Caffeine Challenge #27
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Prompts:
1) Song prompt: Patricia by Florence and the Machine
2) Dialogue prompt: “I didn’t do it to save your life.”
3) Image prompt:
1) Song prompt: Patricia by Florence and the Machine
2) Dialogue prompt: “I didn’t do it to save your life.”
3) Image prompt:
He didn’t like it. Not one bit.
“Canis Major.”
Lennix turned, unconsciously mimicking Salto’s disposition as he shifted his stance and held himself tall. Standing not far off was three of the highest villains in In-Sight Us. The one that had spoken he knew only by the name of Unknown. He hid his wings shifting outward in a show of fear by shifting his weight and tipping his head to the other side. He hoped it looked like a ploy of boredom.
“Uknown,” Salto greeted, his voice turned course by magic. Lennix managed to hide that shudder. “I thought Brazen had called the summons.”
Lennix looked to Salto. He was joking, right? Blazen was one of the founders of In-Sight Us and was at the top of every Most Wanted list world wide for a reason. Why the bloody hell had Salto let him come?
“I sent it,” the one on Uknown’s left spoke. If Lennix was remembering right, they were a newer villain, only two years in the business, and making a name for themself despite the low casualty counts. Bright, a supervillain whose ability resided in creating and vanishing light. He hadn’t ever had to fight them but he knew of them. Kingsman had wanted to recruit them but In-Sight Us had gotten to them first. “Brazen doesn’t know we’re here nor that it had been sent.”
“It was imperative that you brought your companion,” the one on Unknown’s right commented. Seer, the eldest in In-Sight Us, and one that was known by all heroes but never seen. Rumors had it Seer had some sort of foresight. No one could confirm if it was actual future sight or not. No one could confirm either if Seer had become one of highest villains out of villainy or the information supplied by the ability.
“So we’re safe to talk, then?”
Lennix’s gaze went to Salto and he found the man looking at Seer.
Seer nodded.
Salto relaxed and the magic that had been making his hair dance was suppressed. “Good. Then let us chat freely.”
Lennix backpedaled at the sudden appearance of Unknown in front of him. His wings spread at the surprise, working to help keep his balance as he tripped on the brown foliage. “So who’s your friend, Canis?” Unknown asked and the wind told him they were grinning beneath the faceless mask.
“And why should I tell you?” Salto cut in, his voice hard.
Unknown’s masked face turned to look at Salto. “Because I would rather not waste time on them if they aren’t important to you.”
Salto bristled at that but it was Seer who spoke up. “Leave the Swallow alone, Una. It is not kind to crowd when you are still unknown.”
Lennix slowly folded his wings back in as Unknown went from looking at Seer to him. “So you’re the famous Swallow?”
Lennix glanced at Salto. His unasked question was answered when he felt the spell leave his person. He felt his wings twitch at being exposed in front of villains ranked higher than he would ever hope to match. “I’m not so sure about the famous part,” he finally amended.
“Brazen has you on his radar.”
Lennix’s gaze snapped to Bright, eyes wide as he felt the color drain from his face. “Why?” he choked out.
Bright shrugged. “Kingsman recruited you personally. That would draw anyone’s attention to you.”
“It’s why you’re famous,” Unknown explained. He looked back at that faceless mask. “The entire world is watching you, wondering why Kingsman personally recruited a juvenile aviary when there were hundreds of thousands of aviary to choose from.”
“I wasn’t that young,” he tried to defend, overwhelmed by the realization that he was in a unique situation, one that was spelling out his death letter by letter.
“You were young in the realm of knowledge.” He turned his gaze to Seer, lost in the growing turmoil. “You had yet to have a family, you had yet to live life. There were a many a aviary that had gone to battle in wars and against villains that it was bizarre that Kingsman chose to personally recruit an aviary that had never witnessed such things after the Magnum Incident. Recruitment for both sides were at their highest, both sides trying to get as many powerful people as they could to keep the line moving in the direction they wanted. But where In-Sight Us recruits anyone with an ability and willing to become a goon, Heroes Unite was selective in who they deemed as heroes and those they deemed as support. They guided those that were not powerful or far too kind or far too harsh into sectors that needed them: first response, collateral control, evacuation. We gained a number from Heroes Unite because of such a system but because of it, Heroes Unite is a force far greater than In-Sight Us could ever imagine of equaling. That is why when the head of Heroes Unite, the founder of the leading hero organization, personally recruited an aviary still wet behind the ears, the world watched and kept watching. Your ten years of service have proven that Kingsman’s choice was not in vain but no one has seen anything as to the reason why.”
Lennix ran a shaking hand through his hair. He knew a good chunk of that information, knew how the two factions worked even if it was just the basics, but he had lacked the chance to think on what it meant that Kingsman had come after him. He had assumed it wasn’t uncommon. The man started Heroes Unite. He had to have done recruiting personally in the beginning, right?
