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evercries · 6 months

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奇𓂃 the mara's tether is firmly in her grasp. she will not pull upon it before the designated time, but nor shall she relinquish it.

[blade x reader] ╏[unedited] ╏ [draft] ♫ word count: 3251

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The sound of the blade plunged into the flesh of the visibly injured man brought you back to reality as your eyes remained on the scene in front of you. Hiding behind the bookshelf inside the room, you shuffled your body around carefully as you covered your shivering lips that were overwhelmed with fear and wet from the tears that dripped. The sound of the blade continued as the man screamed in agony while you cowardly hid from the attackers who showed no mercy towards the man. Voices were heard, but you were panicking too much to realize what was being said before you shifted and accidentally bumped into the back of the bookshelf with your arms, which caused the shelf to shake, a few books falling off the shelves and unto the floor. The sound startled you, meaning the other people present in the room also witnessed it with the additional noise.

That’s when the noises started revealing its owner. The sound of heels were heard as they approached where you sat slowly before pausing when the injured man, you assumed tried escaping which caused who you believed was a woman to laugh, next thing you knew, loud groans of were heard from the man.

“Oh, darling, hush.” A voice said, a voice you recognized easily as you removed your hands that were pressed against your ears, peek your eyes once more from the corner where you sat and there she was, Kafka’s back was faced away from you, but you could easily tell it was her from her clothes, her heels, and her luscious hair that flowed down her back. Confused on why Kafka was doing, you shifted your body accordingly to get a better view of the scene, but nothing could prepare you from the sight you saw. A tall man stood opposite to Kafka, his back leaned against the desk while his hands were crossed. His usual nonchalant expression as he stared at the mess in front of him, occasionally staring down at the man who was struggling and possibly in front of death’s doorstep. The man who you dedicated your time and love to, the same man you promised to love through health and sickness, the same man who would never harm a person was standing in front of you torturing an assuming, innocent man. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ᥫ᭡

Still perplexed, you stood there frozen as you watched the interaction between Kafka and Blade, your husband.

“I can pay you the money I owe, I beg of you to spare me. I have children and a wife that is of child.” The man begged, his hands pressed together as he knelt in front of Kafka, tears streaming down his face despite the wound that had worsened, crimson blood stains all over his body dripping down to his clothes.

Kafka stared at the man, smiled, glanced over at Blade before giggling. Her index finger tilted his head as she caressed his cheek softly. “It’s not the money I want, dear, the information about the stellaron you were entrusted with.”

The stellaron? That name sounded familiar to you for a second before being left with a blank. Blade mumbled something to Kafka before more footsteps were heard approaching the room. The man had gone completely silent, his complexion changing into a pale colour, his lips twisted while his eyes darted from left to the right side of the room before finally looking back at Kafka with both of his hands entwined with each other.

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“That I cannot tell.” This created Kafka to have an assumed look on her face, hummed softly, but remained silent as if she was thinking about something. The seconds that passed felt like minutes to you, trapped behind the bookshelf, regretting your decision to come inside Blade’s study.

“Get rid of the body.” Blade mumbled to Kafka, seems like his patience had run out, was what you thought as you watched your husband have an annoyed expression on his face. Before you knew it, Men stood in the doorway or the room before turning towards the room. “Be mindful of the blood stain. I’m afraid that little nose of hers is quite sensitive.” Was all he said before he and Kafka exited the room leaving behind the injured man, men dressed in black carrying a knife, and unknowingly, you.

The man was dragged forcefully out of the room, leaving you alone in the room, completely confused on what you just witnessed. Finally catching a breath, you peaked in front of the bookshelf to ensure there was no one present before crawling out of the space you hid in. Collecting yourself, you stood up, dusted your now stained dress, grabbed the book you were looking for before heading out of the room. However, as you pressed your hand against the door, a strong scent hit your nose causing you to pinch both entrances of your nostrils, spun your head around to inspect what awful smell was bothering you before hearing someone down the hallway. Deciding to ignore the awful smell, you slid the door open, checked both sides, and walked straight to your chambers in the most collected and calm way you could.

“My lady.” Someone called from behind, you stopped to look at a young girl running towards you with towels around her shoulders. That girl was your helper, Asta, an assistant in your opinion, but seeing her run while her beautiful pale skin glowed with a light shade of red made you chuckle a bit. As she stopped running once she got closer to you and caught her breath slowly, Asta grabbed the edge of the towel before lightly hitting your shoulder with it.

“Hast thou lost it? Where hast thou been? Do you realize the stress of being worried about your whereabouts?” Asta started seeming frustrated while talking about completely unrelated things before she suddenly paused. Her eyes glanced down at the book in your hand, then at the dark spots covering the bottom of your dress, to the way you smiled nervously.

“The book?” She questioned, an eyebrow lifted after you remained silent. “Did you? No, you didn’t. I trust you, my lady.” She was definitely referring to the office of blade, the same office he had personally spoken to you about, to never enter it without speaking to him first. But, curiosity got the best of you, plus you had sneaked into his office a couple of times, no injured man present or men in black during your previous visits, just a wonderful sight out of his window and extraordinarily detailed books.

