The city of Oryn-Vel was alive with celebration, even though the Festival of the New Year was still two weeks away. Streets were packed with revelers, lanterns cast warm golden glows over the buildings, and bursts of fireworks flickered in the sky like distant stars. Music echoed through the alleys, a wild, rhythmic pulse that seemed to breathe life into the city itself.
But Char had no time for the festivities.
He raced across the rooftops, leaping from tile to tile, following Elyan and Renna as they navigated the upper levels of the city with ease. The wind bit at his skin, cold despite the heat of the lanterns below.
"Not bad, Char," Renna called teasingly, twisting in midair as she flipped onto the next rooftop. She barely looked winded. "I was worried you'd slow us down."
Char landed beside her with a grunt. "I manage."
Renna shot him a grin, sharp and mischievous. "I like a guy who can keep up. Maybe you do have some appeal after all."
Char nearly stumbled. "Huh?"
She hummed, walking backward as she kept pace with him. "Oh, don't act so surprised. You're cute, in that brooding, 'I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders' kind of way. If I wasn't already spoken for—"
"You are spoken for," Elyan interrupted, rolling her eyes. "And you're also messing with him."
Renna laughed. "Of course I am! But look at his face! Gods, I love teasing boys like you."
Char blinked, still processing the sudden shift. "Wait, so you're not—"
"Into guys? No, darling, not in the slightest," Renna said with a dramatic sigh, twirling as she moved. "But flirting is fun, and you're very flustered, which makes it even better."
Char exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "Tess and Elyan are bad enough. I didn't think it was possible for someone to be even more—"
"More what?" Renna purred, sidling up to him.
"Never mind."
Elyan smirked. "You'll get used to it. Or you won't. Either way, she's not stopping."
Renna draped an arm over Elyan's shoulder. "I was starting to think you didn't like watching me work, love."
"Oh, I enjoy it," Elyan replied dryly. "I just don't want Char to have an aneurysm before we even get to the Whispers."
Renna giggled before glancing back at Char. "You're fun, though. And since we have some time before we get there, why don't you ask me something? Anything you like."
Char hesitated, then settled on something simple. "How did you two meet?"
Elyan and Renna exchanged glances.
"Ooh, now that's a story," Renna said, grinning. "Elyan, do you want to tell it, or should I?"
"You'll embellish too much."
"I'll make it more interesting."
"Which is exactly my point."
Renna sighed dramatically. "Fine. You tell it, then."
Elyan exhaled, glancing up at the stars as they continued moving. "It was about three years ago, back when I was still working the Syndicate from the inside. Renna was running a small independent crew, nothing major, but she caught my attention because she wasn't just another thug looking to make coin. She was smart. Precise."
"And gorgeous," Renna added.
"And a complete pain in my ass," Elyan corrected. "She got into my business a few times, so I had to make it clear that I wasn't to be messed with. We had a… misunderstanding."
Renna chuckled. "A full-on brawl, actually. Knives and all. She nearly took my eye out."
Char blinked. "That's how you became a couple?"
"Of course not," Elyan said. "That was just the first time we met. I spared her, told her to stay out of my way. But Renna being Renna, she didn't listen."
"Naturally," Renna agreed. "Why stay away when someone so captivating just tried to kill you?"
Char shook his head. "That's insane."
Elyan shrugged. "That's Renna."
Renna nudged Elyan's side. "Come on, love. Tell him the sweet part."
Elyan sighed. "She kept turning up. Not as an enemy, not as an ally, just… around. And over time, I realized I didn't mind."
Renna smiled. "And one day, after an especially rough job, she came to me instead of going back to her usual safehouse. I patched her up, gave her a place to stay, and well—" she winked. "Things just fell into place after that."
Char absorbed that, watching the way they looked at each other. There was real warmth there, beneath all the teasing and dramatics.
"So you just… stuck together?"
"More or less," Elyan said. "We work well together. We trust each other."
"And she's the love of my life," Renna added dramatically, throwing an arm around Elyan.
Elyan gave her an exasperated but fond look. "That too, I suppose."
Char exhaled, glancing ahead as they neared their destination. "Well. At least I understand why you two work."
Renna winked. "Don't worry, Char. You'll find someone who can keep up with you, too."
He thought of Mira.
His face burned. "Let's just focus on the job."
Renna giggled as they pressed on into the night.
*
The mist curled through the narrow, winding streets of the Whispers like ghostly fingers, softening the glow of distant lanterns and muting the laughter and shouts of the revelers far away. This was a different part of Oryn-Vel—one that thrived in the dark, away from the eyes of the law.
