Twists of Fate [Part 19]
Nov. 20th, 2014 11:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Noblesse
Summary: Nakida’s a hacker in the middle of a job to find some information. Except they’re not the only one breaking into the building that night - there’s a silver-haired guy walking around like cameras don’t exist. If he wants to get caught, it’s not their problem.
Huian’s on guard duty to protect the information they’re after. Usually it’s quiet - all she has to do is enter the system, keep an eye on the camera feeds and patrol around the clusters of data to make sure no-one gets to them.
Their pasts connect them, even if they don’t remember. And the past does tend to come back.
Rating: PG-13
Contains: Descriptions of pain.
Notes: Reincarnation fic! :D Written for nano! So expect some weirdness as I churn this out, haha.
Genre: General.
Word count: 2,511
Total word count: 41,671
Status: Complete
It was easier to scan through all the camera feeds, which should have worried Nakida, but right now they grabbed whatever advantage they could get, trying to find Huian.
It was also tempting to connect with the system again, to access all that processing power and speed. Nakida shoved the thought to the side; they weren't willing to go that far. Not yet.
There she was. [
She'd gone into a room –Nakida maximised the feed in that room- and that was Joyce. The two disappeared and reappeared in different places, purple blurring in different areas as Nakida kept fast forwarding to what the camera was seeing in the present.
It halted, running at the normal speed with Huian and Joyce standing right in front of each other. No, Huian was leaning forward towards Joyce, looking like she was being supported by Joyce.
At their feet was a puddle of blood that was growing larger, blood dripping down from between them.
Fuck…
* * *
Huian could taste blood. Every breath was a wheezy struggle, her throat closing up as she felt Joyce's Dark Spear tear deeper into her. She couldn't push away; she'd tried, her hands still gripping Joyce's shoulders as the pain increased, but Joyce's other hand was pinning her in place, making sure she couldn't move away.
Her own Dark Spear thundered down her body, a wall of protective rage as it ripped at Joyce's Dark Spear, trying to stop its progress.
Their body. Theirs.
It was her body, but it wouldn't be neither of theirs (she wouldn't have a body) if they couldn't stop Joyce.
Whose breathing was as harsh as Huian's was wheezy and Huian rolled her head, trying to see Joyce's face.
Her eyes were glassy, staring, and Huian could see the corners of her eyes were purple and black. That's what she looked like when she was consuming someone.
No, in Min-chul's and Ga-young's memories, Dark Spear hadn't been as widespread. Joyce's Dark Spear was licking out from her eyes, spreading out over her face as Huian watched.
"Shut up," Joyce muttered and the Dark Spear inside Huian flexed, withdrawing a tiny bit.
"Fuck!" The strength went out of Huian's legs and it was Joyce's hand that kept her upright.
Joyce hadn't been talking to her though. It had to be the people she'd consumed.
If Huian could keep her distracted…
She could try that.
It would hurt worse than she already was, but it was better than being consumed. At this rate she was going to die anyway, so so long as she could stop Joyce from knowing what Takeo had known, she'd at least done some damage control after fucking up.
Huian gripped harder, trying to get some air in her as she concentrated on all the places that were close to Joyce, where they were touching.
It was nearly all of her front now that she'd slumped forward and Huian let out a shaky breath, directing her Dark Spear to those areas.
Dark Spear's response was sluggish, wanting to keep fighting against Joyce's Dark Spear. Come on, listen to her! This was another way to fight Joyce!
That seemed to reach her Dark Spear and it slid to the areas she wanted.
Huian shuddered, no energy or control to work her mouth or throat, hoping Joyce would keep holding her.
Squeezing her eyes shut, breathing going more erratic as the fire moved through her body, resting at her forearms, torso and chin. Everything pulsed with pain, her heart hammering, trying to rip itself out her chest before Joyce's Dark Spear got to it.
Just a little bit. That's all she had to do. Maybe.
She had to try.
Even with her eyes closed, the world span and she pushed out, trying to get the Dark Spear to do what she wanted.
Needles.
Burning needles stabbing into every pore Dark Spear came out of, reaching her muscles, twisting and locking them up until she couldn't move even if she'd wanted to.
There were clothes in the way but Dark Spear burned through them, intent on their destination.
It took all of Huian's concentration just to breath, surprised her heart hadn't stopped from the strain yet. Maybe Dark Spear had enhanced that too.
