I'm sorry in advance. Also, above I have attached a composition of mine that I wrote specifically to be played whilst reading this chapter. You don't need to put it on loop as it's about as long as it needs to be :) Thank you xx

"You okay with leaving her on her own again today?" the silver haired male walking beside Nyais questioned, one eyebrow raised. Nyais nodded his head, regarding the concerns of his friend but politely dismissing them.

"Yes. I've asked Jay to make sure that the area around our accommodation is safe and guarded, just in case," Nyais affirmed. "She'll be fine—"

"Never be certain," his friend said abruptly. "Certainty will land you in an early grave. I didn't think you needed reminding."

"You're one to talk, Olli," Nyais laughed, shaking his head. Olli shrugged. "On a different subject, what do you think of Rayne right now? Don't you agree he's been acting... weird?"

"Yes," Olli sighed, "I had observed that. Do you think he's contemplative after Leya passed? I remember they were friends in a way," Olli hummed. Nyais narrowed his eyes at the King's statement but didn't say any more, still mindful of his authority.

"I feel like it's more to do with the fact that there's a human he can't torture. Maybe seeing a human in an environment that's not his basement has softened him a little? I heard he mercy killed his last victim." Olli's eyes widened a little at this.

"Well that really is a surprise. Say, how was he when he met [Y/n]?" Olli questioned.

"The first time he tried to act 'nice' for a while but it fell apart quite quickly. The second time, he was a bit of an ass, but I don't believe he did too much. He says he hates [Y/n]. It's unfathomable to me that Rayne might hate a human but if it spares her having to see him, I'll take that with open arms." Olli shrugged at this.

"So, was there a reason you wanted me to walk with you?" he asked finally. Nyais paused for a moment as he considered his answer.

"I haven't seen you in a while. I thought it would be nice to catch up," Nyais shrugged.

"You and I both know that's a load of rubbish," Olli sighed. "You want something. What is it?"

"To talk to my friend. As I said." The firmness in Nyais' tone suggested to Olli that he was indeed telling the truth, which clearly shocked the king as he went silent for a while.

"This human girl really has changed you. I wouldn't say it's for the better, though." He looked absentmindedly at a few of the portraits on the wall. "Don't lose yourself, Nyais. If she ever becomes a burden to you or our society, you know what I'll be forced to do." Nyais narrowed his eyes at this.

"I'd say we're all caught up, wouldn't you?" Nyais muttered, staring at his friend and superior with an empty look. Olli sighed and dipped his head, taking the hint and walking away. As Nyais continued in the general direction of his office, he thought. For the first time in a while, he recalled the days before he became an elite. The days where he, Leya and Rayne all lived together in some form of discordant harmony.

* * *

"Hey, Nyais, did you hear?" an excited feminine voice called as Leya waltzed into the room, "that old fart- oh, what was his name, Isan, was it? Yeah, him... he got killed by some humans! I mean, serves him right for going to that weird scary place where they have those weird scary weapons but still, isn't it great! You're one step away from being an elite now!" she beamed, running up to Nyais and flinging her arms around him. He smiled and shook his head.

"Don't say such things, Leya," he said softly, "you shouldn't wish death upon people for my success. Hell, at this rate I'll never be an elite."

"Damn right you won't," Rayne's voice called from his room down the hall. Nyais rolled his eyes, ignoring him. The raven haired male walked into the room with a smile and Nyais shook his head.

"What do you want?" Nyais huffed.

"To be hugged!" Rayne grinned, flinging his arms out melodramatically, "to be adored! To be cared for as deeply as you care for Leya," he chuckled. Leya giggled at this but Nyais just rolled his eyes.

"Dream on," the brunet sighed, holding Leya's hand and keeping her close to him.

"Don't worry, I will~" Rayne grinned, winking playfully, something typical of the deranged man. Nyais always found it strange to see him act like this in a familiar environment - he seemed so content with life that he was almost normal. Aside from the occasional sarcastic (and sadistic) comments, Rayne appeared to be a good person. Both Nyais and Leya had seen him with his victims however. They both knew what he was really like. Albeit, he'd become a lot better since he'd moved in with Nyais in the small, dirty, cramped apartment that they called home. In a way, he'd come to be a little more respectful. He'd even started giving his victims painkillers when he was in an especially good mood.

"Oh, Nyais," Leya quickly put in, a small smile on her face. "I was talking to Olli earlier," she began, earning a surprised look from both Nyais and Rayne, "seeing as he trained you and stuff, I thought it could work... it was about your job." Nyais waited uncomfortably. He didn't really like Leya intervening with his ambitions - he understood that she wanted what was best for him, but he also knew that she was very vulnerable to Rayne's words. For all he knew, Rayne could be manipulating her to give Nyais the opposite sort of 'help' to what he needed.

"Go on," Nyais began quietly, unnerved by the silence.

"Well, I told him about how we all live now and how you're totally underpaid for what you do. I mean, it's dangerous, and you can't exactly enjoy doing that sort of work. I know you," she said quietly. "S-so, I've asked him to move you to a more suitable job." Nyais' eyes shot wide.

"And you didn't consult me about this?!" he suddenly snapped.

"I-I'm sorry," Leya sighed, "it's just... it's not good for you! I know you think it's the only way forwards but I know it isn't - I know you're better than that! Surely you don't feel proud of yourself afterwards?" Then, unexpectedly, her eyes narrowed. "I didn't marry a sadist and I don't intend to stay here if you remain one."

