It started raining outside. He sat alone on the living room sofa while Shebly worked in the kitchen, and Eri and Saran were away in their rooms. Even after two days, it felt like Shelby was only there to watch him, make sure he didn’t take anything, make sure he didn’t touch anything, and make sure he didn’t run away.

She would never admit it, sure, but everyone was the same. Deceiving, lying, and selfish. Kaiser must be the biggest one of them all. He wasn’t sure if he could ever begin to forgive himself. He rested his unhappy face in his palms and nodded off.

Kaiser jolted awake in a cold sweat. He was still sitting upright, so his neck hurt like hell. He gasped for small gasps of oxygen. He had a recurring nightmare, but every time he woke up, he would have forgotten about it. The storm outside had become worse and Kaiser could hear thunder and lightning in the distance. Saran was sitting on the other end of the sofa reading a book. Somehow, the sight of Saran wearing ridiculously enormous glasses was enough for him to relax. He wiped the tears from his eyes. Every time he woke up, he wanted to know what the dream was, but the harder he tried remembering it, the more lost it became.

“Didn’t think you would get any weirder, but here you are sleeping upright while snoring,” Saran said without taking his eyes off his book.

He smiled stupidly at Saran like she was the one who dragged Kaiser out of that memory. Good thing Saran was looking down at the book and not at his face.

“And I didn’t think you would be one to read a book, or where ridiculously big circle glasses, but here you are,” Kaiser retorted. Saran gave him a look as if to say very funny and returned to his book.

“So, what are you reading?” Kaiser asked. He shut the book to show Kaiser the title ‘The Weasel and Wind.’

“Weasel and wind,” Kaiser echoed. “It sounds like stoic old-time literature.” Just like your personality. He wanted to say but decided that going out in the pouring rain didn’t seem ideal.

“It is contemporary literature. It’s about a young boy living his life with regret. It deals with the selfishness of one’s self and ways of overcoming it.” Selfish. There was that word again. ‘You’re nothing but a selfish man, Kaiser. I can’t wait to see someone the likes of you hung in the gallows of Shareen.’ Orion’s voice rang out like a siren.

He shook it away. “What does he regret?”

“Betraying his best friend.” Kaiser’s throat closed in, “What happened to him”

She looked back at Kaiser like he was a pig. “That’s what I’m reading to find out, Sherlock.”

Kaiser murmured an apology and massaged his neck, which had fallen stiff after sitting up for god knows how long. Before long, Saran shut the book with a slam and stood up. “Ready to meet Varun?”

Kaser looked at him confused, “Right now? It’s pouring rain outside.”

“So?” Saran responded, “We have umbrellas, hurry before I leave you.” Kaiser rushed after him and grabbed the umbrella Saran threw at him. He opened the door and walked out without waiting for Kaiser.

It felt like he had just opened the threshold to another dimension. Rainwater splashed inside almost immediately. Saran stepped out and practically dragged Kaiser out.

If Kaiser had to have a spirit animal, it had to be a cat. The main reason was, that he hated getting wet. In Amber, he escaped this because it barely rained there, but coming to Sango, he was starting to be thankful the monsoon season in Amber lasted so short. The umbrella Saran handed to him did nothing to shield him from the rain. Rainwater still splashed across his frowning face. It didn’t help that the droplets were like miniature ice cubes. Hurling towards his face and punching him with frost.

He must have seen the scowl on Kaiser’s face, “You’ll get used to it,” Saran said. his brownish-black hair was longer than Kaiser’s, and he was astonished that the constant whipping of his hair back and forth in the wind didn’t make Saran go insane. Or who knows, maybe he already was insane.

As they walked, the area felt lighter. The rain stopped, and the polluted streets turned into quite a hum of people. The both of them turned a corner, and a spire-like apartment stood before Kaiser. He reluctantly followed Saran inside. The door closed with a creak. “Saran… Are you sure this is the right place?”

“I don’t hate you.”

Kaiser looked ahead at Saran’s stopped figure. “You don’t?” He asked. Something felt wrong. The cloth over furniture, cobwebs in every corner you turned, and the dim lighting coming from other buildings, not from the actual apartment. It felt like no one had lived here for a long time.

“But I don’t trust you either.” Saran stopped in the middle of the dead living room. “Eri is my friend. An idiotic and naïve friend, but one nevertheless. I don’t want to see her get hurt.” He looked at Kaiser with a blank face he hadn’t seen from Saran before. As if he was… grieving?

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No, that couldn’t be right.

“You know what I have to do, don’t you Kaiser Sanjit?”