"You won't…be able to consume me," Joyce grunted, and it was motivating to know she wasn't the only one struggling.
Huian didn't respond (she couldn't anyway). Let her think that's what she was doing. Keep her distracted.
She could feel her Dark Spear make contact with Joyce's skin, burrowing into it, and Huian grimaced, feeling it absorb some of Joyce's body into itself. She was far too aware of what her Dark Spear was doing, concentrating on that to stay away from her own pain as much as possible.
Her breath caught as she felt Joyce's retaliation, Joyce's Dark Spear tearing at her own.
Everything hurt. Every beat was a new wave of pain. Huian couldn't tell if what she was feeling was her Dark Spear going into Joyce's body or if it was Joyce's Dark Spear invading her own through the path her Dark Spear had made.
Hissing crackling filled Huian's ears. Their Dark Spears or white noise?
"Wait! No!"
Huian twitches at the cry and she managed to tilt her head to look at Joyce.
Most of her face was purple now, her eyes all white, and her hair looked like it was alive, like it was fire.
Huian was shoved away and she hit the floor with a thump, skipping for a short distance.
From this view, Huian could see Joyce's body was the same as her face: the majority of it was purple and black, her feet and mouth the only things left untouched.
"You won't consume me," Joyce hissed, but the last untouched spots were disappearing as Joyce spoke and she sank to her knees, falling over.
Huian's breathing filled her ears as she kept watching, unable to move. Nothing seemed to happen as one second passed, and then another. She could feel Dark Spear slide down to the wound in her gut, encouraging her healing. Huian was morbidly sure she could feel her body reconstructing itself.
A squelching sound reached Huian's ears and Joyce's form was shivering.
No. Not shivering. Shrinking.
It was shrinking until it collapsed, tendrils of Dark Spear reaching up from her corpse and then smacking down again.
All that was left was a large puddle that was in the shape Joyce had fallen in, but it drew back, collecting itself into a more circular shape. It didn't move after that, but Huian could picture it winding towards her and consuming her if it remembered she was there.
The door slid open and shit. Shit shit, she couldn't-
"Huian!"
Hah?
She blinked and Kang-dae's face was in front of hers.
This was familiar.
There was no blood on Kang-dae's face though, no tears. Not yet, anyway.
"Shit. I wasn't fast enough."
And Huian needed to move her mouth, or an arm to stop him before he worked himself up. It was hard to attempt that when everything about her was exhausted.
"Kang…" Ow. She winced, her ribcage refusing to expand. "'m fine." She wasn't dead. In a lot of pain and couldn't move, but it was better than being dead.
"You're not," Kang-dae insisted, his expression crestfallen.
Nnng, fuck. He had a better of her than Huian, but by the look in his eyes, he was probably also seeing Takeo and Tao's deaths.
Taking a few quick breaths, she braced herself and tried to lift an arm.
It was shaking and trembling, but she managed it. It was easier than she expected; Dark Spear's healing must have been kicking in for her entire body.
"Don't-" Kang-dae said, watching her.
Huian hovered her hand over her stomach as Kang-dae watched. "Not my heart…or lungs," she wheezed. She could still recover from this; Takeo hadn't had the time or the apparatus to breathe or beat for him then.
Kang-dae's face was blank until his eyes went wide and he stared at Huian's wound.
…She semi-hoped the grimace was because he'd seen Dark Spear at work rather than the wound.
He'd understood what she'd said, at least.
She flopped her hand down again, not registering when it hit the ground, her skin tingling.
"Joyce…" she said, looking at him. She tried to point with a tilt of her head. It still made her head spin. "Her Dark Spear."
He turned around and didn't say anything for a few seconds. "It consumed her?"
"Mm."
"We can't leave that here, even if it seems inactive," he muttered, getting to his feet.
What was he going to do? He couldn't pick it up and slashing at it wouldn't do anything either.
"Nakida," he said.
[
"How long would it take for you to find and steal the Union's sensitive information?" He was walking away, towards one of the machines used to evaluate the data being collected in the room.
[
Damn. They were better than Nakida had expected.
"All right." He pulled off the fire extinguisher from the wall, pulling off the pin. He was going to pour water over it?
No, there was machinery in the room; it had to be filled with CO2.
Huian lost consciousness as he started blasting Dark Spear with it.
