USEFUL ➴ Illumi x Reader

LXXIX. Paths

The trip back to the manor was calm, I tended my wounds in the VIP lounge of the zeppelin as Illumi stood looking out the window.

"Do you like traveling?" I hear myself question.

"I don't dislike it." I rolled my eyes at the vague answer and kept applying ointment to the damages.

We arrived at the gate using a car Illumi had in town, we left it parked outside and I wondered if there was a butler whose job was to take the car back to the city. After we crossed the testing gates, as Illumi flew them open, Zeno dropped softly from the sky in front of us and I could only stare at the large flying beast up in the sky with bewilderment. How many more special soulless beasts did the Zoldycks have under their control?

"Old man." I stated, bemused, as his feet reached the floor.

"Grandfather." Illumi noticed his presence, as if the old man jumping from his flying dragon was a normal occurrence. He hummed.

"How was your job?" I asked, waiting to hear a story.

"Today, for the first time, I may have killed someone who wasn't my target." My mouth hung open; the old man had his nice principles.

"Really? That's unfortunate... What was the job? If you don't mind me asking..."

"Oh, I was hired by an old acquaintance to separate the chimera ant king from his guards and take both the king and him to a different location." I hummed, it seemed like old man Zeno also had a friend outside the Zoldycks. A million questions were bubbling in my head.

"How strong was the ant king?" He smiled, faced the top of the mountain as he started walking.

"I experienced time compression, that was also new... He was powerful, I don't think my acquaintance survived." A shiver went up my spine, one of the powerful people saying that another one was strong... Just how insane was the power of that ant? On the other way... I was very curious about what his personality would be like, what he looked like, what kind of animals made up the king...

"My condolences, old man..." The heartfelt words left my lips, but he didn't seem very shook with his friend's death. A long time passed in silence before I relieved my curiosity. "Who was it that you almost killed?"

Illumi had been keeping up with us quietly and was now holding the manor door open.

"A young woman, the King seemed to care deeply for her life." My eyes widened, an ant caring for human lives... That was a game changer in many ways... Zeno kept describing the scene but all I could think was that no one would hold me tightly with utmost care if I was fatally injured.

"Well, it's sad that they were driven apart then..." Words failed me, it wasn't like someone would mourn my death in this place. A bitter taste rose to my mouth and I stared at Illumi, what was I doing here? Why was I throwing myself into this family's affairs? Why was I being a nice prisoner? Having friendly conversations with them all?

After my thoughts started running that direction, my curiosity died as Zeno explained that the king had left his guard tasked with saving the woman's life. My eyes met his.

"You know old man; I don't want to own this path. I dislike it. It's filled with sticks and stones... It's hard to walk through... Is it worth owning something like this? Something that doesn't care for my well-being?" Illumi tilted his head in confusion, clearly not understanding the talk about paths nor where it had sprouted. Zeno on the other hand looked stern. "Well I really need a bath and some rest so..." My eyes jumped back to the long-haired man who was now staring oddly at me. I could only assume he always stared oddly at people... "Shall we go, Illumi?"

He hummed in agreement and led the way to my room. At the door he stopped, before going into his room and finally broke the silence.

"Y/N?" I hummed, hand in the cold doorknob and turned slightly to see him. "What is the path you don't want to own?"

"It's not even a path..." I heard the words leave my mouth, but somehow something didn't click. I wasn't minding being here, I didn't mind getting involved into this mess of a family... Why... Why was this... "But well, we all have paths in our lives it's up to us to own them or switch them, do you like your path?"

He seemed to freeze, eyes narrowing and eyebrows scrunching as he thought about it deeply. I leaned against the door, expecting him to answer anytime soon.

He didn't. He stared into the emptiness of his soul and didn't seem to come up with an answer. I grew impatient as time passed, shifting my weight from foot to foot, tapping on the door, before I opened my mouth. "I guess you have to consider it more deeply with more time. Take as long as you need, it's your life. There's no need to reply to me, but you should seek the answer for yourself."

I walked into my room. My room. I considered it my own, I became familiarized with all this. Sure, I had been planning to pull Illumi's needle out... But I wasn't rushing it, he didn't use it as much as I'd think.. He didn't make me do anything that I was truly against. Why? Why wasn't he abusing his power... So many questions popping up and creating a large fog around my head, disturbing my thoughts, confusing me...

I brushed those all away with the quick shower, after slipping on some comfortable clothes I sat on my desk and typed away, only focusing on one goal and pushing back all these questions and the meaning behind them.

Weeks later the book was nearly finished, I needed to review it once more to finally send it to the editor. The plan was putting itself together, without any drawbacks from any of the Zoldycks or missions. My manipulation skills had been improved a decent amount, so it was only a matter of time.

Time and a chance.

Maybe to change my path.

Art By: (SA___TAN___ - twitter)

Author's Note: Hallo loveliiiesss~~ How are you today?

For those who asked I'll be trying to update every Thursday or Friday :3