It's a matter of trust

His hair was tied together in a messy bun. It was one of those days where he wanted to do nothing but sit on his couch doing nothing. For this reason he was wearing comfortable clothes, black sweatpants accompanied by a black shirt with short sleeves.

There was only the soft mechanical sound of his coffee machine vibrating through his kitchen. Míngzé leaned against his counter, waiting for his coffee to be finished. Besides that everything was quiet in his apartment. Jiu and Dai were asleep on his bed, Wěi was somewhere, just like the strange plant that was living with him now.

With his coffee finally done, he grabbed his cup and moved to his couch when his bell rang. Softly he sighed before moving to his intercom. “Hello?” He was not expecting any visitors, but he could also not ignore it. There was always the chance that it was someone important.

The moment he heard her voice, a feeling of regret seeped in with the realization he would’ve pretended not to be home if he knew beforehand. His jaw tightened as he was silent for a few seconds too long. Why was she here?

“Yeah sure, come on in,” he said as he opened the door for her. The moment she set foot inside his apartment, she would know the artifact was here. Not that she even had to enter, even from outside his door it was undeniable.


Míngzé opened the door for her so she could enter the moment she arrived. He had thought about what to say to her, but each time he’d come back empty. The thought crossed his mind to send a quick text message, but there was simply no time. Taking a sip from his coffee he waited for her arrival. “Luci, hi,” he greeted her with a hint of a smile.

“Everything alright?” There must be a reason for her sudden appearance. Although he could guess what it was.

Nothing was wrong. No new fight, no more broken bones. Which was good. He rather saw her like this, than hurt because she got yet in another fight. And who knows what more she might spill if she did. She had told Sāng about the sacrifice when her emotions got the better of her. Who knows what else she might tell people.

“Good, no need for a first aid kit then.” In a way however, it worried him even more.

There were more things she wanted to discuss. Míngzé knitted his brow at that before nodding. “Sure, alright. Do you want something to drink?” It was the least he could do.

Lucina was quick to mention the artifact, which did not come as a surprise. “It has worked so far,” Míngzé said with a quick shrug. Only two people knew it was here and only Sāng had ever taken it out of its hiding spot.

I was going to let her go twice.

Míngzé clenched his jaw. She was right. The way Sāng talked about her told him so much, but that did not change the fact that she was not innocent either. He doubted his friend would kill her unless she gave him a reason to. But what could he possibly say? Whatever he said, she would take it the wrong way. “Yeah, no, probably not,” he said, his voice strained.

Míngzé placed down the glass of water on his coffee table. “No I don’t, besides you I guess.” And a certain burglar who was very bad at his job. That part however was best to keep to himself. While keeping it here was not ideal, he liked to think he was doing a better job than anyone else that he knew of.

He sat down on his couch, taking a sip of his coffee, brows edging together. “Who’s asking you questions about it?” There was concern in his voice as he spoke up and completely forgot to even answer the question. Had she told yet another person about it? Was it another slipup?

Míngzé could not hold back the deep sigh that escaped and he rubbed through his eyes. All this was extremely tiresome. If only she knew. “Just let it go, Lucina. If you don’t give him a reason, it will be fine. You will be fine.” Of that he was certain. There was more he wanted to say to her, but couldn’t. He bit back all those words.

Getting a glass of water was easy and soon he had returned with it. Her questions about the artifact made him nervous and part of him couldn’t help but fear that maybe she wanted to take this one with her. “Besides those with a dark affinity? No idea, I haven’t tried it and don’t want to find out either.” This piece was not seeing the light of day any time soon. “Don’t worry about it, it’s safe here.”

From the other conversations he already had, he learned that Djodie had been there too. Luckily, not someone he saw as a threat. “Right, she told me about it,” Míngzé said, remembering their conversation. Together with her explanation and Sāng’s, he could paint a picture of what happened that day.

“As for your question, give her vague answers, don’t tell her anything important or simply say you don’t wish to speak about it,” Míngzé answered with a shrug. It was what he did.

Each time she brought him up, it ended up the same way. There was no doubt Sāng would kill her when given the chance and motive, he knew that much and he wouldn’t let that happen if there was anything he could do. “I’m not having this discussion with you again,” Míngzé said resolutely, irritation creeping into his voice.

There was no hiding how he felt, it was clear as day that he was at least a little pissed off. He crossed his legs and held his cup with both hands, the warmth pleasant against his palms. “What would you have me do? Ask every visitor I have what affinity they have?” Not that he had that many people coming over to begin with. And to be fair, the only other person with this particular affinity he let in was Luci.

