Tress POV
I didn't return to the inn.
Didn't get the chance.
The moment I stepped past the district's edge and rounded the bend toward the old bypass, the air shifted.
The wind carried something sweet—too sweet.
Cloying.
Artificial.
Like perfume masking blood.
I stopped walking.
"I was wondering when you'd show," I said aloud.
The silence responded with a familiar, slow clap.
A figure stepped into view from the shadowed treeline, all elegance and poison. He looked the same as always—immaculate red coat, half-buttoned like a painter who'd gotten distracted mid-tragedy. Red spider lilies bloomed along his path like he was dragging spring in with him.
"Bonsoir, Tress," Quinto said, voice smooth as ever, lips curled in a lopsided grin. "You found my flower. I'm flattered."
I didn't move. Just narrowed my eyes.
"You really need to find a new calling card. It's getting obvious."
"Oh? But I thought you liked obvious," he teased. "You always did prefer direct over clever."
I stared him down. "You never were clever, Quinto."
He gasped, placing a dramatic hand over his chest. "Wounding. Truly."
"I'm not in the mood."
"Neither am I." His grin never wavered, but his fingers twitched. Just once. A flicker of energy ran through the tips—plant-based aura manipulation, subtle, dangerous. "But here we are. The E-10 is stirring. The board's shifting. You're supposed to be one of us, remember? Number Three."
"I remember," I said flatly.
"And yet, you've gone terribly off-script." He took a slow step forward, boots crushing petals that hadn't been there seconds ago. "They're wondering if you've forgotten your role. Or worse... replaced it."
"I never replaced anything." My voice was cool, measured. "I'm just not a puppet anymore."
His smile thinned.
"Tsk-tsk. So dramatic. Is this the part where you tell me you've found 'your humanity'?" he mocked. "Come on, Tress. You're the Association's Angel of Death. You don't get to wear white now."
"I don't need to wear white," I said, stepping forward, closing the space between us. "But I'll gladly bury anyone who mistakes me for weak."
The grin slipped. Just a bit.
Quinto was powerful—but fickle. Predictable in his unpredictability. That was the danger. You never knew when he'd strike—or why. He didn't kill because he had to.
He killed because it amused him.
And that's what made him worthless.
"You're not going to fight me," I said calmly, tilting my head. "Because even you know you won't win."
A silence passed between us, thick with old tension and something unspoken.
Then Quinto's expression changed. His grin faltered, just for a breath, before curling again into something softer—disappointingly so. Boredom, maybe. Or worse... pity.
His amber eyes gleamed in the moonlight as he cocked his head, as if he was peering into me instead of at me.
"You really think I'd make a suicidal move like Noveno and Diez?"
YOU ARE READING
Again | See You Sequel ✮ 𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝑿𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑿 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒍
Fanfiction𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧- 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐥 Some people don't know what they have until it's gone. But what about the ones who do know? The ones who never took a damn thing for granted? Who tried their hardest to hold on, yet could only look helplessly...
