Chapter Text
“You want me to do what?”
The asura grins smugly as he crosses his arms. “I want you to join the Pact.”
They’re sitting across from each other at a table in The Dead End. Besides a couple of too-drunk-to-function regulars and the bartender, the place is quiet and empty. A perfect place for a short meeting. Candlelight flickers over the human’s face as she looks him up and down, calculating just how sincere he is. When she realizes he is being completely serious, she snorts in both shock and denial. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“On the contrary, Miss Vass.” Demolitionist Tonn says, “I do believe you are a perfect candidate for my apprentice.”
She leans back in her chair and props her feet up on the wooden table. “And what makes you say that?”
“To be completely honest, I find the other Pact members to be… lacking with the explosive spark needed for this line of work. I could find some College of Dynamics student to work for me but well… you know how those upstart college students are. It’d be too much of a hassle. Then I read about your little stunt in the Krytan newspaper.” He pulls said newspaper out of his pack and unfolds it with a flourish. Reading aloud, “’Ex-bandit turned vigilante kills famed Two-Blade Pete in massive explosion.’ Now that’s why I call firepower.”
Agrona chuckles. “Poor bastard didn’t see it coming. The Shining Blade has some really good explosives, but a little tinkering makes them all the more potent.”
“And that’s exactly why I want you.” His eyes are practically sparkling with admiration and wonder. “You go beyond what has already been made, and make it better. With our combined efforts, we can make bombs that can kill a dragon. The Pact has already gotten closer than anyone else to defeating Zhaitan. The Marshal and Commander already took down one of his strongest champions. You could seriously make a difference if you helped us.”
The woman bites her lip and looks away. Can she really make that much of a difference? She’s just a street rat with a few flimsy gadgets; she’s no soldier. No technician.
“Are you sure there isn’t anyone else you can get? No charr or-”
“Miss Vass,” Tonn interrupts. “You are a rare prodigy when it comes to demolition. With little education on how to build explosives, you managed to completely destroy the hiding place of one of the most wanted bandit leaders in Kryta. Taking out a good number of his followers too. That talent should not go to waste mulling around the streets of such a backwater city.”
Agrona clicks her tongue but doesn’t answer.
Tonn waits a patient moment before sighing and getting up from his seat. “If it’s the fear of breaking your parole that’s stopping you, I can arrange for it to be taken away. You’re a hero, Agrona. That snake of a countess shouldn’t be keeping you on a leash because you did one bad thing in the name of good.”
As he leaves, he slides a letter in front of her. “Just in case you change your mind.”
Her nails dig into her arms as the doors shut behind him.
—
She can taste ash on her tongue and smoke in her lungs. She coughs to expel the dust from her throat and forces herself to get up. Get up, dammit, the battle’s not over yet.
A still burning pillar collapses near her and it shakes the ground. Once a secure base hidden in the caves near Divinity’s Reach, now rubble and flames after the explosion. Despite being prone on the ground, Agrona smirks at her victory.
The victory is short-lived when a familiar figure pushes a broken crate off of himself. Two-Blade Pete stumbles to his feet, his bloodshot eyes immediately latching onto Agrona. His expression curls into one of rage.
“You little brat,” he spits. Agrona spurs into action, pushing herself up with her hands only to find she can’t move her foot. A quick look behind her shows her legs are trapped under fallen rocks. Her eyes dart back to Pete when she hears the click of the safety on his pistol. He was smirking now that his prey couldn’t escape. “I made a mistake letting you go so easily. I thought you were weak, a nuisance on the rest of the gang. I was relieved to see you go. Now I see I’ve underestimated you, Vass.”
“You tried to kill him,” she growls back, “You tried to kill Quinn, you son of a bitch! Just for questioning your authority. You needed to be put down, and the Seraph didn’t have the guts.”
Pete cackles, sauntering his way to her. “So you thought you’d do it for them? What a good little girl you are, such a patriotic citizen of Kryta. Did you forget why you hated them in the first place?”
She shifts on the ground and feels something metal jab at her abdomen. Her eyes widen, immediately recognizing the feel of a gun at her hip. Careful not to draw his attention, she slowly inches her arm down while keeping her eyes on him.