But it explained why he had wanted to keep Salto out of all of it, why he kept his mouth shut despite the urge to go against the oath he had given Kingsman. He had known on some level of the target on his back. Now he knew the size of it and fathomed he still didn’t see how big it truly was.
“So why am I important in all this?” Lennix asked, bringing his gaze back to Seer.
“You are important. That is all I know.”
Lennix looked to Salto but Salto was talking in soft whispers with Unknown. There was no wind to carry their words to him. Their conversation ended shortly after he looked their way.
“Are we going to be able to take down In-Sight Us?” Salto asked as he straightened.
Unknown traipsed back to the other two as Seer answered. “Brazen will be a challenge that you may die against.”
Salto waved off the comment. “What is coming is far worse than my own mortality. I do not want to start this with not knowing if we have the best chance of changing things for the better.”
“How long have you been planning on taking down In-Sight Us from the inside?” Lennix cut in, bewildered.
Salto looked at him. “Since I was inducted into the organization. I never wanted to be a villain and there are many others who regret the decision as well. Not all, sadly, but many.”
“The only things we have left to do is to make sure there is a system that helps reform those that enjoy this line of work that works,” Unknown interjected. “We cannot leave it to chance that they will start up a new villain organization when In-Sight Us falls.”
Lennix shook his head. “You can’t manage that. There will always be villains in the word.”
“True,” Salto agreed, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t give it our all. Even the worst of us change.”
“Even Brazen?”
“Brazen and Kingsman grew up as brothers,” Seer supplied and Lennix found himself staring at them. “They had originally wanted to help the world together and had good intentions on both sides, but even Kingsman is not unaffected by the world. There is a manic sort of edge to Kingsman if you truly look and Brazen had not always wanted death for all. It is not hard to find the information if you know what to look for.”
“What changed it?” he found himself asking.
“Death did,” Unknown spoke, taking over. “The two of them saw the worst of human kind and were tainted by it, but where one saw the need to save, the other saw the need to eradicate. But do not be quick to assume which one believes which. Even Kingsman wants to eradicate a part of the populous and Brazen wants to save a part as well. Otherwise Kingsman would not have created Heroes Unite as he had and Brazen would not have created In-Sight Us to begin with. Kingsman sees those in the hero ranks as nothing more than pawns as of late.” There was a pause that left him feeling like Unknown was staring him down, searching for the secrets in his soul. “You’ve seen it, been subjected to it, correct?”
Lennix nodded slowly.
“We best get going,” Seer suddenly interjected. “Canis Major, be careful with Swallow.”
“Of course, Seer,” Salto assured.
“Keep in touch, Swallow,” Unknown chimed, saluting as the three of them simply vanished.
“How am I supposed to do that?” he asked the wind. It laughed at him.
“Let’s get you home,” Salto spoke, coming up to Lennix’s side. “It isn’t wise to stay here for too long.”
Lennix nodded Salto took hold of the random door’s door handle. Even though he knew it hadn’t been there a moment ago, it looked like it had always been there and belonged there not attached to anything. The door opened up to his front entrance and he stepped into his home.
Salto closed the door, looking around. “I didn’t realize you had settled down.”
“I hadn’t had much of a choice when my sister passed away,” Lennix explained, crossing down the long hallway towards the back of the house. The hallway was only distinguishable from the living room area and the subsequent dining area by a few polls left over from the wall his sister had taken down and the way the furniture was arranged. The open floor plan helped him not feel so caged but he didn’t like having the big house to himself. Well, not just himself.
He stepped out onto the back deck, down the steps and into the yard beyond. He let out a whistle as the shifting air told him Salto had followed him. “I wasn’t about to keep North in an apartment.”
“North?” Salto parroted.
“North Star, Patricia’s dog,” he explained, looking to Salto. “German shepherd you used to call ‘annoying dog’ and 'useless mutt’ even as you loved all over him.”
Salto gave him a look. “His name was North? Since when?”
Lennix rolled his eyes with a smile as the wind told him North was coming. Looking back towards the seemingly boundless backyard, he watched North come walking back looking tired but happy to see him. He squat down, letting the large dog press his head into his shoulder. Lennix rubbed at North’s shoulders, a sad smile on his face. “Patricia had written up her will about a year before she passed away when her husband and their children had been taken in a nasty car accident. Before then, she had trusted Scott to handle everything should the cancer take her sooner but at that point….”
The wind rolled around them, gleeful and carefree as it told him what was around. It didn’t tell him Salto moved. It didn’t warn him of Salto’s touch. Still, he leaned back into the other’s leg as Salto’s fingers ran comfortingly through his hair. “I’m sorry. I had thought that not staying in touch with her was the better option.”