“Just for a second, Asta. No harm was done.” You responded before turning around and walking towards your chambers while Asta followed behind, her mouth however remained opened as she asked any question she could plus the additional speech about how dangerous your decision was. Pausing in your tracks, you turned around to face Asta, tilted your head before speaking, “Asta, darling, your mouth is running away.” This causes Asta to roll her eye dramatically, her arms crossed with an unimpressed expression on her face. After a few seconds passed with you having an awkward stare-down with Asta, she sighed.

“What did you find?” She asked, her eyes staring at your book as she walked along. You joined her with a huge grin on your face, excited to tell her everything about the book you searched for everywhere, but realized it was sitting idle on Blade’s bookshelf all this time. As if she could sense your happiness, Asta stared back with a glare, causing your smile to disappear as both of you walked back to your chambers.

She was so adorable, you wanted to pinch her cheek, but held back. Raising the book towards her direction, allowing her to read the book's title directly. When she was done, both of you focused on heading towards your chambers, which was weirdly across from where you stood. Being careful to glance right and left, you found it odd that there was no sight of Kafka or Blade, this made you unbelievably uncomfortable and uneasy. The house you lived in was filled with light and positive energy from the staff team that scrambled around the house with their big smiles and almost easy to hear whispering as you and Astra walked through the halls. Reaching your chambers, you quietly opened the door, allowing yourself in and Astra before closing it.

“Ah, the beauty of silence, isn’t it so incredible?” You asked Astra, the book still in your hands, before you placed it on your desk, turned to Astra and smiled with your hands behind your back.

“I suppose so.” She answered back, went into the bathroom to place back the towel that had been sitting on her arm before coming out to where you were. She walked past you to the covered windows, held unto the sides of the curtains before pulling them aside, revealing the view from outside. The sunset was beginning, but was bright from where you stood, the pink coloured clouds held hands with the bright baby blue sky, creating a beautiful scenery. Just as you and Astra both stood there mesmerized by the view, a knock was heard from behind before the sound of a door opening.

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In the doorway stood Blade, he seemed rather shy to see Astra inside the room with you because while standing in your doorway, Blade continued to rub his neck with a nervous smile on his face, almost like he had seen something he wasn’t supposed to. Astra coughed, causing you to turn around to face her, she gestured over at the doorway where blade stood. You hadn’t noticed another person standing right behind Blade, her eyes glancing at the decor of the door. Once she met eye contact with you, Kafka smiled widely, her red tinted lips really making her look gorgeous as you stared back. Trying to stay calm, you walked over to the table where the book and other items were scattered around, grabbed them, this included some mailed letters, paper filled with designs, and some letters you had written that remained idle until now.

Passing them to Astra to go “throw” them away, Astra raised an eyebrow in confusion before walking past Blade and Kafka. You could feel the awkwardness as Astra exited the room, however, you caught Blade’s eyes glancing down at the items inside Astra arms as she passed, almost like he was reading something, Blade’s eyes shifted to a focused look. Unlike you, the letters that were sent to you were opened, who sent them visible as well as the content of the letter. While Kafka was more interested in the decorations hanging around your room, Blade turned back to you, his whole demeanour changed. His eyes narrowed, both filled with anger, while having his jaw clenched and a smirk appearing on the corner of his lips.

Walking over to where your tea station was to avoid what Blade was thinking, you filled the kettle with water, turned around and invited Kafka and Blade to sit comfortably on the table while you prepared the tea. Kafka giggled as she walked over to the table, rubbed her fingers on the table, whipped it, and lifted the finger to her face as she blew on the invisible dust. Sitting down, Kafka had her legs crossed, her elbow on the table, while her eyes remained on you. Blade on the other hand leaned against the doorway, his eyes also staring at you. Almost like a light raze, you should feel the intense staring both Blade and Kafka were doing while preparing the cups. You dropped a few tablespoons of your favourite leaf, a mint flavoured leaf, poured a bit of honey before adding the hot water from the kettle.

A few stirs with the spoon you had, when finished, you placed the cups carefully on a tray before walking to the table, placed the tray down, and sat down across Kafka. Excited, Kafka reached out, held the cup handle before bringing the cup up towards her face, breathing in the incredible warmth and smell the cup brought, Kafka smiled at you before saying thank you. Blade remained where he was, his anger seemed to subside as he stared over at the window.

Kafka placed the cup down, her smile disappearing before she spoke. “I have a question, do you mind?”

“Not at all, go ahead.” You told her, reaching out and taking the handle of one of the cups remaining on the tray, blowing it before sipping the tea. While sipping, Kafka suddenly asked a strange question.

“Do you know what a stellaron is?”

This caused you to suddenly choke on your drink, placing it back down before covering your mouth as you coughed. “Oh, heavens. I thought I was in trouble.” You said with a smile on your face. Blade walked from he stood, grabbed the napkin in his pocket and whipped the corners of your mouth with it. Saying thank you and holding the napkin, your gaze returned to Kafka, whose facial expression was serious.

