aerylilac

[aerylilac]

a butterfly's mirage ~ chapter 2

tears of themis x reader fantasy

previous chapter: chapter one

Three days had passed since Hendricks had been found in their headquarters and the man was now being held securely by the police department with Darius' assistance.

"Hello Detective Pearce!"

At 2 AM, the NXX meeting room was dimly lit. Davis entered the holographic screen, greeting Luke with his usual bright energy. Luke's fingers danced across the keyboard showing no signs of fatigue, inputting information one after another to access the records about their current case. In particular, he was waiting for the results on the fingerprints that had been left behind on the silver card by the unknown woman. As if on cue, a ping notification alerted him to what he had been waiting for. Clicking on it immediately, his eyes swept across the bands of text that filled the screen. His friends back at the National Security Bureau had sent him their final analysis report on the prints with the help of the Big Data Centre’s global data. Luke's mouth fell agape.

Nothing.

There was not a single human on Earth that matched with the fingerprints on the card. This woman simply, did not exist.

° • °

Dragging the metal chair outwards, Vyn sat himself down in the interrogation room. Hendricks sat across him, sneering behind a glass window that was perforated for auditory purposes.

Vyn analysed the man's appearance and acknowledged that his mental state had recovered substantially. Was it due to him being surrounded by routine? Officers? Anything other than that woman?

"Are you trying to get information out of me again?" The man scoffed, interrupting Vyn's thoughts. "Trust me, that little lady and her boss have been in multiple times in the past couple of days. Don't assume that I don't know what you are all up to."

Vyn's yellow eyes lost their warmth as he stared apathetically at the man. "They are both professionals in their field. Their visits have greater yield than you think. It is only a matter of time before you are in court with undeniable evidence being held against you." The psychiatrist's voice was hard and had a palpable coldness to it. Hendricks shuddered involuntarily at his words, but quickly equipped his signature arrogant expression.

"You lot don't scare me!  Give it some time, and every last one of you will pay for what you have done. You don't know who you are messing with." The man's face was flushed red with excitement and his voice grew in volume, spittle flying in the direction of the glass that separated them both.

Vyn sighed, his eyes turning downwards to think. Despite the man's lack of intelligence, his words were not completely void of reason. He wasn't oblivious to the fact that Hendricks was a powerful man. It only made sense that there would be people, dangerous people, who would threaten the safety of the NXX members. Every action, he thought to himself, had a reaction.

Vyn looked back up at Hendricks, who had now adopted a gloating grin on his face. Vyn's eye twitched. This irked him immensely. Trash this filthy with a history of immoral actions had no right to look at him in this manner.

Manipulation? Vyn was good at that. Rather, he excelled at it. Almost to the point that it disgusted him.

It only took a glint of the card's reflective surface for Hendricks to start shaking in his seat. Vyn innocently held up the silver card that was adorned with a single butterfly in its center, his fingers perching it delicately in position. Vyn's voice was now low and threatening, his eyes narrowing in a cunning glare. "And what makes you think that this woman isn't also on the move? She certainly doesn't seem like an idle person, wouldn't you agree, Mr. Hendricks?"

Vyn's earlier positive evaluation of the man's psychological state seemed to have had no meaning, as the man began to foam at the mouth. Alarmed, Vyn quickly stood up, alerting the nearby officers to take the man away. As he walked out of the police department, Vyn couldn't help but lose himself in a myriad of thoughts. Though he was grateful for the mysterious individual's aid in their investigative efforts, his wariness of her existence kept him on edge. Vyn's brow furrowed in frustration. Who exactly was this woman, and where was she now?

° • °

Muffled groans filled the freezing night air as seven barely moving bodies lay crumpled atop one another on the cold concrete. The woman stood above them, looking down at them with an indiscernible expression. She huffed a stray strand of hair off of her cheek and delivered one last solid kick onto the body at the bottom. Satisfied with the pained grunt, she crouched down to meet the eyes of one of her swollen-faced victims. "Next time, bring someone stronger and less dumb. Don't waste my time."

Neatly tucking her skirt behind her form, she stood up in a fluid motion and turned towards the alleyway's exit. A single sapphire butterfly flitted in her wake, following her into the night's darkness.

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[aerylilac]

a butterfly's mirage ~ chapter one

tears of themis x reader fantasy

previous chapter: prologue // next chapter: chapter two

The morning meeting for the group had not begun in a way that any of the members had expected. A writhing man was placed in the centre of the room, flapping like a fish out of water as he attempted miserably to break out of his restraints. It was Rosa who was the first to break the silence. "Is that not the man that we have been looking for?" Snapping out of his confusion, Artem gulped nervously. The senior attorney never forgot a face, and despite the obscured appearance of the man's visage, he knew that her guess was correct. Luke immediately went about taking off the blindfold and gag, whilst Vyn checked the surrounding perimeters of the building for any possible lurkers. Marius was at a loss for words, standing still in shock. How had someone managed to break the enhanced security code of the Big Data Lab, nevertheless hauled an adult man in with no alert from the system? How had they known their location to begin with? Who was responsible for this?

These overlapping thoughts came to an abrupt halt once the man was seated in a chair, albeit still restrained with ropes. The group knew of his identity and it didn't belong to a man who should be allowed to walk freely within their space. Hendricks was their prime suspect in the ever evolving Heirson case, and his expression was one of pure fear and terror.

The man finally spoke. "Please, d-don't..." His dry lips trembled violently during his stutter, and his eyes rolled frantically within their respective sockets. Rosa looked cautiously in Vyn's direction, and the psychiatrist's expression was one of blatant displeasure. "He is not in the right state of mind to be questioned right now," he stated, moving towards the man with a penlight. Attempting to check for a pupillary reflex, Vyn's fingers steadied the eyelids with a firm grasp. However, the moment contact occurred, Hendricks let out a blood curdling scream that tore into the ears of all the members within the room. Startled, Vyn stepped back.