He closed his eyes. He felt North sit so close, the dog was practically laying against his chest. “She had hated you up until she was diagnosed with cancer two years later. She managed to fight it and overcome it but then the accident happened and it came back with a vengeance. She passed away peacefully three years ago but it hit the family pretty hard, North included.”
“Canis Major.”
Lennix turned, unconsciously mimicking Salto’s disposition as he shifted his stance and held himself tall. Standing not far off was three of the highest villains in In-Sight Us. The one that had spoken he knew only by the name of Unknown. He hid his wings shifting outward in a show of fear by shifting his weight and tipping his head to the other side. He hoped it looked like a ploy of boredom.
“Uknown,” Salto greeted, his voice turned course by magic. Lennix managed to hide that shudder. “I thought Brazen had called the summons.”
Lennix looked to Salto. He was joking, right? Blazen was one of the founders of In-Sight Us and was at the top of every Most Wanted list world wide for a reason. Why the bloody hell had Salto let him come?
“I sent it,” the one on Uknown’s left spoke. If Lennix was remembering right, they were a newer villain, only two years in the business, and making a name for themself despite the low casualty counts. Bright, a supervillain whose ability resided in creating and vanishing light. He hadn’t ever had to fight them but he knew of them. Kingsman had wanted to recruit them but In-Sight Us had gotten to them first. “Brazen doesn’t know we’re here nor that it had been sent.”
“It was imperative that you brought your companion,” the one on Unknown’s right commented. Seer, the eldest in In-Sight Us, and one that was known by all heroes but never seen. Rumors had it Seer had some sort of foresight. No one could confirm if it was actual future sight or not. No one could confirm either if Seer had become one of highest villains out of villainy or the information supplied by the ability.
“So we’re safe to talk, then?”
Lennix’s gaze went to Salto and he found the man looking at Seer.
Seer nodded.
Salto relaxed and the magic that had been making his hair dance was suppressed. “Good. Then let us chat freely.”
Lennix backpedaled at the sudden appearance of Unknown in front of him. His wings spread at the surprise, working to help keep his balance as he tripped on the brown foliage. “So who’s your friend, Canis?” Unknown asked and the wind told him they were grinning beneath the faceless mask.
“And why should I tell you?” Salto cut in, his voice hard.
Unknown’s masked face turned to look at Salto. “Because I would rather not waste time on them if they aren’t important to you.”
Salto bristled at that but it was Seer who spoke up. “Leave the Swallow alone, Una. It is not kind to crowd when you are still unknown.”
Lennix slowly folded his wings back in as Unknown went from looking at Seer to him. “So you’re the famous Swallow?”
Lennix glanced at Salto. His unasked question was answered when he felt the spell leave his person. He felt his wings twitch at being exposed in front of villains ranked higher than he would ever hope to match. “I’m not so sure about the famous part,” he finally amended.
“Brazen has you on his radar.”
Lennix’s gaze snapped to Bright, eyes wide as he felt the color drain from his face. “Why?” he choked out.
Bright shrugged. “Kingsman recruited you personally. That would draw anyone’s attention to you.”
“It’s why you’re famous,” Unknown explained. He looked back at that faceless mask. “The entire world is watching you, wondering why Kingsman personally recruited a juvenile aviary when there were hundreds of thousands of aviary to choose from.”
“I wasn’t that young,” he tried to defend, overwhelmed by the realization that he was in a unique situation, one that was spelling out his death letter by letter.
“You were young in the realm of knowledge.” He turned his gaze to Seer, lost in the growing turmoil. “You had yet to have a family, you had yet to live life. There were a many a aviary that had gone to battle in wars and against villains that it was bizarre that Kingsman chose to personally recruit an aviary that had never witnessed such things after the Magnum Incident. Recruitment for both sides were at their highest, both sides trying to get as many powerful people as they could to keep the line moving in the direction they wanted. But where In-Sight Us recruits anyone with an ability and willing to become a goon, Heroes Unite was selective in who they deemed as heroes and those they deemed as support. They guided those that were not powerful or far too kind or far too harsh into sectors that needed them: first response, collateral control, evacuation. We gained a number from Heroes Unite because of such a system but because of it, Heroes Unite is a force far greater than In-Sight Us could ever imagine of equaling. That is why when the head of Heroes Unite, the founder of the leading hero organization, personally recruited an aviary still wet behind the ears, the world watched and kept watching. Your ten years of service have proven that Kingsman’s choice was not in vain but no one has seen anything as to the reason why.”
Lennix ran a shaking hand through his hair. He knew a good chunk of that information, knew how the two factions worked even if it was just the basics, but he had lacked the chance to think on what it meant that Kingsman had come after him. He had assumed it wasn’t uncommon. The man started Heroes Unite. He had to have done recruiting personally in the beginning, right?
But it explained why he had wanted to keep Salto out of all of it, why he kept his mouth shut despite the urge to go against the oath he had given Kingsman. He had known on some level of the target on his back. Now he knew the size of it and fathomed he still didn’t see how big it truly was.
