Chapter Text
It was like home,
a place far from monochrome.
Seasons had passed.
Trees had lost their leaves,
then grew new ones.
Flowers bloomed,
then died.
Eggs hatched.
Birds fetched
insects that piled
and drowned in rain.
Soon fall arrived,
once again.
It's been over a year since I had joined the valorant protocol. It was scary how quick time flew by. During that time I had gone on many missions. I had gotten used to the scenery of blood and destruction. And while I knew that Sage would always be there to resurrect us agents the fear of death never faded.
Neon, Phoenix and Skye had departed for a mission a while ago. Eventhough it was routine at the valorant protocol I still worried whenever my friends would face our enemies. I was bored and choose one of the many benches scattered across the headquarter to rest at. I pulled out my sketchbook and began doodling on an empty page. "What are you drawing?" A deep voice asked. I raised my head to see Omen looking down at me. "Nothing really."
"Do you want to join me then? I'm working on some props for our halloween party. I was getting yarn for it just now." During the last few months I had managed to slowly fill my portrait collection one by one. When I was drawing him he had been knitting. I found out that it was sort of his hobby. "Sure, why not," I followed him to his room. "What exactly are you working on?" I asked when I saw the huge mess on his desk.
"Ah...Sorry, I had no time to tidy the space." He apologised before picking up one of the knitted figures on the table. "I'm making decorations. I thought we could hang up these bats on the ceiling." He held up a half finished black plush. "That's so cool, Omen!" I complimented his work. I wanted to help him but I knew that mine would've turn out an abomination, so I discarded the idea. "What else do you think we could use?" He asked. I held my chin, "What about a table cloth?" Omen shook his head, "we still have one in storage from last year."
"Hmm..." I sat down on one of the two chairs and pondered about an idea. He held a cup of coffee in his hand. With a blank mind I stared at the scene infront of me. Then an idea popped up. "How about paper cup sleeves?" Omen looked at me, at his cup, and back to me. He nodded. "Sounds good I don't think we've ever had any." Seing the faint steam rise from the cup I tilted my head in confusion, "Say, Omen, I thought you can't consume food. Why are you holding a cup of fresh coffee in your hand?"
"Oh..." He put the cup on the table, "Out of habit I suppose?" He appeared irritated by his own behavior. I let out a chuckle in response. Then, out of nowhere a gong rang followed by an announcement. "The following agents are to assemble at the landing pad ready to leave immediately:," Brimstones voice halled through the building. "Iso, Omen and Iris."
Omen and I exchanged looks before hurrying to grab our stuff. Shortly after we arrived at the shuttle. The third member was already waiting for us. "Nĭ hăo," the young man spoke with one hand in his pocket. I did not recognise his face. "Glad to be working with you again, Omen." He reached out his other hand. "Likewise," Omen nodded in agreement and returned the hand shake.
"I don't think we've met before." I tilted my head confused. It's been quite a while that I had spent at the valorant protocol but I didn't know who he was. I was sure I wouldn't have forgotten a fine man like him. He looked at me with an intense stare before softening his gaze. "You must be Iris. Sage told me a lot about you."
"Oh, did she..?" I mumbled embarrassed. I hated when people talked about me— without me. "No need to be so shy," he held out his hand to me, "My name is Iso. I had been deployed abroad until now so we never had the chance to meet before."
"I see. I'm Iris," I introduced myself eventhough he already knew who I was.
"Are you done with the introductions now?" A voice came from the inside of the shuttle. "Hurry up, we have no time to loose."
"Cypher! You're coming along, too?" I was surprised to see him here. "That's correct. Afterall we are a bit short on manpower right now." He commented before we followed him inside the shuttle. During the flight he explained the situation to us. While my other comrades were on a mission Omega-planet started an attack on our ground. Attack was the best defense afterall. So far it was uncertain how many agents or which agents we had to face. We traveled for about two hours until we finally arrived at an industrial complex. From high above I could see that the wide grounds were covered with countless green boxes. They contained what earth-2 was seeking, radianite. We landed with some distance to the target buildings. Omen and Iso got off first and I was about to follow but halted in my steps. I was surprised to see cypher not following us outside, "won't you come along?"
"Don't underestimate my role, Iris. I will bring victory to you. Even when I'm far away, I'll be by your side." I held the eye contact for another minute before nodding, "I count on you." With that I hurried to catch up with the other half of the team. We split up and surrounded the storage from three different sides.
-{A side clear}- Iso spoke through my ear piece. I climbed up a box to get more vision over my side. Omen followed -{ C side clear}- My eyes scanned the surroundings. It appeared to be empty as well, so I tapped my ear piece to turn it on, -{ B side is-....}- Just then did someone step into my field if vision. A shade of blue that made my heart sink. A face of a man I didn't dare face. I quickly dropped behind the box.
-{Iris?}- Iso's muted voices halled in the back of my ears. My hands were balled into fists, nails digging into my palm. I took a deep breath and finally answered, -{ Enemy spotted on B }-
-{ understood, I'm on my way }- Omen said but was quickly stopped by a fourth voice, -{ Omen stay on your position. Enemy Reyna is heading towards C. Take her out, I'll jam their GPS signals.}- Cypher informed him. -{Iso, assist Iris. The spike is most likely on B}-
After knowing that Iso was on his way here I hid in safety. It's best to wait and leave that enemy Yoru to Iso. I hated the idea of shooting him. I mean I hated shooting any of the omega agents but him especially. In the meanwhile I inspected my weapon as I listened to any sound reaching my ears. Footsteps came from the other side of the box that I was hiding behind. Was I discovered? I gripped my weapon tightly, ready to shoot. The steps grew slower and more careful. I aimed high—finger on the trigger—when a man appeared from around the box. "Woah-! It's me, it's me." Iso raised his free hand and I stared at him shocked. I almost shot him. "Sorry. There was an enemy close by so I thought you were it. Should we-" Iso put his hand over my mouth to silence me. A familar sound echoed against the walls. Someone was planting the spike! Iso spares me a short glance and gestured to stay quiet. I nodded and stayed low. After about 4 seconds there was a louder thud, followed by a continuous beep sound. It was the bomb's timer.
