Gunned | SatoSere

Chapter 27 - Two Reapers

The news spreads quickly through the vast web of the Demons' contracts. Some were elated at the opportunity the downfall of the Ketchums wrought — expansion of territory, and subsequently, wealth. The connections Giovanni managed to keep now had no one else to turn to, practically begging at Serena's feet to take them under their wing.

Then there were some who were suspicious of her sudden rise to leadership, summoning her for questioning.

Serena sits at the head of a polished oak table, leaning in her seat boredly as she props up her cheek against the armrest of an ornate chair. She's never been one for stuffy meetings and tacky decoration, and so she makes her disapproving reservations known with a deep, gruelling sigh. She hears Miette nearly snort from where she stands guard at her side and Gary is no help with the way he rocks on his feet in anxiousness to leave.

"Something amiss, woman?"

Her brow arches, a dangerous glint in her eye that sparks the room aflame. "That's Miss Serena to you, Prime Minister. Don't think for one second that me agreeing to meet you here means you're in charge."

"Insolent little-"

Serena hears the metal grip in Miette's palm creak and the newfound leader raises her hand in a halting motion. Miette shares a look with her, narrowing her sharp red eyes at Serena. The look they share lingers for a second longer before it breaks. Miette backs down with a huff and a gun is put back in its holster. Satisfied, Serena tilts her head lazily towards the indignant politician once again.

"How much longer are you going to waste my time here?" She asks boredly.

"You would play nonchalance when you and yours have wreaked havoc in our country?"

Serena taps the armrest with the tips of her fingers, unfazed with the rise Lysandre attempts to draw out of her. She sighs again, "Seriously? So tell me then, what would you and our dear General have done? Would you have killed Giovanni Ketchum with your own two hands like I did? Do you even have the spine?"

She leans forward and the suit coat draped over her shoulders falls to her seat, revealing a scatter of scars, pink and fresh against her skin. A hostile shadow passes over her eyes.

"You wanted us to put a stop to all this and we did. We killed every last one of them and your hands are still clean. Ash has sacrificed enough for this city and what you owe him is respect for even letting you breathe," Serena continues, her tone coming to the edge of a pointed blade.

Serena wasn't wrong and though she is a new face to these officials, her aura billows in flames akin to Ash. Lumiose City would be in shambles without the Demons, but their existence goes against every oath they had sworn. To defeat evil with another evil — it was though God himself wasn't watching over them at all, leaving Ash and his crew to their unfettered reign.

An elongated silence stretches through the dim shadows of the room. Lysandre is fuming in his seat as his grip tightens on the edge of his seat, though his lips stay pursed together. Xerosic's jaw sets in a hard line, mulling over Serena's pointed words as his teeth grind to find the suitable response.

Gary speaks first, lighthearted and unbothered. He is clearly amused with his childish grin.

"For your sake, I would move this along. She isn't nearly as patient," he sings. The iridescent green of his eyes peeks under the spikiness of his brown hair. His gaze is nearly empty, but Xerosic has seen that look for many moons — a playful insanity that sparks on the waves of boundless green. "You might end up like that Ketchum dog without a head to bring back."

It visibly disturbs them as their gazes flicker to Serena, who simply crosses her arms across her chest and leans back in her seat once again.

"And just who are you, for Ash to extend his seat?" Lysandre says lowly.

"A death wish if you don't hurry this up," Serena threatens icily. "The Lumiose City PD has the case under investigation, so you can rest assured your ties to the Demons will never be discovered. As for the security of the city itself, petty criminals have gone into hiding without the Ketchums to supply or encourage them. I'm leading in Ash's stead and fully capable of doing so. So if this is done, I'd like to get back to more important things."

Xerosic speaks now. "He hasn't woken up yet, has he?"

The trio stiffens though it doesn't pass in the expressions on their faces. Serena can practically sense that Miette is itching for her gun again and no doubt Gary is ready for a bloody murder at any given opportunity. She rises from her seat, draping the suit coat over her shoulders once again. Her gaze flickers to the far side of the room where the TV shows an updated news broadcast.

It's a series of helicopter shots as it flies over the canopy of the forest along the bleach of Shalour City. Towering mountains of smoke continue to rise from a heart of hellfire that still glows amongst the earth's floor. There's a muffled reporter that speaks of a pending investigation with no apparent leads to the source — no loss of life is indicated at the scene.

But how wrong they all were. They left many dead at hell's door and though Ash made it out alive with the others, Serena remembers the cost.

She nods at the television, her voice hollow, devoid of the person she longed for. "Would you have been able to survive what he had?"

They don't answer her and Serena no longer needs to listen to what they have to say. She turns on her heel with Miette and Gary in tow, their backs illuminated by the flames that continue to rage across the screens and illuminate the scars the officials can see. An epitaph of their sacrifice and steel bladed resolve, and a warning to the destruction Serena, alone, was capable of.

The door to the conference room shuts with a hollow clang. The fear makes them shudder of what their world will look like once Ash rises from his grave to meet Serena, two reapers far more frightening than one alone.