* * *
Dark Spear seemed to have frosted over, and when M-21 prodded it with a foot, it didn't try to wrap a tendril around his foot. The CO2 wouldn't have done anything to it and if it had, Frankenstein would know what to do. He wrapped a bin bag around it, picking it up without touching it.
Hopefully the shock of the cold would keep it at least sluggish enough to not burn or rip its way out of the bag.
When he looked over at Huian – shit.
He rushed to her side and checked her pulse. It was strong, if a little uneven. And her wound was still closing up, black and purple tendrils writhing over it. He lifted her top away from the wound, in case Dark Spear healed the fabric into her skin.
"Can you control the airflow?" he asked Nakida as he gingerly lifted Huian into his arms. She had moved her arm, so her spinal cord seemed to be undamaged. He hadn't seen her legs more yet, but he couldn't leave her here either.
[
…Right, Nakida wouldn't be used to thinking in terms of how to kill a large of number of people at once. "Forget it," he said, shaking his head. "Just concentrate on stealing their data. Destroy it once you're done." He could come back later if they hadn't abandoned the lab by then.
[
He nodded, seeing the call close.
It could be so easy - but they had some of the Union's data, so it was better than nothing. Better than what he'd been able to manage himself. Maybe they could decode it and see what plans the Union had.
Maybe. They had to get out first.
Carrying both Huian and the Dark Spear, M-21 left the room.
* * *
The route back was quieter than the route in, no-one stumbling across Kang-dae. Once he was close enough, Nakida left the feeds and went back to their body.
They took in a heaving gasp when they re-entered their body, the feeling of their senses connecting was like slamming face first into a wall. Heartbeat, breathing, hearing, touch. It was all grounding them back, back to their sense of self after being the system, having a large wealth of power at their command.
Kang-dae came into their room, and they were still sprawled out across the floor, getting used to having an inner ear again.
"Nakida?"
"Yo." They lifted an arm, waving it. "Nearly there." This adjustment was worse than usual and Nakida really hoped they hadn't left part of them behind in the system.
They got to their feet, one bit at a time, moving every muscle to make sure they had control over it. It seemed like it, and once they were standing, they nodded, calling their cable back into their neck.
"Good thing I bought an extra top," they said, digging it out of their bag. They passed it to Kang-dae.
"How are you feeling?" Kang-dae asked as he put it on.
"Been better; how's Huian?" they asked, peering at her. The feeds had shown the bright red patch in the centre of her stomach, but they hadn't caught the writhing mass in the middle of it. Their skin tingled at the sight. "That's not her intestines, is it."
Kang-dae snorted as he picked Huian up again. "Dark Spear's healing her; she'll need a lot of rest and food once we're out." Nakida placed a jumper over Huian, to cover the blood when they got outside.
Not a blood transfusion? Nakida was sure she should have already died, but Huian didn't seem that pale for the amount of blood they thought she'd lost. There wasn't a trail of blood being left behind either.
"So now what?" Nakida asked as they stepped into the elevator.
"Nng…"
Nakida's eyebrows shot up. Huian was already stirring, her eyes fluttering open.
"Ow…" Huian's eyes weren't focused, thought she was blinking a lot.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Kang-dae said.
"About-?" Huian repeated, huffing.
Kang-dae shook his head. "Not here."
Not where they could still be being recorded.
A few minutes later, the three of them were on a rooftop a few buildings away from the security building. Huian was sitting, nursing a can of juice, a half-eaten sandwich beside her.
Nakida turned to Kang-dae. "So…? What were you thinking about?"
Kang-dae turned away, not looking at them for a few seconds before looking at them both in turn. "I was wondering if you wanted to come home with me."
What?
"There's a few people I want you to meet." Like his father, who'd probably want to know more about Dark Spear. And who would have known them in their previous lives.
"Hm, I'm willing," Huian said, sighing.
When Nakida blinked at her, she shrugged. "I can't go home; the Union might try to grab me again if I go back, or they think I'll try to expose what they did."
Nakida eyed them both and then slowly nodded. "I'll come too." They were curious about what they could find out about their previous life, how much was themselves and how much had been Tao and Dark Spear. "I'd like a break after that." They needed to make sure everything was still there.
A small smile grew on Kang-dae's face. "All right."