“So why am I important in all this?” Lennix asked, bringing his gaze back to Seer.
“You are important. That is all I know.”
Lennix looked to Salto but Salto was talking in soft whispers with Unknown. There was no wind to carry their words to him. Their conversation ended shortly after he looked their way.
“Are we going to be able to take down In-Sight Us?” Salto asked as he straightened.
Unknown traipsed back to the other two as Seer answered. “Brazen will be a challenge that you may die against.”
Salto waved off the comment. “What is coming is far worse than my own mortality. I do not want to start this with not knowing if we have the best chance of changing things for the better.”
“How long have you been planning on taking down In-Sight Us from the inside?” Lennix cut in, bewildered.
Salto looked at him. “Since I was inducted into the organization. I never wanted to be a villain and there are many others who regret the decision as well. Not all, sadly, but many.”
“The only things we have left to do is to make sure there is a system that helps reform those that enjoy this line of work that works,” Unknown interjected. “We cannot leave it to chance that they will start up a new villain organization when In-Sight Us falls.”
Lennix shook his head. “You can’t manage that. There will always be villains in the word.”
“True,” Salto agreed, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t give it our all. Even the worst of us change.”
“Even Brazen?”
“Brazen and Kingsman grew up as brothers,” Seer supplied and Lennix found himself staring at them. “They had originally wanted to help the world together and had good intentions on both sides, but even Kingsman is not unaffected by the world. There is a manic sort of edge to Kingsman if you truly look and Brazen had not always wanted death for all. It is not hard to find the information if you know what to look for.”
“What changed it?” he found himself asking.
“Death did,” Unknown spoke, taking over. “The two of them saw the worst of human kind and were tainted by it, but where one saw the need to save, the other saw the need to eradicate. But do not be quick to assume which one believes which. Even Kingsman wants to eradicate a part of the populous and Brazen wants to save a part as well. Otherwise Kingsman would not have created Heroes Unite as he had and Brazen would not have created In-Sight Us to begin with. Kingsman sees those in the hero ranks as nothing more than pawns as of late.” There was a pause that left him feeling like Unknown was staring him down, searching for the secrets in his soul. “You’ve seen it, been subjected to it, correct?”
Lennix nodded slowly.
“We best get going,” Seer suddenly interjected. “Canis Major, be careful with Swallow.”
“Of course, Seer,” Salto assured.
“Keep in touch, Swallow,” Unknown chimed, saluting as the three of them simply vanished.
“How am I supposed to do that?” he asked the wind. It laughed at him.
“Let’s get you home,” Salto spoke, coming up to Lennix’s side. “It isn’t wise to stay here for too long.”
Lennix nodded Salto took hold of the random door’s door handle. Even though he knew it hadn’t been there a moment ago, it looked like it had always been there and belonged there not attached to anything. The door opened up to his front entrance and he stepped into his home.
Salto closed the door, looking around. “I didn’t realize you had settled down.”
“I hadn’t had much of a choice when my sister passed away,” Lennix explained, crossing down the long hallway towards the back of the house. The hallway was only distinguishable from the living room area and the subsequent dining area by a few polls left over from the wall his sister had taken down and the way the furniture was arranged. The open floor plan helped him not feel so caged but he didn’t like having the big house to himself. Well, not just himself.
He stepped out onto the back deck, down the steps and into the yard beyond. He let out a whistle as the shifting air told him Salto had followed him. “I wasn’t about to keep North in an apartment.”
“North?” Salto parroted.
“North Star, Patricia’s dog,” he explained, looking to Salto. “German shepherd you used to call ‘annoying dog’ and 'useless mutt’ even as you loved all over him.”
Salto gave him a look. “His name was North? Since when?”
Lennix rolled his eyes with a smile as the wind told him North was coming. Looking back towards the seemingly boundless backyard, he watched North come walking back looking tired but happy to see him. He squat down, letting the large dog press his head into his shoulder. Lennix rubbed at North’s shoulders, a sad smile on his face. “Patricia had written up her will about a year before she passed away when her husband and their children had been taken in a nasty car accident. Before then, she had trusted Scott to handle everything should the cancer take her sooner but at that point….”
The wind rolled around them, gleeful and carefree as it told him what was around. It didn’t tell him Salto moved. It didn’t warn him of Salto’s touch. Still, he leaned back into the other’s leg as Salto’s fingers ran comfortingly through his hair. “I’m sorry. I had thought that not staying in touch with her was the better option.”
He closed his eyes. He felt North sit so close, the dog was practically laying against his chest. “She had hated you up until she was diagnosed with cancer two years later. She managed to fight it and overcome it but then the accident happened and it came back with a vengeance. She passed away peacefully three years ago but it hit the family pretty hard, North included.”