A confirmative hum sounded as he nodded. “Or you push her away or you tell her about it, there really is no other option.” Not that it really mattered, did it? She would spill crucial information anyway if her emotions got the better of her. As she’d done with Sāng. Míngzé gritted his teeth, preventing him from saying anything about it.

With whatever was going on between Lucina en Sāng he could understand them both not liking each other. They had enough reasons to literally hate each other. All he wanted was for them to leave each other alone. But Lucina was always making a problem.

Míngzé narrowed his eyes as he gazed towards Lucina. His attempt at dropping the subject had been futile as she was not willing to let it go. As if he was wrong for defending his friends, while he did the exact same for her when it came to it.

He moved his jaw, ready to reply when Lucina spoke once more and he swallowed his words. It felt wrong, but what else could he do?

“You know fully well what I want, which side I’m on.” Or was on. Things had been changing as he learned more about— well, everything. It made him see the flaws in his plan. Flaws he had been ignoring until now.

“That does not change just because I don’t want my friends to murder each other.”

It was easy to forget Lucina was different from anybody else. Her ears or claws were something he did not often think about. To him they were not important.

After today he wouldn’t soon forget them.

Míngzé stared at his coffee while listening to Lucina, a sigh rolling over his lips. Her tone of voice revealed everything and his mind was already racing to come up with something to fix it. Admitting he’d switched sides would cause trouble so it was best if he played along.

His eyes widened in shock when he could feel her weight crashing down on him.

The deep, sickening pain was there before he had time to react. Her sharp claws ripped through his skin, instantly drawing blood. Pain exploded through him. First his cheek and neck, going down to his collarbone. Any sound died in his throat as he pushed himself away, a failed attempt to run as his room for escape was limited because he sat down.

Instinctively he raised his arms to shield himself, only to feel her nails cutting deep into his forearm. “Luci!” His arms were next. “Stop you— ah!” Desperately he grasped towards her arms, but each move was made in a panicked attempt. His legs were also moving, wanting to kick her off him to give himself a chance to get away. Nothing he did was to hurt her.  “You’re hurting me! Stop!” Míngzé yelled at her.

It hurt and he was afraid. So very afraid. His eyes were burning while his limbs tried everything.

Jiu noticed something was wrong when it was already too late, and only jumped off the bed when he heard the pleading cries of Míngzé.

There was no end to it. His pleas fell on deaf ears and each time he reached for her wrists, more skin broke. Blood was oozing from every one of them but the pain did not fully register in his mind. Only one thought screamed loudly in his head, overshadowing everything else.

Get away. Get away. Get away.

The moment Jiu entered the room, he hit something and everything came to a stop. Míngzé crawled over the side of the couch, nearly tripping and stumbling to the ground. Distance. His hands were in front of him, desperately reaching for a wall, smearing blood over it when he touched the cold surface. The moment he found it, he turned around, pressing his back against it. His pupils were dilated and his body was visibly shaking. All words were lost to him and he was barely able to breathe as it was.

He hadn’t noticed how Jiu had jumped between them, not caring at all that Lucina had stopped attacking. With bared teeth she edged closer towards her, flames dancing around her teeth. She lunged forward, snapping her teeth, not caring if she would find flesh.

“Get— get out.” His voice was hoarse  and shaky as he spoke.

A bright flash illuminated his apartment as Jiu sent a fire ball after Luci, not caring for the damage it would do to the apartment.

The moment the door fell shut, his legs gave up. His body sank to the floor where he remained. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him together.

Jiu jumped against the door as it fell shut in her face, loud barks and growls echoing through the room. SHe wanted to break out, go after her. Make sure she would never lay a hand on her owner again, but she decided against it the moment her owner sank to the ground.

Why had she—

It felt so sudden. Out of nowhere.

A shiver ran down his spine when he recalled the first slash and the sharp sting that accompanied it. A second shiver, and a third, until he was shaking uncontrollable. The pain was catching up to him. No matter how he held his arms, it hurt.

How he wanted to bury his face in his hands, claw at his own hair, but his hands too were bleeding.

Míngzé did not understand. The attack had felt so sudden. He had wanted to talk more but then she—

A tear ran down his cheek, burning as it hit the long cut. Míngzé heaved a deep breath and held it, holding back whimpers of pain and sobs.

Míngzé remained in a state of shock as he sat there, not even registering when Jiu joined him, pressing his wet nose against his hand. He would sit there for a while.