Red

"Uhm, wait. What's happening?"

John looks at him with a smile. "Sorry about that. The idiot had their game night. They got a bit invested than they were supposed to."

A chorus of embarrassed laughter follows as the men around him clean up the table and open the lights, revealing a decent living room.

John then walked to the table. "What the hell were you idiot playing, anyway!?"

The men looked around and tried to hide from his glare and one man spoke up, "We were playing scribble!"

John cackled, "Scribble!? You fucktards played scribble? How many dictionaries did you idiots break?"

The man returns, his white mustache etched over his embarrassed smile. "I might have ripped a few in anger, while some just got ripped the moment I opened it."

Michael just sat, a bit dumbfounded. The cheery mood was certainly different from what he was used to. The tens of gangs that invited them before were certainly less than forthcoming.

"Well, this is certainly different." Ahros remarks, taking a seat beside him as the men around them chuckle to themselves.

Only for the door to open and silence them all. Because the moment those doors opened, bloodlust floods the room into submission, the men bowing their heads and a shout erupts form the door. "Everyone shut up!"

Michael jolts from the pressure, his eyes lowering in thought. as Ahros' grins turn wider, his feet kicked up in delight as he watched Michael look up.

Look up and see a ruby of blood and violence, beautiful eyes that held back an ocean of rage. And With crimson hair cascading down her back, Michael could only watch, frozen in a trance as her red lips open in a shout.

"Hey! Which idiot had them tied up!? I thought I told you to invite them!" She scrunches her eyebrow in thoughts, her pale cheeks redden in anger as her overcoat seemingly flutter in affirmation.

The muscular man steps forward. "Of course, Madam. I had our men invite them."

"Then why the fuck are they tied up!?" the girl shouts, her eyes fuelled with rage as she points to her two important guests.

The said man, though, looks at his grunts, who shrugged as they replied, "Well, we thought Ethan wanted us to "Invite" them?"

Ethan chokes on his spit. "I did no such thing."

The man quickly replied, "But sir, you ev-"

"Fuck! I don't care! Get the fuck out!" The girl roars in anger as the men scatter to obey her orders, the door slamming behind them as they leave.

The girl then looms over the two sitting men, their hands sitting at the table as she shouts, "Ethan! Untie them! Quickly!"

The large man scrambles to their side, his large and apologetic expression apparent as he stepped forward, hand reaching for their restraints.

Ahros, though, smiles at the action, his restraint disassembling before him, "It's fine. We have it handled, I assure you. Though I would instead like to discuss our current arrangement."

The girl, though, grunts in approval, "Fine." A small frown etched on her pale face as she spoke up, "Better get this shit over quick before you get anymore ideas."

The girl sat in her chair, her eyes glaring at Ahros as his grin widens in delight, the situation before him, something that fills him with amusement.

The girl fumes at Ahros' eyes, one filled with so much confidence and contempt, anger and violence rages within her at just the sight of it.

She sneers at him and turn her eyes to his companion, only to meet sky like eyes, one that seemed to bore into her soul and drank every bit of her feature.

"What's are you looking at?" The girl asks as he remains pensive. She grabs his collar, her anger rising as she shouts at him, "I asked you! What the fuck are you looking at!?"

"You." The boy mutters. His eyes locked with hers as a soft smile comes into his face, meeting her rage and anger with a soft smile.

She drops him back, seemingly burned, her eyes looking back at Ahros as she asks, in a mix of rage and confusion, "What the hell is wrong with your friend!?"

Ahros chuckles, "I believe it's called awestruck."

"Awestruck at what!? What kind of fucker just stops functioning before negotiation start." The girl fumes. Are these two idiots the one she was supposed to talk to?

"Fuck! Fine! Tell me what you want for the Street of Shade, and we'll see how we go from there." The girl crosses her arms in anger and frustration, her eyes lighting in crimson.

Ahros intertwines his fingers, "Of course." He then smiles. "But I cannot just give you the Street of Shade. It is, a simple cooperation, an area of the slums that worked around me, using me as a protector."

He then leans back, "But if you truly desire to hold it, I can at least put in a good word."

She grits her teeth in frustration. "So you're fucking useless then!?"

Ahros giggles in his hand, "Perhaps."

Her hand slams against the table, cracking it at the edges as she roars, her eyes almost alight in magic as she threatened to stab the life out of him.

"Stop it with these fucking riddles!? Or I'll-"

"What's your name?" Michael chirps. His soft and airy smile never leaving his face as the raging inferno turns to him in irritation.

She glances at him before crossing her arms. "The name is Annie Roux."

Michael raises his hand, "Wait!? Roux? As in the City of Roux? This City of Roux?"

The questions drag the deep-seated resentment in her heart as she shouts, "Yes! This fucking City of Roux! This City that was supposed to be ours is now in the hand of my shitstain of an uncle."

He grabs Michael's collar as he screams unto his face, "Now tell me, fuckface! how to get those smug bastards under my control! So I can finally drag this city back to my name!"

Michael grins, his hand over hers as he spoke, "Go with me. Go with me to the Imperial Academy. And use whatever influence you gather there and drag this city back to your name."

She recoils from his touch, her eyes shifting away as she spoke. "Shut the fuck up! What makes you think the Imperial Academy would take a fucking dropout like me!?"

Michael smiles. "Well, connections, of course. Connections and Hard work."

Ahros chuckles at the sight, "Now, now. Using my own connections without my consent? How daring of you, Michael."

Michael snorts as he looks at the god, "Ha! Yeah right! We both know the reason you even let yourself get dragged this far away was because of her."

"Oh my, am I that easy to read?" Ahros holds his hand over his chest, a mock hurt over his face as he excitedly grins, "Though you were a bit off. I came for the two of them."

"What the fuck are you both on abo-"

"Sister? Are you saying bad words again?" A soft, squeaky voice took the room by surprise. All five eyes turn to the door, seeing a girl in pink hair standing with hands over her eyes.

Annie, though, jolts in surprise as she runs to her side, carrying in her arms as she spoke, "Of course not. No such thing happened. Didn't I say that big sis will never curse?"

The girl lowers her hand to reveal large and beautiful crimson, her eyes looking at the two men, "Uncle Ethan, is that true? Did Big sis not curse?"

The large man looked at the little girl, his eyes looking at his boss, whose eyes promised death and violence, a promise that he was sure to incur.

Though the moment his eyes locked with the little girl's cute sleepy eyes, all his willpower broke as he blurts out, "No! The Madam has been cursing the entire time!"

The little girl sniffles at his words, her eyes turning to her sister as she whines, her little heart broken into pieces, "But big sis promised me?" She wipes her eyes. "I thought you said no more broken promises."

Annie looked around in a hurry, her eyes shifting in disarray. "I - I didn't! You can even ask Uncle John, right? Uncle John wouldn't lie to you!" She glares at the said man, his lips on a bottle. "Right?"

Said man swallowed dryly as he blurts, "No, she was cursing the entire time. Little Princess."

The sentence only left the bawling even harder, her tears dripping down as Annie did all she could to calm her down, unconsciously walking through the door.

Michael, meanwhile, watched it all, his heart swelling at the sight. Only to notice the little girl's unique and familiar trait, one he saw on only one other person.

Said person or god, spoke,

"Oh my, such a cute little kid. Aren't you? Sweetie?"