"She wants me dead. She wants me dead. That woman brought me here so that she can kill me when you are all done with me. She will find me." Hendricks wailed repeatedly in a screeching tone. Artem's eyes widened in alarm. Glancing about the room, it appeared that all five members were just as confused as the next. The mention of a woman, unrelated to the case? Was she the one responsible for spoon feeding Hendricks to N-XX, the man they had been hunting down for over seven months? Smoothing down his shirt, Artem sat down at the chair opposite the suspect, and began to speak in a calm manner. "Mr. Hendricks, we will not allow anyone to harm you. You are a wanted man for illegal dealings and drug trafficking. We need you for information and to inevitably place you in jail."

An alluring woman's voice sounded in response. "Mr. Wing is half correct, Hendricks." Everyone stiffened, looking around for the source of the sound. "I do not wish to kill you dear, it would be too kind for what you have done." The man's face went pale, and his eyes became frantic. "She's here. She's here. She will hurt me again."

Luke rummaged in Hendricks' coat pocket to locate the source of the sound. Withdrawing from the pocket, Luke's hand held a silver card that gleamed radiantly. At the center of the piece was a beautiful violet butterfly design that began to glow as the woman's voice came through once again.

"However, he has done more than that, Mr. Wing. I am afraid you will have to do a little more research into what is going on." The mysterious voice sighed sadly, tutting her tongue. "But I can assure you, that this is the beginning of the end. Your cases for NXX will come to a close soon." The woman's voice was pleasant to listen to, so delicate and delectable to the point that the men in the room had to focus in order to grasp the gravity of her words.

Luke spoke, without the normal confidence that he usually lead himself with. "Are you the one who brought him to us today?" The butterfly lit up with a soft chuckle from the other side. "You know the answer to that, Detective Pearce. Ask me something more suitable to someone of your academic calibre." Luke was flustered, taken aback. How did she know the identities of everyone here? Marius intervened, stepping forward with the question that had been burning on everyone's minds. "Who are you?"

The card flickered back to quiet, and Artem rolled his eyes at the young man's question. "Do you really believe that she will reveal her identity when she presents herself in this way?" Vyn sighed, agreeing with Artem for the first time in a long while, as he contemplated the stupidity of his private student. Rosa smiled sheepishly and Marius blushed, his ears burning red with embarassment. It was not like him to speak out of line during confrontations, but this situation had thrown him off guard, as it had done for everyone. To have obtained their suspect so easily with no effort, their timeline was now out of their control.

"I am a friend." The voice stated quietly, shattering the relaxed atmosphere, and everyone was now immediately alert to her words. Luke raised his eyebrows in surprise. Who had the incentive to help them, a classified secret investigative team? What was her purpose? Her gain?

The quiet from the suspect unnerved Vyn, and he looked up to see Hendricks fainted in his chair. Vyn frowned, his brow furrowing into a crease. There were no visible signs of harm on Hendricks, but he was reduced to such a pitiful state with just the sound of her voice. This unknown individual was exceptionally skilled at what he presumed to be, psychological torture.

"Poor thing must be asleep, he's used his tiny brain for too long. It's time for me to go. I will look forward to when we meet again."

#tears of themis vyn #tears of themis marius #tot #tot fanfic #tears of themis artem #tears of themis fanfic #tears of themis #tears of themis fanfiction #fantasy #artem wing #marius von hagen #luke pearce #marius x reader #vyn richter #vyn x reader #artem x reader #luke x reader #tears of themis luke #tears of themis rosa

[aerylilac]

a butterfly's mirage ~ Prologue

tears of themis x reader fantasy

next chapter: chapter one

In a dimly lit room, one could make out the feminine silhouette of a young woman standing by the entry to the balcony.

With a deliberate motion, she pushed open the glass doors and made her way towards the edge. As she placed her slender arms on the railings, a mysterious smile played upon her perfectly painted lips. She fiddled with the card between her fingers, skilfully weaving it in and out of her grasp. "King," she spoke sweetly, sounding out the word slowly as though she were trying to extract something from it.

It was the gentle fluttering of wings that paused her motions, as a pure fuchsia butterfly landed obediently on her fingertips. Seemingly pleased, the woman placed the card down on the balcony's surface and walked back into the room. She reappeared with a crystal bottle containing a golden liquid that threatened to spill if not for the sparkling lid. With a soft pop, the contents were spilt generously over her hands, her translucent skin seeming to glow even more enticingly under the moon. As the creature lapped eagerly at the nectar, the woman's eyes softened but only for a moment. Her gaze was now fixated on the lights in the distance, the lights of Stellis. There would be an event that she would have to attend, and her preparations were now complete. Breathing out a sigh mixed with relief and tiredness, she stretched out her arms and closed her eyes. Satisfied with its reward, the butterfly absorbed itself back into her body.

Her eyes snapped open. It was not the time to rest, not now. The woman's eyes slid sinisterly towards the dark room behind her, and her body followed suit. The sound of her polished heels echoed on the marble flooring, until she was finally back in her plush quarters. Shutting the doors to the outside, she took a candle to the middle of the room. It was then that the small flame's glow lit up the face of a restrained and cowering man. Sweat poured profusely down his face, scrunched up in an effort to get rid of the gag and blindfold. It was of course, useless. She lowered herself on a velvet chair, seating herself opposite him.

She would have liked to kill this man, for all the atrocities that he had committed. It was a shame that the group she was anonymously helping, NXX, would benefit greatly from using him as an information source. She, of course, knew everything that this human filth contained, but those individuals didn't. And she could not give them the luxury of her presence, not yet.

That would have to wait till the night of the ball.

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