END
Summary: Nakida’s a hacker in the middle of a job to find some information. Except they’re not the only one breaking into the building that night - there’s a silver-haired guy walking around like cameras don’t exist. If he wants to get caught, it’s not their problem.
Huian’s on guard duty to protect the information they’re after. Usually it’s quiet - all she has to do is enter the system, keep an eye on the camera feeds and patrol around the clusters of data to make sure no-one gets to them.
Their pasts connect them, even if they don’t remember. And the past does tend to come back.
Rating: PG-13
Contains: Descriptions of pain.
Notes: Reincarnation fic! :D Written for nano! So expect some weirdness as I churn this out, haha.
Genre: General.
Word count: 2,511
Total word count: 41,671
Status: Complete
It was easier to scan through all the camera feeds, which should have worried Nakida, but right now they grabbed whatever advantage they could get, trying to find Huian.
It was also tempting to connect with the system again, to access all that processing power and speed. Nakida shoved the thought to the side; they weren't willing to go that far. Not yet.
There she was. [
Found her.] Huian was on a feed they'd skipped back and they fast forwarded it, syncing up the nearby feeds so they were running at the same time. She'd gone into a room –Nakida maximised the feed in that room- and that was Joyce. The two disappeared and reappeared in different places, purple blurring in different areas as Nakida kept fast forwarding to what the camera was seeing in the present.
It halted, running at the normal speed with Huian and Joyce standing right in front of each other. No, Huian was leaning forward towards Joyce, looking like she was being supported by Joyce.
At their feet was a puddle of blood that was growing larger, blood dripping down from between them.
Fuck…
Huian could taste blood. Every breath was a wheezy struggle, her throat closing up as she felt Joyce's Dark Spear tear deeper into her. She couldn't push away; she'd tried, her hands still gripping Joyce's shoulders as the pain increased, but Joyce's other hand was pinning her in place, making sure she couldn't move away.
Her own Dark Spear thundered down her body, a wall of protective rage as it ripped at Joyce's Dark Spear, trying to stop its progress.
Their body. Theirs.
It was her body, but it wouldn't be neither of theirs (she wouldn't have a body) if they couldn't stop Joyce.
Whose breathing was as harsh as Huian's was wheezy and Huian rolled her head, trying to see Joyce's face.
Her eyes were glassy, staring, and Huian could see the corners of her eyes were purple and black. That's what she looked like when she was consuming someone.
No, in Min-chul's and Ga-young's memories, Dark Spear hadn't been as widespread. Joyce's Dark Spear was licking out from her eyes, spreading out over her face as Huian watched.
"Shut up," Joyce muttered and the Dark Spear inside Huian flexed, withdrawing a tiny bit.
"Fuck!" The strength went out of Huian's legs and it was Joyce's hand that kept her upright.
Joyce hadn't been talking to her though. It had to be the people she'd consumed.
If Huian could keep her distracted…
She could try that.
It would hurt worse than she already was, but it was better than being consumed. At this rate she was going to die anyway, so so long as she could stop Joyce from knowing what Takeo had known, she'd at least done some damage control after fucking up.
Huian gripped harder, trying to get some air in her as she concentrated on all the places that were close to Joyce, where they were touching.
It was nearly all of her front now that she'd slumped forward and Huian let out a shaky breath, directing her Dark Spear to those areas.
Dark Spear's response was sluggish, wanting to keep fighting against Joyce's Dark Spear. Come on, listen to her! This was another way to fight Joyce!
That seemed to reach her Dark Spear and it slid to the areas she wanted.
Huian shuddered, no energy or control to work her mouth or throat, hoping Joyce would keep holding her.
Squeezing her eyes shut, breathing going more erratic as the fire moved through her body, resting at her forearms, torso and chin. Everything pulsed with pain, her heart hammering, trying to rip itself out her chest before Joyce's Dark Spear got to it.
Just a little bit. That's all she had to do. Maybe.
She had to try.
Even with her eyes closed, the world span and she pushed out, trying to get the Dark Spear to do what she wanted.
Needles.
Burning needles stabbing into every pore Dark Spear came out of, reaching her muscles, twisting and locking them up until she couldn't move even if she'd wanted to.
There were clothes in the way but Dark Spear burned through them, intent on their destination.
It took all of Huian's concentration just to breath, surprised her heart hadn't stopped from the strain yet. Maybe Dark Spear had enhanced that too.