Char stood still for a moment, taking in the surroundings. It had been weeks since he first came here with Ishmael, that night they met Rook. He still remembered the way the ex-Syndicate member leaned against the alley wall, that sly smirk playing on his lips as he evaluated them, the way he measured every word before he spoke. That meeting had changed everything.
And now he was back.
"Alright," Elyan whispered, pulling up her hood. "We're looking for 31 Azure Street. Rook said Davin was holed up there, probably keeping a low profile."
Renna stretched her arms, already bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Sounds easy enough. Split up, cover more ground?"
"It's faster that way," Char agreed. "But don't engage if you find him first. We don't want to spook him before we know what he's willing to say."
"Aw, Char, I love when you try to sound responsible." Renna smirked, flicking his shoulder before turning on her heel and vanishing into the fog.
Elyan exhaled. "Come on. Let's get this over with."
The three of them leapt down from the rooftop, boots landing softly against the cobbled streets below. It was quiet here—too quiet, even for the Whispers. The mist made it feel like a different world, one where anything could be lurking just out of sight.
Char adjusted his coat and set off in his own direction, leaving Elyan to hers. His boots made soft echoes against the ground as he moved through the district, scanning the crooked signs and shadowy doorways for any hint of Azure Street.
The deeper he went, the more memories pressed against his mind. The first time he came here, he hadn't known what to expect. He had been a stranger to this world of shadows and whispered deals, of knife fights in alleys and assassins watching from rooftops. Now, though, he moved with a purpose.
It wasn't long before he spotted a worn wooden sign, half-covered in ivy: Azure Street.
He tightened his grip on his cloak and moved deeper in.
Somewhere ahead, Renna was already grinning to herself as she walked confidently through the mist, whistling a little tune.
"31, 31… where are you hiding?" she mused under her breath, trailing a finger along a damp brick wall as she passed.
Her eyes flicked to the numbers carved into the doors, scanning for their target. She wasn't in a hurry. This was the kind of work she loved—quiet, patient, but always with the promise of something exciting just around the corner.
Then, just ahead, she spotted something. A narrow, two-story building, tucked between taller ones like it was trying to hide. The door was painted a deep blue, its surface scratched and worn. And just above the iron handle, carved into the wood—
31.
Renna grinned. "Found you."
Char's breath misted in the cool air as he followed Renna up the worn steps of 31 Azure Street. The blue door was rough beneath his fingers as he pushed it open, the hinges creaking like they hadn't been moved in weeks. The inside was as dark and silent as a grave.
Elyan was still somewhere searching, so they decided to enter together and not waste time waiting for her to find them.
The air inside was thick with dust, and the wooden floor groaned beneath their boots as they stepped in. The walls were bare, stripped of anything personal, and the furniture—what little there was—had been overturned or hastily shoved aside. A shattered lamp lay on the ground near a tattered chair, and a half-eaten loaf of bread sat on a table, stale and abandoned.
"This doesn't scream lived-in," Char murmured, scanning the room.
Renna tilted her head, then tapped her chin with a finger. "Or maybe someone left in a hurry… or wants it to look that way."
They split up, Char moving toward a cluttered shelf while Renna strode toward the farthest door. She ran a gloved hand over a desk, wiping away dust to reveal scratches in the wood—scattered letters and symbols, half-carved, half-erased. Nothing useful.
Char crouched by a pile of books, flipping through a few of them. The pages were aged and yellowed, but what caught his eye was the ink—some still fresh. The words were nonsense at first, but then he saw it:
"Burn them before he comes back."
A chill ran through him. "Renna, something's—"
CREEEAK.
Renna had pulled open a door at the back of the house, revealing a staircase spiraling downward into absolute darkness. The scent of damp stone and stale air rose from below.
"Bingo," she grinned. "Basement."
Char's stomach tightened. "Wait—"
Too late.
Renna took one step forward—
—And the world exploded in golden light.
A blast of radiance surged up from the basement, blinding, like the midday sun had been crammed into a single, searing explosion. Renna cried out, stumbling back, her arms shielding her face.
Then, from the light, a figure moved.
A man burst from the basement, clad in ragged clothes, his pale skin bathed in golden energy. His eyes burned like molten gold, his outstretched hand crackling with light.
Char recognized that glow. He had seen it before.
"Helios," he breathed.
Davin—the man they had come to find—lashed out. A second blast of sunfire erupted from his palm, and Char barely ducked in time. The wooden wall behind him exploded into splinters, the force of the impact sending heat waves through the room.
Renna groaned, shaking off her dizziness, but Davin was already moving. His hands pulsed with radiance, forming into a second wave of blinding power.
"You shouldn't have come here," Davin growled, his voice ragged. "Get out—or burn."
Char clenched his fists, eyes narrowing.
So much for a quiet investigation.