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“Luuk Herssen,” The blonde doctor’s eyes shot open, hands tied behind his back as he sat on a foldable chair. “You’re awake, at last.”
A stoic woman stood before him—a bandage covering one of her eyes—as she held onto a lycoris. The flower of death—even deadly to humans—being held so casually by someone would usually worry the doctor, but not this time. Not when it was held by a woman mixed with tacet discord and entirely immortal.
“Lady Hecate.” Luuk spat her code name with venom, refusing to look at her with his usual kind eyes. The woman feigned hurt, pouting weakly.
“Please do call me Phrolova,” The woman in red walked closer, leaning down to meet Luuk’s height. “I have missed you dearly since you last tried to kill us all.” A disgusting hand made its way up the doctor's chest, sending flames into the man’s heart.
“One person was meant to be burned alive, and that wasn’t you.”
“Awe…” Phrolova cooed, a nail flicking Luuk’s chin. “But you know I want nothing to do with them now, don’t you?” The blonde furrowed his brows in confusion.
“What is that supposed to mean, Lady Hecate?”
“It means you can quit calling me that. I’ve no relations with that group of insanity anymore,” As the woman in red turned on her heel and turned, Luuk continued to stare daggers into her back. “After everything had gone to plan for both me and those in Rinicita, I decided to quit that team.”
“Then what’s up with the ropes?” Phrolova stopped in her tracks, fingers tracing the stem of the lycoris.
“So you wouldn’t run when I ask where Rover is.”
Luuk’s heart dropped. Knowing the past interaction between her and his old acquaintance, this was something he needed to avoid. His struggle became worse, moving the chair he was stuck to.
“Calm yourself,” The woman in red kneeled in front of the doctor, her bandage loosening to reveal a red eye behind it. “I don’t care for them anymore. I just need to know they aren’t around at the moment.”
“Why? What’s so important about it to you?”
“I’ll take that as confirmation they are away on their own mission.” Phrolova took a seat on Luuk’s lap, the man below her tensing up from the urge to push her off. She leaned her head onto his shoulder, examining the flower of death in her hand.
The blonde under her could think of nothing more than to toss her off of him to pray it would keep her away. Unfortunately, the only way his legs could move would be pulling her closer.
“So what if they are? The Golden One will always figure something is amiss.”
“You’re just trying to make yourself feel better,” Phrolova picked a petal, the two watching it regenerate in front of their eyes. “Trust me when I say they won’t come back. That promise they made you won’t be met on their end.” The statement alone made Luuk’s blood boil.
“How would you know?”
“Rover promised to come to my last concert…” Gray strands tickled the blonde's neck, breath following close after. “They never went, and I was instead grabbed by the same entity that hurt you.”
“I know what you're trying to do…” Luuk hissed through clenched teeth. Phrolova trailed another finger along his clenched jaw, a weak laugh escaping her lips.
“The only thing I’m trying to do is figure out why you’re the one always following me. You’ve made a promise to find me in every hideout and haven’t failed to do so. It makes me wonder if you’re the one I should be searching for rather than the one that couldn’t even show up.” The blonde flinched, feeling the obsession slowly oozing out with every word. He already knew something was wrong with this girl, but not this bad.
“I didn’t keep the promise for you–”
“But you said it to me. Promising me to find me in every hiding spot we all had. You’ve never failed.”
“You as in The Fractsidus. Not you in specific.”
“Then why make eye contact?” Luuk could hear the desperation in Phrolova’s voice, her body becoming more tense.
“I didn’t–”
“But you did,” He watched as the bandage fell into the woman’s lap, her eyes becoming more frantic as she looked him in the eyes. “With every promise you’ve made towards us, you specifically looked at me. That alone made those promises special to me.”
“You’re obsessed with your own idea’s–” A hand forcefully covered his mouth, keeping him quiet.
“Just make one more promise to me,” Phrolova’s face got closer, Luuk wishing he had more movement to keep away from her. Her voice went down to a whisper as she looked down at her hand that covered his mouth. “Please come find me again. I’d love to see you once more.”
The kiss the woman in red left on the back of her hand was enough to make the doctor turn red. Not from love but from anger. The small action made him wish he had thought of forcing his blood to form a scythe to cut through his restraints earlier.
With no ropes holding him tightly to the chair, Luuk pushed Phrolova off of his lap. He held a blade to her, not seeing a sliver of fear in her eyes. Instead, the woman on the floor wiped the bloody tear from her eyes and smiled. Knowing she was content with the actions made it all feel like Luuk should run.
“I won’t make any promises. Not to you. Not anymore.” Phrolova continued to smile, her hand gripping her flower tightly. Luuk could hear a certain performance readying its cue.
“So they were for me.”