“Nothing fits me anymore!” Del said, a hint of frustration marrying her face. She had been rummaging around her wardrobe for almost one fucking hour.

She hated being tiny.

“It’s not like you don’t have enough money to buy more clothes,” Jered said, for the second time in the past thirty minutes. He stared idly at the screen of his phone, halfway expecting a reply to light it up.

Usually, Evelyn would tease his mental fortitude with some sexy outfit she knew would get right past his defenses.

“I’m not going to d-dress like a woman!”

“No one said you have to,” Jered barely heard her over the sound of his thoughts. He looked out of the window, “Just buy men’s clothing.”

“Wouldn’t I look… weird?” Del hugged her shoulders. The shirt she was wearing was oversized. Over-over-oversized, in fact. A pity, she liked that one.

“And that’s what you care about?”

“Appearances are… important?”

“Why are you taking breaks between one word and another?”

“I don't… know?”

Jered stared at her.

She immediately averted her gaze, suddenly sheepish, “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Jered tucked his hands in the pockets of his coat, “Back to the reason I came here… did you sweet-talked some of those ‘prospect friends’ into joining us?”

“Yes…”

“And…?”

“They refused,” Del poked her fingers together, treading her words with the utmost care, “They said they don’t want to work for a seventeen-year-old little boy.”

“Predictable.”

“Uh… really?”

“They don’t know the scale of ‘our’ plans. A show of force might be needed, as crude as it is,” Jered said, staring off into the distance, “And if I have to act, I should probably do it soon.”

One week. Seven days to get everything sorted out.

“What is my part in all of this?” Del asked, a little anxious, a little frightened, and a little excited.

“Besides that face, you’re pretty much useless right now.”

“Stop calling me useless…” she mumbled under her breath.

“I wonder how fast you’ll progress, with that body,” Jered walked around her, in a circle, like a predator stalking its prey. He eyed her up and down, “Despite the loss of your powers, you should have retained your knowledge. Correct?”

Despite her best efforts, Del couldn’t help but feel self-conscious under his stare, “Y-Yes.”

“Then, stay at home and practice.”

She nodded meekly, heaving a deep sigh when he dislodged his eyes off of her.

“Don’t worry about those rats that turned you down. You have a bigger purpose now,” Jered smiled, the heels of his shoes clacking as he looked at her one more time, turned around, and disappeared in a burst of smog.

Del nearly collapsed on the floor. Being in his presence had taken a toll on her.

Jered’s Mana Sensitivity immediately picked up some concerning signals.

He didn’t want to startle Evelyn as he did Del, so he opted for the elevator. And even from there, the ambient mana felt static. Angry. And seemed to have been used with ill intent. His phone buzzed, the chirp of a notification ringing out.

He drew it out, and opened the chat.

— Come back home, baby. I have a surprise for you ;)

It was Jasmine. ‘A surprise huh…’ That smiley face was a cause for concern. Jasmine didn’t use smiley emojis unless she was up to something.

Normally, he’d turn on his heel and immediately ‘Shaodowport’ back home, but Evelyn was waiting for him. The elevator doors opened, and he stepped out, making a quick beeline for the door at the far end of the hallway.

“Screw it.”

A swirl of dark tendrils enveloped him from the ground up and he smoked his way through the apartment in the blink of an eye. When he walked out of his portal, he had to wave off a cloud of hazy smoke billowing in his direction.

The wretched sobs of a broken woman pierced through him.

‘What the…’

Jered saw hunched, pale shoulders. The trembling was not quite as noticeable as the tears that poured down Evelyn's eyes. His woman. The icy curls of fury gripped his lungs as he drank in the sight of the mangled walls and debris.

Someone attacked her.

His mana flared so powerfully that the chandelier overhead started to sway, its hinges whining. The windows shattered, barreling mana-fueled shards all over the place. Except that they didn’t fall. Instead, they swirled around Jered and Evelyn in a circle, like a typhoon of sharp, jagged fury.

“Evelyn…” he called out, in a soft, controlled voice.

His quick scan told him that she was fine. No outward injuries. But why would she be crying so desperately, in a wrecked heap of grief, if she was physically fine?

He immediately hurried over to her.

“Jered… my love…” those tear-stricken eyes could have drowned the world in a sea of bitterness, like a broken angel finding its beautiful wings had been clipped, “I’m so sorry… oh my God… I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I’m so sorry...”

“Evelyn,” she found comfort in his voice, and the softness in which he spelled her name. His eyes belied no ripple, but it was a perfectly-woven mask, hiding the coldness lurking in their depths, “What happened?”

