they rolled apart. Cassian, in motion, slipped into his pocket and retrieved a gun. He maneuvered it upward, aiming it at the man who had just attacked him. To his astonishment, Cyrus had done the same, and now they stood facing each other, guns drawn in a tense tableau.
"You have the eyes of a man that's just killed someone," Cyrus remarked in a chilling tone.
Cassian didn't respond. Instead, he locked eyes with Cyrus, seeing that same reflection. They had both crossed lines, traversed paths drenched in blood.
The silence stretched.
Then, as if they both reached the same conclusion, they slowly lowered their guns. The tension faded, each knowing that shooting each other wouldn't resolve anything.
Neither of them finding satisfaction in killing the other—at least not today.
As Cassian prepared to mount the bike, he looked over his shoulder and said, "You'll want to leave before AU troops get here."
Little had Cyrus known, Cassian had phoned them prior to departing the home.
Cyrus, however, shook his head and said a statement that caught Cassian off guard: "You know nothing about Libra."
"Then why not tell me something for having saved you twice?" Cassian replied, nonchalant yet probing.
At that, Cyrus narrowed his eyes, knowing that his enemy was right.
"Fine," he relented. "The structure of Libra's ranking system involves several layers."
Cassian's brows heightened in interest, choosing to stay for a moment to listen. To think that Cyrus was that chivalrous. But what was he going to reveal, and who knows if he was going to lie?
No, he wouldn't. This man seemed to honor his words, especially after their last encounter at the estate before Karl's defeat.
"Supreme Arbiter is the name of our head's title," Cyrus began, listing each rank as though familiar with the cadence. "High Magistrate. Chief Adjudicator. Justice Officer. Inquisitor. Lawkeeper. Peacekeeper. Sentinel. Warden. And finally, the Apprentice of Justice."
Cassian absorbed the information, cataloging it within his mind. It was quite interesting. This hierarchy within Libra was similar to TEC. The only difference was that their ranks were more official and more imposing.
"And where do you stand in this system?" he asked.
Cyrus scoffed as if not wishing to answer. So he said, "That's none of your concern."
"No," Cassian responded. "It is, and I suspect you're at the bottom. What was it called? Apprentice of Justice."
"Oh…" Cyrus said, raising an eyebrow. "And just what gives you that idea?"
"Well, I wouldn't expect someone with the title Warden or higher to be stealing from a lowly branch in Velthoria."
That made Cyrus quiet. Cassian was right; he had to have been.
"What about your—"
"Don't ask," Cyrus interrupted as if knowing the question. "I'll make this clear: never ask about the Supreme Arbiter. The moment you start looking for him, he'll start looking for you… And a guy at your status wouldn't want that."
The finality in his tone was accentuated like a dread prickling at the back of Cassian's mind.
Just then, the sound of a helicopter grew louder above them. They both turned their heads upward and saw a sleek aircraft slowly descending.
With its blades roaring, it brought a gust of air that whipped their hair and around their faces.
As a ladder dropped from the helicopter, Cyrus prepared to leave. Cassian suppressed the urge to both ask more questions and stop him. Cyrus met his gaze, and that icy demeanor had returned.
Another moment passed before they stood in an understanding silence, a mutual respect forged through the series of events that had transpired.
Neither man uttered a word as Cyrus began to ascend the ladder, the helicopter rising with him.
Cassian watched Cyrus's form vanish into the aircraft until it was obscured by the clouds and he disappeared entirely from view.
Turning back to his motorcycle, Cassian mounted it. The bike had several scratches on the fairings, and the dashboard was split. He liked riding this bike, but if there was one thing he wasn't, it was materialistic.
He rechecked his phone for the tracking device and saw that it was offline. That explosion had completely destroyed the limo, leaving it in flames.
Just as he thought about going to check, sirens were heard. Now was definitely the time to leave.
'Shoot,' he thought, glancing at the timer on his bike. 'I'm late for that training session with Dorian…'
At that notion, he revved his motorcycle and dashed away, making haste.