Thrashing Until the End

"They're already gone," Rosa said, her voice strained with an irritation she made no effort to conceal. "Eira typically delivers their orders before I even have the opportunity to speak. Surely you know they woke me the other night?"

"Well," Red said at last, his tone imbued with a sense of finality, "this has been a wasted journey."

Argent disregarded him, directing his full attention to Rosa. "Did Eira have a premonition about today?"

"She did. Of both good and ill."

"Come on, Ruby," Red urged, his impatience growing more palpable by the second. "We're delayed enough as it is."

"Wait." Rosa raised a hand, halting their departure. "If you are determined to go back, you would be wise to take someone who can manage the twins, though I cannot advise it. They are another matter entirely."

"Of course we have to go back!" Red snapped, his eyes darting around the cavernous chamber in search of the 'someone' Rosa had mentioned. "Where is this person? I haven't seen another living soul in this castle for miles."

"I haven't summoned her yet," Rosa whispered, looking aghast. "Is your companion always this impatient?"

"We're under attack," Argent sighed, the words laden with the weight of exhaustion. "It's severe. They're armed with guns. Eira probably didn't foresee—"

"She knew," Rosa interrupted grimly. She lifted a single finger and traced a slow circle in the air. "Are you referring to the walls that are riddled with bullets? Rise, Astra. It is unbecoming to sleep in so late. It's nearly ten."

"Yeah, yeah," a listless voice droned from the empty air. A moment later, a girl of about seventeen shimmered into existence before them. She was undeniably attractive, but her hair was a chaotic tangle that she scratched at while letting out an enormous yawn. The instant her gaze fell upon the two men, she emitted a startled shriek and promptly vanished.

"What was that?" Red demanded.

"She's self-conscious about her appearance, I imagine," Rosa mused aloud. "Frankly, I fail to see the reason, but we find ourselves in disagreement on most subjects."

Argent rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for this."

Without a word, Rosa dipped her finger into the air once more.

Astra reappeared. The change was breathtaking. Her long, glossy black hair now cascaded in a perfect, combed sheet, and she wore a fresh application of makeup. Smoky powder had transformed her wide, innocent eyes into something sultry and perilous. She scowled at them from beneath a fringe of thick lashes.

"Always so quick to react," Rosa observed with a hint of approval. "Then again, you'd have to be, with the hours you keep."

"What did you want me for, anyway?" Astra demanded, her voice a coarse rasp, as if she had swallowed gravel.

"Put Ignis Cheng in his place, dear," Rosa replied, visibly savoring the opportunity to give the order. "And salvage their mission, if you are able. There is an assassin at large."

Astra sighed with theatrical drama and narrowed one eye at Rosa. "Oh? And what concern is that of mine?"

The question, as it hung in the ensuing silence, seemed to swell into an existential quandary.

Argent dryly punctured the tension. "Look, the war is here. I know Eira has been prophesying its arrival for ages, but now it has arrived. Fire cannot incinerate bullets. You can either perish in your sleep, or you can go down fighting and thrashing until the very end."

Astra fixed Argent with a severe expression, poised to deliver a scathing comeback. But the sight of his charcoal-dark eyes and unconventional purple hair seemed to dissolve her resolve. His notorious connection to the princess did nothing to deter her; if anything, it may have served as an enticement.

She took a deliberate step toward him. "Really? Thrashing?" She licked her lips, the word igniting a flicker of intrigue in her eyes.

Reddington caught the look instantly and fought to suppress a smirk. "Alright, alright, let's get moving."

Astra’s gaze shifted to him, her eyes tracing his towering height, his lean physique, and the faint, sweet aroma of raspberry poison that clung to his long black tunic.

Red couldn't help but grin at her thorough appraisal, his hazel eyes glinting with a distinctly feline cunning.

Like what you see? his expression seemed to purr.

I could devour you whole, her stare answered back.

"Ladies first," Red boomed, shattering the intense visual connection. The words carried a veiled meaning intended only for Astra, who began to giggle and shift her weight from foot to foot.

Argent observed the silent exchange with a raised eyebrow, grateful that Red had successfully diverted Astra's attention. The alternative would have been to face Rosa's unrelenting fury, likely channeled through her terrifyingly powerful twins. He leaned in and kissed Rosa goodbye. "I'll send word within the day."

