Chapter 64: Abbreviated

“That’s odd. I was under the impression this was about Leonard; he’s the one who holds the most influence in Base Six. But Robin? Why him? How is he connected to Adisa?”

Confusion was plain on Haven’s face, but it wasn’t the whole picture. Beneath it, something more complicated moved: conflicted thoughts and doubts she hadn’t quite worked through.

Purple seemed to sense the need to say something and willed herself toward it, but Julien cut ahead of her.

He was eager, noticeably so, as though the success of this agreement mattered to him in ways he hadn’t bothered to hide.

Of course it did. He was in this with Purple.

“There have been whispers about Robin roaming the streets often. The carriage stations to the Eighth District know him well. Some even claim to see him in Montreal frequently, sometimes with suspicious company. But their doubts never ran deep, they assumed he was on missions.”

With a soft smile, Purple doubled down on Julien’s words.

“Outsiders’ words mean nothing… but I saw him myself, so there’s no denying it.”

The second duel Scar had fought at the academy was against Purple, and her loss came with consequences: a survey assignment in Montreal.

She came back from it carrying injuries, but the story behind them was what mattered.

She hadn’t been caught off guard by the survey itself. She had encountered Robin out there, shared a few words, and when a Scarlet Kin moved on them, Robin had done nothing. He had simply left. Left her there to die.

“I won’t deny it, I was careless then. I believed he wanted to save me, but he just couldn’t. But when V appeared, and Adisa and Amell rebelled, I understood I wasn’t meant to meet him that day. He left me to die, without a second thought.”

Scar and Haven found each other’s eyes, both of them carrying the same unease. She didn’t speak, and she didn’t have to. Scar understood what her silence meant, she believed it too.

He had no telepathic ability to speak of, but he didn’t need one. Whatever Robin had done around the others, Haven hadn’t been spared either. He was certain.

Haven exhaled deeply.

“He’s been a nuisance from the moment I met him, constantly claiming I’d serve him. But I never expected him to desire the extinction of humanity…”

She took a deep breath.

“He approached me not long ago, asking if I wanted to join their so-called ’movement.’ I do need his help, but the way he presented it made the danger obvious, so I turned him down.”

She stroked her chin, sifting through her thoughts. Robin had been lying his way out of duty for a while now. Regularly, almost routinely.

It made sense in a way that sat uncomfortably.

The bastard was moving deliberately, making sure their little movement stayed breathing.

His cheap way to earn her loyalty was world domination?

Haven looked disappointed.

Scar, though, couldn’t settle.

He had already been carrying doubts about the Epic Competition next week, and the uncertainty hadn’t left him. But this changed the shape of it entirely.

If Robin was one of V’s allies, then V’s people likely already knew what the Supreme Council had planned. The whole strategy hinged on the prodigy walking into it. Was that still a reasonable thing to count on?

While his mind wandered, Purple spoke:

“Good. I’m pleased you understand, Haven. Now have Robin pass a message along to Adisa.”

Haven scowled.

She couldn’t even manage a decent lie to get herself here, Purple had done that for her. And now she was supposed to get Robin, of all people, to do that? Robin, who had turned lying into something close to an art form. She had no idea where to even begin with that.

“Mmm… Mm…”

The words wouldn’t come easily, and eye contact made it worse. There was no logical reason for the struggle, except the reason, which was the problem.

Saying it out loud meant admitting it. That she was learning how to lie. The motivation behind it was Scar. That she wanted to see him more often badly enough to go to these lengths. Hearing that leave her own mouth was not something she was prepared for.

Staring into the awkwardness in her eyes, Julien smiled.

“There’s no need to persuade him. Simply hand him the letter and tell him to deliver it to Adisa.”

Purple doubled down on Julien’s words.

“He’ll deny any connection to Adisa. The man’s a fugitive now, after all. It doesn’t matter. Do your job and don’t concern yourself with him.”

Haven’s expression shifted once more.

“Alright… but then what? What’s the plan for Adisa and Robin?”

Scar had been leaning back, quiet, moving through whatever was tangled in his head. Finally, he spoke:

“Adisa is mine. I’ll kill him.”

Haven shivered. It was brief but sharp, and before she could think past it, her hand had already reached for Scar’s.

“Let me end him. He killed the very person who protected you. I won’t forgive that. I won’t let you carry this alone. I’ll make him pay for the suffering he’s caused. And the world will be better for it.”

Scar held back a smile, though just barely. She cared about him, that had never really been in question.

His circumstances had made doubt a reflex, something that attached itself to most people without much invitation. But Haven sat outside of that. She was good, genuinely, and he had always known it.

She was his crush, which helped. But something darker in him pressed down on the moment before it could become anything, and the smile stayed where it was.

He clenched his fist and watched as it trembled.

“Thank you, Haven. But I need to face this alone. I’ve never killed a human before… But the one who killed Isaac isn’t human anymore. He became a monster the moment he did it. Whatever we were before doesn’t change that.”

Haven looked at the determination sitting in Scar’s eyes, something in her expression shifted, barely enough to notice.

To anyone else, she was the same… cold, unreadable, giving nothing away. But Scar caught it. The smile beneath the coldness, small and tucked away, yet evident in his eyes.

“Alright, Scar. I trust your judgment. If it comes down to it, I’ll handle Robin.”

AHEM

Purple grabbed their attention.

“Then it’s settled. Now we wait and pray that Scar’s bond with Adisa is strong enough to pull him into the trap we’ve prepared.”

Haven’s frown came immediately.

“And you two? What exactly are you doing? I thought we were fighting to save humanity, yet you don’t look ready to lift a finger.” The words left her in a confrontational manner.

The smile on Purple’s face was forced, but she’d dressed it well enough that it almost wasn’t.

“It’s alright, Haven. Every one of us will contribute in a meaningful way.”

’Ah! What a funny joke.’

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