There was something familiar about the way he dragged her out of the public eye, the last time that happened…
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★ ---
“ i’ve always been right where you could see me . ”
and she kisses him ---
impulsive, yet delicate in texture
and in thought.
it’s as if the planets all aligned --- no, like all the stars lit up like candles or christmas lights; illuminating the dead space in white-gold, a rush of heat. faust is the first to put a space between their lips, to make room for an apology. maybe --- if his pride allows it.
he’s eighteen, and he tastes pain on her mouth, but more understanding.
they’re on a park bench in lumiose city.
“ maybe . . . i was too busy looking in the wrong direction ? ” he iterates it as a question. it’s childlike --- the shrug of his shoulders, the easy curve of his lips. and maybe it’s a bit cliche, but slater’s were never known to look at what’s right in front of them, for enemies will strike you from the back. his citrine gaze always dead-set on the horizon, mind on the next move.
he’s seventeen again, looking in her eyes for the first time in a while. the sun stings. the barrel of his gun rests against her forehead.
“ do you wanna get out of here ? ” faust stutters. and he tries some form of laughter that sounds like a broken hum stuck in his throat.
“ we don’t seem to have the best memories in coffee shops . ”
he’s seven now, picking dandelions in the afternoon. they’re on a playground,
and her eyes are crystal blue and her hair is almost white. her name is artemis. they’re meeting for the first time.
In a way, Violet was disappointed–her inevitable encounter with Faust Slater seemed so…anticlimactic.
Even after (finally) becoming the leader of the Lumiose Gang, the hotheaded heir lacked realism, lacked impulse control. The Nighthawk maintained her poise even after her former ‘partner’ shoved her so rudely to the floor. She looked into those arrogant golden eyes and saw sky-high goals and above all, a longing for recognition.
Faust Slater hadn’t changed in Violet’s eyes–and that fact alone assured the Nighthawk that she would win their little contest. While the experienced mercenary thought of her moves five steps in advance, Faust was bent on flying in headstrong, angry.
It would be his undoing.
“ oh, and when you report back your failure, tell lusamine alola for me . ”
the gang leader stumbles back, heart pounding his chest. the heat from the hell hound’s flames radiates off his cheeks and makes him sweat. from his fall, he rubbed the skin of his palms raw on the concrete. they sting, but he’s felt much worse. his breath heavy, gold eyes wide, he spits, the wind still knocked out of him.
“ are you fucking serious, norgard?
you could have fucking ki --- ”
oh.
that’s the point.
how rude of her. is norgard bolder than he thought?
“ y’know, i wasn’t sent here to give the book back,
i just have to make sure that nobody else reads it . ”
--- or she’s finally gone zubat-shit crazy.
by this one-thousand-something degree attack, violet’s given faust a cliche ultimatum --- the easy way, or the hard way. with loaded gun in his palm, does the latter exist? but norgard has weapons of her own — a gun just as good; a knife to counteract; a red and white capsule that expands in her hand. so, she wants to play that game, huh?
faust gets a loose hold on his own pokeball. his thumb hovers over the button; not as eager, not as fitting as the trigger of his pistols. he can pin a bullet to her jacket right now.
--- why isn’t she making a m o v e ?
uncertainty balls up in the back of faust’s throat.
how would she do against a smokescreen? a ghost? a mega? the heir always has the upper hand. “ don’t be stupid. you know two can play at that game, norgard. ”
enter, weezing; puffing with poison gas. and don’t let that long face fool you --- it’s got quite the temper. a time-bomb,a wick more fragile than its master’s. faust draws his gun back, keeps his elbow by his hip.
( let’s make a getaway, kid ! asap ! )
faust works his jaw, no evidence of too much pride strewn across his face. he’s concentrating on his next move, on ignoring doubt.
“ c’mon, let’s show ‘em a smokescreen ! ”
weezing groans, and the whole basement fills with smoke --- black, opaque. faust grabs the book, tucks it under his arm. and because he can’t resist, he fires off a bullet. it tinks against a surface --- glass ?