"You won't…be able to consume me," Joyce grunted, and it was motivating to know she wasn't the only one struggling.
Huian didn't respond (she couldn't anyway). Let her think that's what she was doing. Keep her distracted.
She could feel her Dark Spear make contact with Joyce's skin, burrowing into it, and Huian grimaced, feeling it absorb some of Joyce's body into itself. She was far too aware of what her Dark Spear was doing, concentrating on that to stay away from her own pain as much as possible.
Her breath caught as she felt Joyce's retaliation, Joyce's Dark Spear tearing at her own.
Everything hurt. Every beat was a new wave of pain. Huian couldn't tell if what she was feeling was her Dark Spear going into Joyce's body or if it was Joyce's Dark Spear invading her own through the path her Dark Spear had made.
Hissing crackling filled Huian's ears. Their Dark Spears or white noise?
"Wait! No!"
Huian twitches at the cry and she managed to tilt her head to look at Joyce.
Most of her face was purple now, her eyes all white, and her hair looked like it was alive, like it was fire.
Huian was shoved away and she hit the floor with a thump, skipping for a short distance.
From this view, Huian could see Joyce's body was the same as her face: the majority of it was purple and black, her feet and mouth the only things left untouched.
"You won't consume me," Joyce hissed, but the last untouched spots were disappearing as Joyce spoke and she sank to her knees, falling over.
Huian's breathing filled her ears as she kept watching, unable to move. Nothing seemed to happen as one second passed, and then another. She could feel Dark Spear slide down to the wound in her gut, encouraging her healing. Huian was morbidly sure she could feel her body reconstructing itself.
A squelching sound reached Huian's ears and Joyce's form was shivering.
No. Not shivering. Shrinking.
It was shrinking until it collapsed, tendrils of Dark Spear reaching up from her corpse and then smacking down again.
All that was left was a large puddle that was in the shape Joyce had fallen in, but it drew back, collecting itself into a more circular shape. It didn't move after that, but Huian could picture it winding towards her and consuming her if it remembered she was there.
The door slid open and shit. Shit shit, she couldn't-
"Huian!"
Hah?
She blinked and Kang-dae's face was in front of hers.
This was familiar.
There was no blood on Kang-dae's face though, no tears. Not yet, anyway.
"Shit. I wasn't fast enough."
And Huian needed to move her mouth, or an arm to stop him before he worked himself up. It was hard to attempt that when everything about her was exhausted.
"Kang…" Ow. She winced, her ribcage refusing to expand. "'m fine." She wasn't dead. In a lot of pain and couldn't move, but it was better than being dead.
"You're not," Kang-dae insisted, his expression crestfallen.
Nnng, fuck. He had a better of her than Huian, but by the look in his eyes, he was probably also seeing Takeo and Tao's deaths.
Taking a few quick breaths, she braced herself and tried to lift an arm.
It was shaking and trembling, but she managed it. It was easier than she expected; Dark Spear's healing must have been kicking in for her entire body.
"Don't-" Kang-dae said, watching her.
Huian hovered her hand over her stomach as Kang-dae watched. "Not my heart…or lungs," she wheezed. She could still recover from this; Takeo hadn't had the time or the apparatus to breathe or beat for him then.
Kang-dae's face was blank until his eyes went wide and he stared at Huian's wound.
…She semi-hoped the grimace was because he'd seen Dark Spear at work rather than the wound.
He'd understood what she'd said, at least.
She flopped her hand down again, not registering when it hit the ground, her skin tingling.
"Joyce…" she said, looking at him. She tried to point with a tilt of her head. It still made her head spin. "Her Dark Spear."
He turned around and didn't say anything for a few seconds. "It consumed her?"
"Mm."
"We can't leave that here, even if it seems inactive," he muttered, getting to his feet.
What was he going to do? He couldn't pick it up and slashing at it wouldn't do anything either.
"Nakida," he said.
[
Mmhm?] "How long would it take for you to find and steal the Union's sensitive information?" He was walking away, towards one of the machines used to evaluate the data being collected in the room.
[
Heh. I already know where they are; I think I can get most of them by the time you get here.]Damn. They were better than Nakida had expected.
"All right." He pulled off the fire extinguisher from the wall, pulling off the pin. He was going to pour water over it?
No, there was machinery in the room; it had to be filled with CO2.
Huian lost consciousness as he started blasting Dark Spear with it.
