Elend grabbed his cigar and turned his back towards the glass venue overlooking the arena below.
He took a deep breath and pressed a button hidden on a nearby wall. The ventilation shafts leading to the office began to whirl loudly as smoke slowly filled up the room. The smoke gaining life swirled around till it circled around Asher, blocking his view.
Soon a soft melody echoed in the office. It was vibrant but carried a touch of sadness.
"Why tell a story when I could show it." Elend's mused as his shadow shifted between the smoke.
Suddenly he burst out from behind Asher, but he wasn't alone. A slender figure of white and grey smoke held him by the hips and twirled around with him.
Asher couldn't describe their dance as romantic or formal, there was a palpable violence to their movements. It was like they were waiting for one of them to make a mistake and it didn't take long till one of them did. Elend stumbled to the ground and the woman fell on top of him holding him in place with a knife in her hand.
She mouthed something but no words came out. A memory of her conjurer privy only to Elend himself. Elend stuck in his puppet show stiffened and flipped her over. With their positions reversed, smoke coalesced into Elend's head. It took the form of a beast as Elend dug into her neck ripping out bone and flesh.
The smoke disappeared after, and Elend clenched his jaw as he grabbed onto her knife and struck her chest. It wasn't a strike to kill but to gut. He dug into her metaphorical flesh and fished out her heart. He brough the beating thing to his face and dug into it with fervor.
With a single bite the smoke all around suddenly surged towards Elend's body as if becoming one with him. Elend stood up after and on que the music stopped as he stared at Asher.
"So?" Elend smiled brightly as if the whole play wasn't messed up.
"So...?" Asher couldn't help but mutter back.
"So...do I still got it...who am I kidding of course I do." He smiled to himself while turning off the smoke dispenser.
"Care to...I don't know...give context?" Asher said confused. When Elend had said story, he figured it would be something relatable or funny not...well whatever this was.
"Oh figured you already heard some version of it before...this was the day well night I became known as the Ripper...After I was done with her, I did that to about another 20 people before I calmed down...I almost got a sweet tooth for arteries...stressing the almost part." Elend leaned on his desk and looked at Asher who stared back his eyes studying the sylph for any hint of humor.
"Then what's with the lady and-and the dance." Asher stumbled as he recollected the whole thing.
"She well...Tess was the Fang...she was the previous boss and I her humble slave...need I say more." Elend sighed as he walked over to Asher, shooing him outside.
"That's enough remembering for today...go rest up...or whatever children fucking do." Elend smirked as he exhaled a streak of smoke that zipped to his back to form a tendril. The tendril grabbed Asher's mask and propped it back to his face.
Before could Asher say anything, the huge door closed in his face.
"And he talks about my manners." He muttered as he scuttled off to the still raging party below.
Elend on the other hand turned around. He looked at his large office and took a deep breath before walking over to the half empty Lambart bottle.
He uncorked it, sighed and corked it again before walking over to the piano where he played the vibrant melody again. The tendril of smoke slowly took the form of Tess who sat next to him. He stared at her as he played but before he could finish the song, he coughed violently. Her figure disappearing while he fell to the ground.
He leaned on the piano and popped another cigar.
---------------------------------------
Asher was drunk. Not on purpose gods no. He was drunk because Desil dragged him to the party below and some idiot swapped his drink with another one. He couldn't spit it out or get angry, he was also V after all.
He just drank a bit and stormed off before the alcohol could dull his senses. Even a sip got the boy to stumble while walking. It made the shadows the bit darker and alive. He frowned as the anxiety slowly strangled his heart making it beat faster.
"Almost there...Almost there." He mouthed off in attempt to calm himself and just as he reached his door a voiced echoed from down the corridor.
"Help...help!" The voice shouted to Asher who froze. He gritted his teeth and opened the door to his room quickly before collapsing to the floor and leaning on it.
"This is not happening again...this is the alcohol." Asher spoke up but the voice called out again, tugging at the string keeping his scars from opening up.
"Be more selfish...be more selfish...thunders this happened before...Come on Stop!" He shouted back but the voice didn't acknowledge him. Maybe it was all in his head.
He clenched his teeth again and opened the door before straddling to the source of the voice. Last time he was drunk the voices died down as his thoughts became lethargic. This voice felt real. This voice felt familiar. This voice would make him feel guilty for gods know how long if he didn't do something to silence it.
He followed the cries for help through the yellow glammerstone lit corridors till he reached the slave pens. There behind bars stood a young sylph girl who shouted again towards Asher.
"Help!...He die...sick...die!" She shouted in crumbs of high loci she must've picked up from the guards. Asher approached a bit but not enough to be at arm's length. He learned from his mistake before.
He examined the barred cell. Two people inside. An old man who wheezed and puffed collapsed on the ground and a small sylph girl who clenched on the bars as she stared at him with desperation.
She was covered in dirt and scratches. Asher stopped himself before he felt any more pity for the pair of green eyes that followed his movements.
'No visible weapons...no traps...fuck.' Asher was looking for any reason not to help but finding none he picked the keys the guards had left to party.
Opening the cell, he walked in and had the little girl stay by the wall as he kneeled beside the old man.
"Human, mid-seventies…dilated pupils, pale. Weak pulse, and pained breathing. Purple cyanosis around the fingers and veins." He spoke loudly not for the girl to hear. It was out of habit. Stephan used to make him diagnose the corpses that passed by to test what Clara taught him. By no means was he an expert but he could tell what the conditions were by a glance.
"Wraith's touch." He said solemnly. A blood infection that if not treated quickly kills someone in hours. He sighed and grabbed the knife to his back. Before he could end the old man's misery, the girl rushed towards him and grabbed his hand.
"Help! Die...Help!" She mouthed off repeatedly. Asher could've shoved her off and be done with this whole thing instead he gave the girl the knife and walked out of the cell. He even left the doors open as he sauntered to his room.
'Should've asked her for her name...now she's going to get the bright idea to escape and end up dead.' Regret spoke up with wryly as ever.
"Maybe I should pick up drinking." Asher thought trying to ignore her even though she was right. He finally reached his room and collapsed on his bed.
He sighed and closed his eyes. 'She has a chance now like I did.' He thought as he slowly closed his eyes. The sounds of shouting and fighting that soon echoed after didn't bother him. He strangely felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.
He threw the mask aside and finally took a well deserved rest.