"Try not to die," she said.

"And how would I return to father our children if I were dead?" Argent grinned.

A flush bloomed on Rosa's cheeks as she swatted at him, though a reluctant smile graced her lips.

A blur of orange and turquoise shot past Cera as two identical boys, no older than twelve, shoved her out of the path of a swinging chain. A powerful gust of wind roared over them, shaking the dust from her clothes as all three tumbled to the ground.

"You're welcome," the one with orange hair grinned, helping her to her feet. The turquoise-haired twin merely sneered and, with a casual slice of wind, decapitated the man who already lay motionless on the ground.

"He was already dead," Cera stated, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Ignis is paranoid about regenerative zombies," the orange-haired one said with a sigh. "I'm Ventus, by the way. We're the Cheng brothers."

"You might have heard of us," the other, Ignis, added with a smug air.

Cera shook her head. "I'm sorry. I haven't." They seemed a bit short for their age, she noted absently. Her eyes scanned the chaotic area again for the others, but they were gone. She would have to climb the roof of a nearby hut to gain a better vantage point.

"Aren't you going to thank us?" Ignis demanded, his tone imperious.

Cera blinked. "My apologies. Thank you."

"It's alright," Ventus said, turning to his brother. "She's a bit dazed. Ignis, take it easy."

"Take it easy? The fortune-telling princess made us walk all the way from the castle to get here in half a day, just to eliminate two enemy soldiers. Two. Not even a legion. And you want me to take it easy?" Ignis's eyes burned with a potent mixture of contempt and rage.

Cera decided she disliked him intensely. She took a few tentative steps, assessing herself for injuries, then broke into a sprint toward a nearby cottage. Before she could reach the roof, a ferocious blast of wind swept her from her feet, sending her crashing onto her back.

"Now you've done it, Ignis," she heard Ventus say.

"It wasn't my fault the girl was so eager to run into a wall. Why did we save her again? She's utterly useless."

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Cera pushed herself to her feet. "I am the commander of the Ignis Clan army," she declared, her voice ringing with newfound authority, "and before you attack me again, you had better tell me whose side you're on, because I would love nothing more than to burn your head clean from your shoulders." The threat was graphic, but it conveyed her point with perfect clarity. A small ember of pride ignited in her chest.

Ignis merely scoffed, "Tch," and stalked off in the direction Cera had been heading.

"I think you impressed him," Ventus said, covering his mouth to hide a congratulatory smile.

Cera just nodded, her mind already distant from the childish exchange. She hadn't been jesting; she was in command of an army here. An army she couldn't locate, in a war no one had seen fit to inform her about, but an army nonetheless.

Her hands poised to conjure flames, she launched herself into the air after Ignis, prepared to fight whichever side her attacker belonged to.

From the roof, her eyes scanned the unfolding chaos below. In the corner of her vision, she caught the glint of distinctive blond hair—not belonging to her clan. Her body dropped, hurtling toward the target, the Cheng twins following close behind.

Her eyes locked with the blond man's, and the horrifying memory of the swinging chain flashed through her mind. She prepared to incinerate him. Before she could unleash her attack, another, more powerful gust of wind threw her off course, slamming her against a tree.

"Cheng Ignis!" Cera shrieked. Four bullets whizzed past her ear, and she reflexively dove behind the wide trunk for cover. She recognized the weapon now. It was a gun. What was a gun doing here, in a world that felt more like medieval Asia than modern America?

She had no answers. For the moment, she would hide. Summoning a thin, patchy screen of fire for concealment, she moved back toward the clearing.

The blond man was on the ground with Ignis, who had him pinned. The man’s hands clawed at the dirt to keep from being flung into the trees. The turquoise-clad twin watched coolly as Ignis slammed the man back and forth against the earth until he was a beaten, bloody mess. The man's gun lay uselessly to the side, under Ventus's watchful eye.

"That's enough!" Cera called out. "He's nearly dead."

"I think you're missing the point here," Ignis remarked sarcastically.

"We should interrogate him," Cera added, her gaze sharp, making it clear she was not offering pointless sympathy but a strategic alternative.

"She's right," Ventus, who had been observing from a distance, finally conceded.