His green eyes were like glowing emeralds in her dark, upside-down world.

And then the pain of the truth overwhelmed her, making her dizzy, her mind spinning, and a new wave of tears to build up, but not fall. Because there were no more tears to spill.

So blood came out instead.

Two rivulets of the brightest red, the same color as her lipstick, ran down her cheeks.

The hurricane of shards froze mid-air.

“Evelyn…” Jered held her face in his hands, the knuckle of his finger wiping off the running ichor, “... Please, calm down. Whatever happened, I’ll fix it. Whoever made you like this, I’ll kill them. I can’t stand to see you like that, so be strong for a little while and tell me what’s going on.”

She sniffed, leaning further into his touch. Right. Jered was there. Her lover. A powerful figure that would, no matter what, find a way to restore what was lost.

However…

This was about his sister.

Jered and Jasmine were close. Perhaps even closer than she initially expected. The latter’s confidence about the situation made her fearful that, should Jered fail to find a way to retrieve their baby, he’d choose Jasmine over her.

Still, the truth had to be spoken, and her anger and sadness had to be quelled. Retribution might have been a bit far-fetched, but she hoped that Jasmine would get her comeuppance served on a silver platter.

Evelyn wanted to be the one to dish it out, but the power gap between them couldn’t be lessened by simply working hard.

“Our baby, Jered…” Evelyn croaked out, face scrunching up in bitterness, “... It’s gone…”

“...”

He didn’t say anything. His eyes spoke for him. If words could be given to his green orbs, they’d utter a spell of pure destruction. Still, he was calm. He reached a hand out and placed it on her belly.

Usually, when Jered let a slight pulse of mana spread out, he’d receive a response in the form of a throb, like a heartbeat. The mana of a child was highly reactive to that of its parent.

But he felt nothing.

Absolute emptiness.

Only the wispy remains of what was gone stayed there, lingering in her womb before fading out, like puffs of smoke in the wind.

The shards of glass dropped to the ground, clinking and shattering.

Jered slowly stood up, “Who…”

His voice was composed, neither cold nor warm. Even his mana had stabilized, as if conserving its energy, sharpening its edge, and concentrating into a single point before the eventual outburst of compressed power would open the gates of Hell.

Evelyn shivered, struggling to swallow the dry lump of saliva in her throat. She uttered the next words with a shuddering breath, “It was… your sister, dear. It was Jasmine.”

A look of realization flashed past his eyes. And she watched, surprised, as their beautiful green shade glowed and altered. Tendrils of crimson, a consequence of the foreign mana he was drawing upon, encroached into the green area, almost completely overtaking it.

“So it was her, huh.”

Jered nodded, puzzling the pieces together.

‘Is that what her surprise is…?’

He had always allowed her whims to go unpunished, as they had always been quite ‘harmless’. And even that was a stretch, to be honest. She was family, and family was important.

‘Why… Jasmine…’

It was his fault. He could see that leaving Jasmine for long periods of time, and continuously ignoring her growing feelings, which were further corrupted by the Shadow within her, was a massive mistake.

Calling it ‘massive’ was an understatement. He had been busy honing his powers, recruiting, lying, and scheming his way into the Royal Guards. A side of him wanted his father to show up, pat his shoulder, and give him some goddamn advice, because he was going crazy.

“Evelyn…”

She rubbed her eyes, staining her hands smeared with blood. She stared at him, silent and waiting.

… Now, it was time to put his foot down.

He pulled his phone out, opened the chat, and quickly typed a reply.

— Coming. I have a surprise for you as well

He pocketed the device away and held a hand out for Evelyn to grasp it, “Come on…” she blinked, and gingerly intertwined her fingers with his, feeling the radiating warmth and the tingling bursts of mana licking her skin, “... You probably won’t like what I’m about to do…” he admitted, calling forth his spell.

Evelyn blinked, a little confused.

“But remember…” he continued evenly, “... if you want to be with me, certain things will have to be tolerated. It’s not your fault, I simply didn’t think shit would come to this. I guess that’s my fault, ha. I apologize. I’m not making a lot of sense right now. You’ll probably leave me after today, and I won’t resent you. Unfortunately, I can’t have normal relationships. Perhaps it’s a family thing.”

She wanted to retort, but the fury in his eyes was spilling out in waves of suffocating mana. And it was not even directed at her. It was a by-product of one’s emotions and mana giving birth to that phenomenon.

“Whatever happens, don’t get into an altercation with Jasmine. I’ll take care of everything myself.”

A dome of shadow billowed out of the ground in wispy ripples, until they were covered in the oozing darkness and disappeared.