Make Me Choose: Death the Kid or Soul Evans → requested by anonymous
“I do not deny evil, nor do I believe that any human is completely free of malice. Everything must be in balance. As long as evil and good maintain an equilibrium in this world, there is no problem. Perfect balance is the key to everything.”
sina smirks, she glances at him walking past her with the book for a second, before closing her eyes and placing her fingers on the bridge of her nose. she lets out a sigh: what a foolish boy, she thought.
without even facing him, sina kicks out her leg with an extended movement, just enough space to cover both his feet. she then aggressively swipes her leg across his feet, with just enough pressure to send him flying to the ground.
she then withdraws her leg, and turns her body to face the figure who is now on the ground: “i don’t think so, sunshine.” her tone seems more confident than before.
people had always thought of sina as just another sheep: an innocent girl consumed by science – but she was so much more, and she just proved it with the simplest of actions.
she moves over to the front of his body, and that’s where she notices the golden shimmer of the book. it revealed just enough to show the title: “the study of ultra wormhole”
she gasps, her eyes widening: this is what she had been in search for. the treasure that she had been searching so long for – she couldn’t just lose it to this punk.
sina moves to the side of his body and sends her foot down onto his back, causing some form of impact at the movement.
she sighs, “do you want to do this the easy way,” she then takes out a pokeball from her side, and she reveals it to him, “or the hard way?”
★ ---
how rude of her. is sina bolder than he thought? or perhaps, just more idiotic? ah, naivety. faust envies her; though, only for a moment before the pity kicks in.
“ who the fuck do you think you are ? ” he spits, the wind knocked out of him. his palms sting, skin rubbed raw from the concrete. her boot presses into his spine, and the situations seems oddly familiar. “ you’re lucky i don’t fucking ki --- . ”
faust catches himself, mid-threat. you’re lucky i don’t fucking kill you. if he’s not mistaken, that’s a line straight from the book of his old-self. perhaps, the callous killer found a way underneath his new get-up --- a black t-shirt --- or a place on an empty shelf of his new persona. perhaps, it never left.
sina gives him the cliche ultimatum --- the easy way, or the hard way. with loaded guns at his hips, does the latter exist? but sina has a weapon of her own --- a red and white capsule that expands in her hand. so, she wants to play that game, huh? squirming, faust gets a loose hold on his own pokeball. his thumb hovers over the button; not as eager, not as fitting as the trigger of his pistols.
how would she do against a smokescreen? a ghost? a mega? the heir always has the upper hand. " don’t be stupid. you know two can play at that game, sina . ”
Alola could quite possibly be considered the happiest place on earth, single-handedly beating out the Nimbasa Theme Park in Unova. Standing on the island themed stages filled her heart up with the warmth that she desperately craved, almost like getting her fill. As if the stage and the audience was her choice of drug, she found herself giving the best performances there. Aside from the mixed drinks, the island itself embodied the word paradise. She wondered if being trapped in the dreary streets of Lumiose had dulled her senses when it came to big cities, for they bored her.
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★ ---
it’s been three-hundred ninety-four days.
it’s far past twilight, nearing the darker hours.
it’s deep into winter — the start of a new year.
the fluorescent lights of the hau’oli city pokemon center don’t provide the right ambiance for mourning, not the right time to be reflecting on the past. and while there are no strings of gold and red lights throughout the coastal town, or signs of snowfall, faust thinks of nothing but home in lumiose city. love/hate, it lingers — the malaise in the center of his chest; an umbrella, curved and heavy. there are no gravestones, but the aura of death floats poignant; and it only makes itself notable to those who have lived here. everyone in the gang says they’re glad he’s left the cruel mouth of the city, the shadows of goliath buildings. he’s not there to see lumiose turn bitter in the cold front, along with its people.
the island seems to be growing on him.
arceus forbid, he gets acquainted with the sun.
at the coffee shop, faust slumps in his seat. he slips the bartender a hushed thank you as he goes to reach for his cup — tapu cocoa, they call it — before him on the bar. his parents always taught him manners, and how stand his ground from enemies. but what if the threat is intangible? unstoppable? but what if the threat is strawberry-blonde? if he’s in love with it?
“ nice to see you, shitlord . ”
the name strikes a chord, lights a match.
--- a-artemis ?
faust nearly chokes.
and he stutters. ( good one, kid . )
“ a-artemis, what the . . . ” she’s been getting comfortable in a room inside his heart, lighting a fire with his ribs. and their reunions have the habit of being wrong place, wrong time. what’s she been up to since they last saw each other? besides getting into trouble?
faust snatches her wrist, tugging her closer and away from public ears. “ w-what the hell ? ” wide, gold eyes read her features, all the youthful lines in her skin. her lips look soft. is he blushing?
--- she’s real, isn’t she ?
“ you can’t just keep showing up wherever i am like nothing happened . ” his grip tightens on the fabric of her sleeve. and he doesn’t mean for it to sound as chilly as it does. his tone borders on matter-of-factly, but he has an innate sarcasm, a rough edge to his voice. “ let me guess, you’re just going to leave again, aren’t you ? ”
I was kinda bored thus decided to do an edit of this page. Aside from doing the a stripe wrongly, I think it came out nicely. Def gonna do more, if you have any suggestions of another panels from the prologue, feel free to send them.