-{ Cypher? }- Iso requested orders. After a short delay he replied -{ Yoru and Raze on side. I suggest you split up. One of you go inside the building to the third floor the window on the far right. You should be able to get a perfect angle on the spike. Take them out from the shadows. }-
Me and Iso shared a quick look. He nodded and went for the back entrance of the building. I moved the opposite way and stayed on ground level, waiting for Iso to reach his position. I peaked over a box to observe the area. -{ Iso, are you ready? }- I asked but before I received an answer a bullet flew past my face. I held my breath. The bullet came from the building were Iso was supposed to be. My eyes wandered up to the window but then I heard a thud from behind me. A man fell dead to ground. "Yoru!" I was about to reach out for him when I remembered that it was only the omega version of him. I didn't actually know him afterall.
-{ Target neutralized }- I heard Iso's voice in my ear. -{ I'll cover you. Defuse the spike. }-
-{ understood }- I hurried over to the spike and pulled out the defuser, holding it towards the ticking device. The metal layers of the cylinder slowly moved upwards as the defusing process progressed. It was halfway done when I heard another shot from Iso. This one definetly missed as there was a loud metallic sound of the bullet being reflected by a surface. My gaze wandered around and eyes widened when I saw Raze high up in the air, holding her rocket luncher and aiming it straight at me. Memories of a long ago tragedy hunted me. My blood grew hot and my limbs began shaking from anger. Rage rose from the past. I would make her pay. Without a second thought I threw the defuser aside, ran some meters away from the spike and chanelled the heat of my emotions into my vines. The skies above us darkened as I trapped Raze in a huge sphere with me. I blocked her rocket with a wall, causing the smoke to fill up the space. Using a connected network of small branches beneath the ground I was able to sense and predict her every move.
"I won't let you take another life." The light at the end of my barrel were the only source of light in this dark sphere. Lights that flashed like stars in the night sky. When the construct of vines broke like a collapsing ceiling, they vanished into thin air. Raze lied livelessly on the blood stained ground. I mindlessly stared at her dead body for several minutes, when a voice pulled me out of my thoughts, "Iris, are you alright? Were you hurt?" Iso grabbed my shoulder. "Ah! The spike-I...-!" When I looked it had already been defused. Omen stood there, fine traces of his body putting itself together. Our eyes met. He walked up to me. "We've completed our mission. You can head back to Cypher first. Iso and me will do the rest here." My gaze fell to my feet. Blood stained my shoes. Iso pushed my back a little. I finally raised my head and nodded, "Thank you." I wandered off mindlessly instead of heading back to our transporter. All this smoke and dirt had entered my lungs and clouded my mind. I needed some fresh air but more so I needed to clear my head. Between two buildings I found a pair of trash containers. I let my back slide down the wall and sat between them. It was so peacefully quiet now. If only Yoru was here right now...I reached for the knife on my belt and regarded it. The sight of it brought at least some ease to my mind.
"You're not thinking about using that on yourself, are you?" A tall shadow towered over me.
"C-Cypher!?" I backed up from him, slamming against one of the containers, and stood up immediatly. Why was he here? I thought he stayed behind, "What brings you out here?" Out of reflex I hid my hands with the knife behind my back. Oh, no, that only made it more suspicious...Cypher stepped closer, and closer. There was no space left for me to escape to, the wall knocked against my heels. His hat was like an umbrella, hiding our faces in the shadow, only thing missing was the rain. Those blue eyes of his mask looked piercing sharp in those dim lights. With slow movements he reached for the knife in my hand and took it. He turned it, once, twice. His eyes did not leave its blade when he spoke, "Yoru gave this to you, didn't he? It's been quite a while." Cypher could be utterly irritating at times. The way he could hide perfectly in the shadows eventhough he was dressed all in white. The way I have not once seen his face eventhough I've been here for so long already. The way he would corner me and make me feel helpless without laying a single finger on me. "Yes, can I have it back now?" He directed his eyes past the blade to me, "Certainly." He shoved it back into its guard on my waist before giving me some space again. "Shall we return? This dirty corner is no place for you, dear." He had his hand on my back as we walked to the air shuttle. "Seems like you've finally gotten the hang of your radiant powers." He pointed out. Had he watched my fight with the enemy Raze? "Only thanks to Sage. She went all out on our training sessions." I laughed nervously, rubbing one of the many bruises that hid behind layers of fabric. Cypher let out a chuckle. "What's so funny?" I asked. He shook his head, "I just remembered something fun."
"What is it?" I asked curiously. But he only put a finger over his lips, "I won't tell." After a while Omen and Iso finally returned. "We've done our part. Let's head back. I'm starving." Iso let himself fall onto the seat next to me. He looked wordlessly at me. I raised my brows confused, "Have I got something on my face?"
"You've cheered up," he remarked and averted his eyes to what was infront of him. I was rendered speechless but couldn't contain the smile that naturally formed on my lips.