“When your parents died, they did nothing to help you. Cast you out onto the streets with little regard to your well-being. That’s why you joined us, Nona.”
“You don’t get to call me that, anymore.” She hisses as her fingers close around the weapon.
“You’ve forgotten who you are. You’re one of them now.” Pete shakes his head and points the pistol directly between her eyes. “Say hello to your mother and father for me.”
She whips out the pistol and fires. His body arches, head snapping back as the bullet enters his skull and dislodges through the back. Pete crumbles to the ground in a heap of twisted limbs and his eyes stare emptily up at the ceiling of the cave. Agrona wheezes, the realization of what she had done hitting her like centaur. She drops the pistol and collapses on her stomach again, trying to block out the ringing in her ears.
It takes only moments for the Seraph to arrive. The soldiers gawk at the scene, stunned into silence by the destruction of the area. One of the strongest bandit leaders is on the ground with blood pooling around his head and an ash-covered, messy-haired girl breathes heavily with her foot still caught under the rubble.
Captain Thackeray pushes past the others and almost trips over himself in his effort to halt. He mutters a curse under his breath. His eyes dart between Agrona and Pete’s body before he rushes to get her out of there. A few soldiers join him and together they push the rocks off her legs.
“What in Lyssa’s name did you do?” Logan asks frantically as he helps her up.
“I did what you lot couldn’t.” Agrona murmurs, her vision beginning to swirl. Her knees buckle but Logan’s there to catch her. She feels herself beginning to pass out as he hoists her onto his back and orders the Seraph to search the wreckage.
—
“You seriously want to just… let her go?!”
“She’s a hero, Anise. She just took out one of the strongest bandits-”
“And stole supplies from the Shining Blade to do it! This is a top secret organization; there’s no way she should’ve been able to–”
“What difference does a few missing bombs make?!”
“This is a matter of security! If some little street rat can get in, who’s to say someone even more dangerous can’t too?!”
“You say that, but I think this is more about your bruised ego than “security.””
“Don’t you start with me, Logan Thackeray! I want her under watch, a week at minimum. I’ll send my own Blades to do it.”
“Now you’re just exercising your control over her. I’ve had enough of this.”
“We aren’t done here, Logan!”
Logan pushes aside the curtain to Agrona’s room and closes it just as quickly. He waits until he can hear the clack of her heels fade away down the stairs. Taking a deep breath, he turns and smiles at the patient in the cot, whose face can only be described as… deadpan.
It’s a sunny day outside and the light shines through the window and onto the captain as he takes a seat next to her bed. There are flowers and a few thank-you cards from the people of Divinity’s Reach for her on the nightstand. A newspaper clipping of her story too. Someone had drawn the scene of the wreckage, along with a small portrait of Agrona and Two-Blade Pete on the side. Her expression there mirrored the one on her face now.
“Sounds like a marvelous conversation you had out there, Captain.” she says sarcastically.
Logan chuckles. “Yeah, Countess Anise is very happy with your decision to steal their explosives.”
Agrona shrugs. “They were kinda collecting dust down there. Plus I felt like they needed a few… upgrades.”
“You know you could put those skills to better use as part of the Seraph.” Even though she presses her lips together and looks away from him, he continues, “We need people like you, strong individuals who do what needs to be done in order to protect Kryta.”
“I didn’t do it for Kryta,” she hisses. “I did it for Quinn.”
Logan’s expression doesn’t change and she hates it. Still ever so hopeful. He pats her on the shoulder as he stands up again. “Think about it, okay? I’ll see what I can do about Anise in the meantime.”
He walks out of the room and closes the curtain behind him. Agrona stares out the window as the thoughts begin to churn in her head.
—
She’s been staring at the letter for ten minutes but still can’t bring herself to open it. The Pact’s seal is almost taunting her, begging her to rip it open and look inside.
“What the fuck am I doing…?” She grumbles. Does she deserve this? This chance at a better life, away from Divinity’s Reach with its corrupt ministers and haughty nobles? To a place where she’ll be warm in her own bed with food in her stomach? This place is all she’s ever known; can she abandon it just like that?
Does she allow herself that hope?
Agrona grits her teeth and picks up the letter. Once it’s in her hands, a sense of relief washes over her.
Absolutely.