There was a long pause, a dark silence, that cast a shadow on the whole room. Even Rayne, who usually couldn't care less about Nyais and Leya's little spats, looked shocked at the girl's sudden outburst.

"I trained and I trained for the right to live with you," Leya said quietly, "I became the best I could - I fought and fought until finally I could surpass the barometer. I'm scared I'm going to lose you to this job, Nyais," she whispered, her eyes growing tearful. "S-so, if you want me to stay you have to choose. You can either see Olli tomorrow afternoon and hear out what job offer he comes up with, or you can continue torturing innocent people and lose me."

"I..." Nyais paused, looking down. After a moment of thought, he left the room, silent as a summer breeze. Leya turned to Rayne, her usually bubbly blue eyes murky with worry. The doctor just shrugged.

"He'll see Olli tomorrow. I guarantee it," he huffed, "unless you waver and apologise, then he'll think he has the upper hand." Leya nodded slowly. "Oh, by any chance do you know what sort of jobs Olli was considering?"

"Y-yeah... something to do with strategy," she hummed. At this, Rayne pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh.

"You know, if you'd just told him that in the first place your little argument just then wouldn't have happened," he sighed. Leya's eyes widened before she averted them to the floor, clearly annoyed at herself. "I'd keep that to yourself for now, though. If you tell him now he'll probably turn on you anyway."

"Since when did you care?" Leya sighed, rubbing the back of her neck with a tired smile. "I know you only care about Nyais. I could die the most painful and excruciating death anyone could imagine and you wouldn't bat an eyelash," she laughed weakly, shaking her head.

"You'd be surprised," Rayne responded surreptitiously, walking away, presumably off to his room. The blonde female was left on her lonesome.

* * *

Nyais huffed as he stared at the door to his office. This same old door, the same old murky window, the same old banshee wail as the door opened and closed... in Nyais' eyes, this office was his perfect idea of purgatory. He slammed the wailing door behind him and walked over to his desk. He picked up his quill and took it to the tap to wash the dried ink off the end.

"Rayne, is that you?" Nyais sighed out, wiping down his quill with a piece of tissue paper. No response. "I can hear your heartbeat. I know you're here," he groaned out, walking over to the office door and opening it. In the doorway stood a man with black hair, green eyes and a bow and arrow in hand. An unstable giggle escaped him.

"Aytsa," Nyais shook his head. "If you've come here to fight me I'm afraid I'm a little busy," he said, about to shut the door. Aytsa's foot intercepted it, however, reopening the door.

"I don't think you quite understand your situation, old man," Aytsa smiled.

"Or perhaps you don't understand yours," Nyais responded. "I'd anticipated an attack today so I've sent guards down to where [Y/n] and I live in case one of you found it. She's well protected so I'm afraid you'll have to try again another day. Or, supposedly I could have you arrested for threat. You shouldn't be talking to your superiors with a weapon like that, you know?"

"I know," Aytsa grinned. "But... I don't plan on letting you go, so I suppose we should be fine." Nyais narrowed his eyes.

"So you're here to kill me?" he asked dully.

"Yes indeedy~" Aytsa sang, drawing his bow. At this, Nyais jumped back and grabbed his weapon of choice (which he's tactfully stored in this room the day before, just in case) - a long, curved sword sat in each hand, the pair of blades professionally held before him in a defensive stance.

"Hey Nyais," Aytsa began, looking a little thoughtful, "did you do anything to [Y/n]? I heard a huge commotion about an elixir Rayne went to give her. You haven't used her vulnerability to your advantage, have you...?"

"You're sick for even thinking such things," Nyais growled in response, taking a step back so he'd have more time to react if Aytsa really did shoot his bow.

"Maybe I am sick, but I've heard all about you from Rayne. I know what you did to him, what you did to innocent civilians... you were an army dog, weren't you? Didn't disobey a single order. Did all the dirty work without a single complaint." Nyais' eyes narrowed at Aytsa's words but he quickly realised what he was doing. Aytsa likely had a knife or something of the like in his pocket and was waiting for Nyais to make the first move so he could distract him and find an opening. It won't work, Nyais thought.

"Oh~ and Nyais?" Aytsa giggled. "You made a really big mistake, you know?"

A mistake? He's bluffing, I'm sure, but there's something in his eyes that says he's got a secret he's itching to tell. Has he got reinforcements? No, he's on his own... he's too prepared to have reinforcements. The others have surely all focused on [Y/n]. Right...?

"Enlighten me," Nyais growled darkly.

"You really want those to be your last words?" Aytsa asked with a confused expression. "Well, it gives me an ego boost so I guess I don't mind. Alright. Your mistake... is..."

A sudden pain shot through Nyais' back.

No, that wasn't right. He'd checked behind him. No one else could've been in the room. Was it a trap? A tripwire?

Aytsa began to clap as Nyais fell to his knees, the sharp object hindering his spine, causing him to unleash an agonised groan. Then, he felt the object ripped from his back with careless, unrelenting force. A sort of action that could only be carried out by another living being.

"Thanks Kori," Aytsa grinned, "but I think I can take it from here." The other attacker, who'd been revealed to be Kori, laughed. A sound that Nyais recognised as him shaking his head sounded.

"No can do I'm afraid. I've been looking forward to this too eagerly to just let you have all the fun," he responded.

"Well okay then," Aytsa responded, "step out of the way just a sec," he said, his hand waving his accomplice to the side, "I'm gonna paralyse him."

He let go of the bow string.

As I said, I'm so sorry. I mean, some of y'all might rejoice but I feel like a terrible person ^^;