Chapter I

The home fills after a few weeks of abandonment. Sao, Hannah, Rose, Akuma, and Rahat funnel through the doorway into the living room. Hannah is placed on the bed, Akuma sits in front of it, Rose watches over them on the armchair beside them, Rahat looks out the window, awestruck by the grandiose architecture – a single skyscraper in Plutus could inhabit all of Rahat's town; Sao stares out the window unflinchingly, shutting off all senses except for sight, transforming himself into an alarm system, ready to go off at the slightest sign of danger. He acts as a specialised alarm; like a smoke, fire, or carbon monoxide alarm, Sao has a specific danger to look out for. His eyes scan from left to right, every crevice of the uneven gravel path studied, every swaying of foliage under the wind scrutinised; the patterns of vehicle congestion memorised, the number of commuters logged; their car's model, their skin and eye colour, their usual shopping load, all downloaded into his memory. A sentry at the front door, frozen in a panning scout.

Hannah stirs occasionally, reluctant to make a hasty leave from the safety and comfort of the mattress. In a blurred gaze, she recognises the familiarity of home, its cushioned embrace, the motherly kisses from the air. Her right arm of hers raises and adjusts her glasses assuring her location; a small, almost unnoticeable smile forms on her face.

Rahat stays focused on the foreign land she has wandered into; the grass mesmerises her, the buildings terrify her, the numerous faces of differing race – the frequency of Demons appearing; everything about this new world whispers into her ear to hide. She turns and sits below the window, facing the bathroom door. He rubs her hands together; the snow prevails, if only slightly here, uncomfortably so for Rahat, accustomed to blistering heat all year round aside from the miracle rain pour every month or so.

Rose sits in silence as she watches over Akuma, and Hannah every so often. A pain shoots to her head in sporadic intervals, the falling with her stake and invisible damage aggravates her attempts to stay quiet. His furious face keeps returning to her, the shouts over the fire loop in her ears; those last moments with him haunt her; that pain hurts far more than her head, except that pain makes her numb.

Akuma's abdomen contracts frequently, pushing up screams that he pulls back down. He aspires to be a hero, no knee in the gut can bring him to tears. To him, screaming for the punishment he received would be selfish, he had witnessed Sao return with blood surrounding him to protect him, grin on his face, while Akuma is fighting to keep a straight face after one knee. Weak. To show pain is weak. No hero shows pain, a hero's role is to smile for everyone who can't and to inspire others who will. Akuma has been inspired, so now he must inspire. But Sao isn't smiling anymore, not since his brother appeared. Can a hero always smile? Should a hero always smile? His abdomen contracts, letting go of his thoughts.

Sao's face stiffens, grabbing a hold of the door handle and storming outside. He storms towards Yuda, returning from his own situation – not that Sao knows, to him, all Yuda had done was let Hannah get kidnapped.

'I thought you would be here.' Yuda says thankfully. 'Hey, are you okay?'

Sao continues his strides towards Yuda, cocking back his right hand, and shooting it into Yuda's stomach, folding him over Sao's forearm.

'Lose her one more time, and our deal is over.'

Sao walks back into the house and waits for Yuda to follow. Yuda shakes the shock out his face, exhaling a long breath before coming inside. Once inside, Sao shuts the door behind Yuda, returning to his post.

Greeted by two new faces, Yuda waves around the room with a hint of awkwardness as he holds his stomach with his other hand. No one responds to his greeting, all staring into their own minds, asides from Hannah, who sits up and beams with her teeth after seeing Yuda.

'Yuda, Yuda, I did it, I did it. I did what you taught me, and it worked. You should have seen me. I focused as hard as I could on the floor and then it did as I imagined, I even managed to use the water in my body to-'

Akuma and Sao look at Hannah with reflections of her smile, Yuda grinning with surprise.

'I mean…' Hannah continues, 'Yuda, I did as you said, and it worked. Thank you.'

'No need to hide the excitement. You should be very proud of yourself. I never thought you could control two so quickly, you're already better than Akuma.'

'What?' Akuma jolts. 'No way. We can have another spar right n-, ow ow ow.'

'Maybe another day.' Yuda chuckles. 'Besides, I don't know what happened on your end, but it doesn't look good; even the chief's down.'