“No, I do not know what it is. This is my first time hearing about it.” That was an awful lie you just made, but it was true. Half true, if you were being completely honest. The name was familiar to you, but you heard it earlier today already between Kafka, Blade, and the strange man.

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Kafka nodded, thanked you before exiting the room. She paused in the doorway, turned around, stormed to where you sat. Worried she realized how awful your lie was, you backed in your chair, but Kafka reached out and grabbed the handle of the cup that remained on the table. Seeing your reaction, she stared at Blade, chuckled, ruffled your hair carefully before finally leaving. She and blade exchanged glances, that you couldn’t interpret, but she waved by before disappearing into the halls.

Exhaling, you stood up, grabbed the tray and walked over to your tea table to place it down there.

“You can drop the act now.” Blade spoke first, his voice rubbing you the wrong way, it sounded so annoying. Turning towards him, you were met with a glare.

“Don’t look at me like that, all I did was answer her question.”

“The answer that you lied about? Since when are we lying?”

This caused you to physically freeze, your eyebrows narrowed against each other out of frustration. Not in the mood, you tried walking past the table where Blade stood, but he grabbed your wrist, pulling you towards him.

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“You’re not denying it.” He said, his eyes staring down at you. You couldn’t exactly deny what he was saying because he was right. Your silence gave him his answer as he got up in your face, his jaw clearly clenched. “What else are you lying about?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The letters. Who are they from?”

Now this made you curious, with an eyebrow raised and an amused smile on your face, you asked him the same question you’ve been wondering. “What letters?”

This caused Blake to stare at you for a moment to process the joke, his face went from confused to very concerned. “Did you go into my office earlier today?”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“No, I did not.” Another obvious and vague lie, your eyes staring into his eyes as the seconds went by. You could feel the sweat roll down the side of your face as you stood there, almost like a lion gazing down at its prey, Blade just stared.

His eyes shifted from yours to your dress, specifically the bottom of your dress. “Really?”

“Running. I was running and then I fell.” You said quickly, your hands trying to cover the stain that covered the bottom of your dress.

“You don’t like running.” Blade commented, his eyes now filled with curiosity.

“I tried something new.” You replied, a nervous grin on your face even though you were met with an emotionless expression, Blade.

“You never try something new.” He pointed out before his hands were up, making the quotation marks with his fingers. “You said you were too lazy.”

“Are you using this opportunity to mock me?” Hands on your hips, your face closer to him as you continued humming him for an answer.

His finger pressed against your forehead, moving you away from him before continuing. “No, I’m curious about why you were in my office this afternoon.”

“Haven’t we already discussed this?” You questioned him, turning your body around to admire the view, or at least that’s what he saw. You were hiding the fact that you chewed on your lips repeatedly, wondering where Astra was.

“As far as I know, every question I’ve asked you, you’ve lied about.”

“Huh? What questions?”

“The letters, care to explain yourself?” Your back was still faced towards him, which annoyed Blade more than anything, even more than how bad you were at lying. Placing his hand on your shoulder, Blade turned you around to face him, his eyes immediately glancing down at your known swollen lips caused by the constant chewing.

“What do you think those letters are?”

“Love letters.”

A snort of laughter came out of your mouth, you paused, stared at Blade’s confused but stern face before exploding into laughter. Just as you were hysterically laughing, the doorbell rang loudly through the hallways.

Blade did not look amused, his face still looked stern, but you were already used to it. “I’ll wait for you here.” It was all he said, but you just stood there confused of what he meant with your head tilted.

“For you to change your dre-“ Blade’s sentence was cut short when the sound of an explosion sounded from the main entrance. Glancing at you, you finally saw the real him coming out, a worried expression was on his face before he turned around and walked out of your chambers. Deciding to follow him, you grabbed the first thing you saw, which had to be an empty plant pot. Walking behind Blade towards the main entrance while trying to be careful and quiet, you soon reached the front entrance and saw different people.

As Kafka stood in the doorway, which was now blown down, two large robots stood beside her. In front of her, there were three individuals - a girl, a boy, and another girl. Astra was standing behind them, which surprised you. However, you didn't hesitate to approach her. Blade noticed your shocked expression, grabbed your wrist, pulled you back into his arms, bent down, and whispered, "Listen and watch carefully."

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You were completely shocked and couldn't say anything. You just stared at Astra, eagerly waiting for answers to your questions. Stella, who was positioned in front, walked up to Kafka and bombarded her with questions, while the other female, who introduced herself as March 7th, supported Stella. The boy, Dan Heng, remained silent and simply observed the two females in front of him, attempting to intimidate Kafka.

Hold on. How did you know that the girl's name was Stella? And how did you know the identity of Dan Heng?

It was at this moment that you realized you had some unexplained knowledge about the people in front of you. Perhaps there was a hidden connection or a mysterious backstory that was yet to be revealed. Your curiosity grew, and you couldn't help but wonder how these characters were intertwined in your journey.