Dark Spear seemed to have frosted over, and when M-21 prodded it with a foot, it didn't try to wrap a tendril around his foot. The CO2 wouldn't have done anything to it and if it had, Frankenstein would know what to do. He wrapped a bin bag around it, picking it up without touching it.
Hopefully the shock of the cold would keep it at least sluggish enough to not burn or rip its way out of the bag.
When he looked over at Huian – shit.
He rushed to her side and checked her pulse. It was strong, if a little uneven. And her wound was still closing up, black and purple tendrils writhing over it. He lifted her top away from the wound, in case Dark Spear healed the fabric into her skin.
"Can you control the airflow?" he asked Nakida as he gingerly lifted Huian into his arms. She had moved her arm, so her spinal cord seemed to be undamaged. He hadn't seen her legs more yet, but he couldn't leave her here either.
[
Easily. Why?] A beat. [Oh.]…Right, Nakida wouldn't be used to thinking in terms of how to kill a large of number of people at once. "Forget it," he said, shaking his head. "Just concentrate on stealing their data. Destroy it once you're done." He could come back later if they hadn't abandoned the lab by then.
[
…Okay. Meet you back here.]He nodded, seeing the call close.
It could be so easy - but they had some of the Union's data, so it was better than nothing. Better than what he'd been able to manage himself. Maybe they could decode it and see what plans the Union had.
Maybe. They had to get out first.
Carrying both Huian and the Dark Spear, M-21 left the room.
The route back was quieter than the route in, no-one stumbling across Kang-dae. Once he was close enough, Nakida left the feeds and went back to their body.
They took in a heaving gasp when they re-entered their body, the feeling of their senses connecting was like slamming face first into a wall. Heartbeat, breathing, hearing, touch. It was all grounding them back, back to their sense of self after being the system, having a large wealth of power at their command.
Kang-dae came into their room, and they were still sprawled out across the floor, getting used to having an inner ear again.
"Nakida?"
"Yo." They lifted an arm, waving it. "Nearly there." This adjustment was worse than usual and Nakida really hoped they hadn't left part of them behind in the system.
They got to their feet, one bit at a time, moving every muscle to make sure they had control over it. It seemed like it, and once they were standing, they nodded, calling their cable back into their neck.
"Good thing I bought an extra top," they said, digging it out of their bag. They passed it to Kang-dae.
"How are you feeling?" Kang-dae asked as he put it on.
"Been better; how's Huian?" they asked, peering at her. The feeds had shown the bright red patch in the centre of her stomach, but they hadn't caught the writhing mass in the middle of it. Their skin tingled at the sight. "That's not her intestines, is it."
Kang-dae snorted as he picked Huian up again. "Dark Spear's healing her; she'll need a lot of rest and food once we're out." Nakida placed a jumper over Huian, to cover the blood when they got outside.
Not a blood transfusion? Nakida was sure she should have already died, but Huian didn't seem that pale for the amount of blood they thought she'd lost. There wasn't a trail of blood being left behind either.
"So now what?" Nakida asked as they stepped into the elevator.
"Nng…"
Nakida's eyebrows shot up. Huian was already stirring, her eyes fluttering open.
"Ow…" Huian's eyes weren't focused, thought she was blinking a lot.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Kang-dae said.
"About-?" Huian repeated, huffing.
Kang-dae shook his head. "Not here."
Not where they could still be being recorded.
A few minutes later, the three of them were on a rooftop a few buildings away from the security building. Huian was sitting, nursing a can of juice, a half-eaten sandwich beside her.
Nakida turned to Kang-dae. "So…? What were you thinking about?"
Kang-dae turned away, not looking at them for a few seconds before looking at them both in turn. "I was wondering if you wanted to come home with me."
What?
"There's a few people I want you to meet." Like his father, who'd probably want to know more about Dark Spear. And who would have known them in their previous lives.
"Hm, I'm willing," Huian said, sighing.
When Nakida blinked at her, she shrugged. "I can't go home; the Union might try to grab me again if I go back, or they think I'll try to expose what they did."
Nakida eyed them both and then slowly nodded. "I'll come too." They were curious about what they could find out about their previous life, how much was themselves and how much had been Tao and Dark Spear. "I'd like a break after that." They needed to make sure everything was still there.
A small smile grew on Kang-dae's face. "All right."