'We had a reality check, that's all.' Sao murmurs. 'What about you? I would really like to understand how you managed to let Hannah get kidnapped,' his voice more aggressive.

'Look, some group took her while we were asleep, then some of their members stayed to watch over me.'

'And how did you escape?'

'How else; I waited until they dropped their guard to escape.'

'Hannah? Is he telling the truth?'

'He's telling the truth about the first part, yes.' Hannah answers. 'I went to sleep, and when I woke up, I was in the back of a truck.'

'I guess I'll have to take your word. But I wasn't lying about what I said outside. One more time-'

'Of course,' Yuda interrupts. 'I understand. I promise, it won't happen again. You have my word. Now, do you want to introduce me to our new members?'

'They're not members, just people that have gotten stuck with us for the meantime.'

'What's the extra space around the table for, then?'

'Visitors, which is what they are.'

'Aw, that's a shame. I was thinking we needed some fresh faces around here.'

'And where would they stay? We're pushing the limits of this room with just the three of us. We can't physically fit anymore.'

'Well, you got the paycheck, right? Can't we use that to pay for a new house? I don't mean to be rude, but this place has gotten stale for me. I feel we need somewhere grander.'

'Yes, we got the paycheck, but that reminds me. I need to go into the city for a bit. I'll be back later.'

'What are you doing there?' Akuma questions eagerly.

'I need to check on the old man.'

'Ooh, is that the blacksmith you and Hannah know.'

'Yes. Yes, it is. I need to pay him back some debt which has building for a while.'

'Can I come?' Akuma asks, springing to his feet, with a minor wince. 'Can I?'

'That would be best actually. Yuda can't watch over too many people. Rose? Do you want to come with us?'

'Um, I wouldn't want to trouble you.' Rose replies, not making eye contact.

Akuma runs to her and holds her hands. 'Come on. It's not that bad out there, just a little cold. I'll find a jacket for you in the wardrobe.'

He heads to the wardrobe, swinging it open, and carefully inspecting each jacket. 'No; not that one; not that one either…' cycling through the options, before one hits him. 'This one, it's perfect.'

Pulling it out, gently as he can, and handing it over to Rose. She holds it out in front of her; it's a coal biker's jacket (not very royal) with a giant red rose down the back, folded down vampire collar and cover for buttons at the front.

'So,' Akuma starts, starry eyed. 'What do you think? Cool huh.'

Rose stays silent, holding the jacket in front of her. What had she done for this boy? Why was he so attached to her? While the jacket is far from royal standards, it came from good mannered heartiness. A royal and a peasant was forbidden in all the books read to her, to teach her to be queen. She accepts the jacket, with a hint of pity.

'Cool. Hey Sao, ca… Never mind, go without me.'

'Why the sudden change?' Sao asks, but then he looks at Akuma's right arm, or at least where it's supposed to be. 'It's no big deal. I mean, you're up and ready to go, it won't hold you back for a while. You're lucky they were so right-hand bias to be honest. Imagine if you lost your left. You'd be useless.' Sao says in a playful tone.

'Maybe. Useless?'

'I think it's cool,' Yuda buts in. 'Makes you look like a war hero. Someone to respect.'

Trailed with a defrosting smile, Akuma finds his drive again. 'Yeah, you're right. It does look cool.'

'Do you know what would look even cooler? If you had a robotic arm.'

A light bulb switches on inside Akuma's head. Hero's bear the scars for everyone else. Yes; Akuma was more like a hero now. He turn to Rahat.

'Thank you, Rapat.'

'I thought it was Rahat,' Yuda asks Sao.

'It is.' He whispers in response.

Rahat's head scouts the room, thinking an Angle – an actual one – had come for her. No; it was Akuma beaming at her.

'Thank you for treating my arm.' Akuma say cheerily.

'No, no, no. Don't thank me. I was just ato-'

'Too late to give it up now. Quick, Sao, Rose, let's go.' He interrupts before sprinting out of the door.

Rose and Sao chase after him down the road, leaving Yuda to interrogate Rahat.

'So, how did you get stuck with us?' Yuda asks, kneeling to Rahat. 'Please. Don't hide anything.'