“First the UCA sends people to kill me now Alexander disappears,

I’ve been feeling so exhilarated since meeting with Kage,

I hope she doesn’t take my over reaction to heart, maybe I should apologize Danté?”

“Your overreacting caused the remnants who opposed you to give up on that entirely,

Meaning you won’t be getting much power from this region anymore, and pertaining to Alexander, your sibling injured him he has gone back home for repairs,” Danté, Brandon’s stoic companion replies

The two men stand atop the active volcano hades overlooking the cities of Atlan and Pulgin,

To anyone that lives outside these cites one would imagine that the leader of Madvillainy rules them with pure authoritarianism, but that is not the case,

Rarely Brandon would interact with the people populating the island, furthermore, the quality of life is considerably high there,

“That means I’m going to have to find a new group of people who will go against me,” Brandon whistles

“Is our organization Madvillainy large enough for the next stage?”

“I believe so, sir though Alexander has a habit of killing out men when they cross him,

A few weeks ago, one of our division in the east sea ‘borrowed’ his warping panels in an attempt to gain access to a data storage facility fro monetary gain,

Alexander slaughtered them all as punishment when he found out,”

“Hmm, then I suppose my sister has to be considerably strong to have injured him gravely,” mull Brandon,

Tsct!

Danté shuffles his feet kicking a rock into the volcano

“Brandon… seeing as your sibling is alive,

I have to ask,

Do you regret sparing her life back then?”

“Spare?

I just assumed Murdoc would have wanted her, I had not expected that he would perish and she would make it to this ring no less,

Why do you ask?”

“I have been thinking about my target who I was sent to third ring to study while you aged in Soterra,”

“You’re referring to your false father?

I forgot his name,”

“Ozymandias, I still remember it,

I regret not killing him when we left,

Now every once often I wonder if he is still alive just like your sister…

……”

“So should we commence operation Mad-Liberation now, or wait a bit longer,” Satan smiles staring up into the black cloud of smoke emanating from the volcano, as though he had not heard word his partner just spoke

“I think it should be soon sir,” Danté nods silently looking off at the distant sea ..

…….

*****

“Why are we so far out at sea Lyra?” I ask while deftly maneuvering a small cruiser we ‘chartered' from the plastic beach

(I don’t know where I learned to drive, but I’m good at it)

Splash! Splash!

Brash! Brash!

Though the night is calm, the sea is anything but, waves constantly crashing back and forth…

“Where are we even headed?”

“Nowhere, you can stop here Kage,”

“In the middle of nowhere?”

The girl nods leaning over the deck,

I cut the humming engine of the boat, leaving only the sound of the sea in it’s stead

…..

“How do you feel about murder Kage?” Lyra Suddenly asks

“Weird way to start a conversation

But I guess, I don’t care, either way,”

“Stop being neutral and pick a side, Kage,

You have to feel some type of way killing someone?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to ask you some questions,”

(She brought me out here for questions…)

“Well, it depends on the situation,

Before, I met you all in Soterra I was forcefully employed by a man named Jissepi,

All I wanted was to see him dead,

And when he finally died, I don’t think I cared that much,

I wasn’t happy I wasn’t upset either,

It was just nothing,”

“So, you don’t care about life in the slightest then?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, I think life….”

(How do I feel about life?)

“……

I think there is a beauty in life just as there is in death, their balance coincides in a way such that humans can not comprehend,”

(Saying that felt weird somehow)

“Wo-how since when did you turn into a philosopher Kage?”

“You wanted my opinion,”

“Well for me…” Lyra breathes turning to face the water instead of me…

…..

“I see it is a necessary evil that…...

…….” she pauses again

……

“I see it in the way a child sees eating their veggies,

You don’t want it, but you need to for your own well being,”

“You’re comparing murder with eating vegetables?”

“Yes.

Before you came to Soterra, the death I needed but didn’t want was my own, I had planned to go out fighting or something, it feels silly to think about now,”

“Where is this going?”

“Would let me finish speak Kage?

It was the day we met that I was going to enact my plan,

But there was something about you,

Your empty gaze,

The way you were both dense and hyper aware at the same time,

I suddenly wanted to see what would become of you,

We had random people roam into Soterra before, only none of them the same as you…

Everyone you interacted with, they immediately became infatuated with you, Pinoki, Apollo, Zinnia, Karina, Darius even I,

Why Kage?

Why do keep drawing people to you?”

“I–”

“–You know when I first found out Brandon was in Caribbean, I could have easily just flown my way to Fuscina and wreak havoc instantly” Lyra continues not letting me answer

“But I saw how things were for the people on the outer islands

I felt like I was obligated to help them even if it amounted to nothing

Become their unexpected light, like you were for us in Soterra…”

…..

Lyra inhales then exhales heavily

……

……

“And you brought me all the way here to say this?” After a few minutes I finally speak

“I still hate you,” she replies unrelated to my question

“Or at least, it is easy to hate you when you’re not around,

When you’re here, I have to try to hate you, I have to keep reminding myself of when I looked into your eyes and you looked back, no you looked past my very existence

When I look at you now, at first, I thought your eyes were empty….”

“What do you see now?”

“I see a reflection of myself,

I see what Karina saw in you, why she wanted to be close to you,

I don’t feel anything towards you, but—”

..!?

Mmmhn~

“Lyra?”

Shhhh

Mmmhh~

“Do it Kage, I want you to feel what I am feeling right now.” Lyra practically breathes these words to me as our faces are so close

Her eyes locked into mine

(What do you feel Lyra…)

…

“Sorrow…

You feel–

–I feel sorrow and lust,

But they only mask the regret I feel right now, deep regret—”

—Mmmhh she kisses me again

“I said feel it, not tell me.”

(I feel it)

Uhhhhhh~

This time I……

…….

…This time Kage initiates the kiss

Mmmmmmhhhh

“Karina wanted this,” Lyra breathes softly pushing Kage down onto the floor of the deck

“I want it to~”

Mmmh

Mhmhhh

“Take it off”

Mmmmmmhhh

Uhhhhhmm

.mmhh ..

“There…

There’s nothing…”

“Not yet, what do you want to be for you Lyra?”

“Become a man for me then,

I want you that way

Before I die,”

“What?”

“Shhh!

Just kiss me.”