No, this can’t be right. He hadn’t come this far just to die. He hadn’t come this goddamn far just to die at the hands of some nobody, Jubilee!

“Saran.” His voice was small and pitiful. “Eri would never forgive you.” He warned.

“And how do you know? You haven’t even known her for half a day! How would you know how Eri will react?” Saran yelled, then sighed, resting his face in his hands. “This isn’t personal, Kaiser. Someone who Hunter Orion knows is never a good thing. I won’t have The Kitsune fall into any of The Hunter’s schemes whether you intend to or not.”

“Saran, please you don’t have to do this,” Kaiser said desperately, “I’ll help in any way possible. Why can’t you trust me?”

“Ajax.” Saran said, “he’s the reason I’m killing you right here right now.”

“Why?! Who is Ajax?”

“Who is Ajax,” Saran said softly as if repeating a chant. “I wish I could go just a day without remembering his name. Who is Ajax? He’s the hunting dog of the Kitsune.” Saran shouted, edging closer to Kaiser, “As soon as Orion receives word of the sinking ship, Ajax will come out of the woodwork like a termite, he won’t rest until he kills you, Kaiser.”

“So what? You’re going to kill me and claim that I sunk the ship?”

“Yes.”

Rage bubbled inside of Kaiser, so strong he felt like he was going to explode. “I’d rather have died.”

“What?”

“I said that I would have rather died at the gallows than be a scapegoat for your plans!” Though he barely finished his sentence before Saran was running towards him.

Kaiser threw a punch with his right hand, and Saran sidestepped and kicked his right leg high to strike his hand. Kaiser narrowly avoided it and hopped back in order to put space between them. “You were about to shatter my wrist.”

“That would have shattered your wrist and your forearm. I’m sure of it. I put in just enough pressure.”

Kaiser and panting, beads of sweat dripping down his face and sticking to his clothes. The chilly atmosphere outside did nothing to cool him down. He spared a glance behind nothing but furniture, but behind Saran was a staircase.

Saran’s entourage of high-speed kicks came in full motion and Kaiser was sure that he must have been using his powers. A blow came from Saran so fast that he barely had time to react. A blunt force hit his stomach, and he fell down. The only thing that stopped him from strongly hitting his head was a sofa.

“Quit struggling, Ajax will be here any moment, I want him to see your body.” Saran deadpanned, not a hint of emotion was in his dark black eyes.

“I’ll make sure he sees yours.” Just then, Kaiser grabbed a white cloth from the sofa covers and threw it over Saran. He kicked the struggling Saran down and ran for the stairs.

Kaiser didn’t have time to kill Saran. He was too busy escaping. The apartment was so much bigger on the inside than it was outside, and the corridors looked like labyrinths. He heard groaning from below, and a very angry Saran making his way up. It’s only a matter of time before he finds me.

He heard Saran’s voice coming closer and ducked into an open room. He shut the door and locked it. He put a chair as an extra measure. The room was sparsely decorated, but Kaiser was only concerned with the window. Rainwater was thundering against it, but Kaiser ran over and began frantically opening it.

The window was jammed. He looked around the room more closely, and even though he did spot an empty chair, He thought of smashing the window with it. No. He thought he wouldn’t be able to crawl out because of the broken glass. He put his entire strength into opening the window, but to no avail. Kaiser stopped. Saran had found him.

Brutal banging on the door followed, as well as Saran’s voice. It was calm and collected as if he already knew he had won. “Let me in Kaiser.”

He felt the urge to scream Eri’s name. Surely she would be wondering why they had gone for so long. But what was the point? Even if she had gone out during the pouring rain, it wouldn’t matter. She wouldn’t hear him.

In a desperate attempt to escape, he used the chair to break the windows. Cuts and slices wouldn’t matter to his corpse. The window shattered instantly and Kaiser leaped out just as Saran flew open the door.

Kaiser reached out desperately to find something, anything, to hold on to. Luckily, he didn’t have to for long as a windowsill caught his fall. He didn’t have time, though the rain had made the cemented bricks slippery, and it took Kaiser all his strength to pull himself into the other building. Just as he relaxed, the adrenaline left. A sharp pain came from his leg. Kaiser looked down in horror.

A glass shard impaled his left shin and made it impossible to walk.

Unable to will his body further. Kaiser coughed, and he felt himself collapse onto the cold floor. His strength had given out on him. A dusty figure, Saran, looked over at him. I won’t die. I won’t die. I WON’T DIE! He screamed in his head.

He tried lifting his hand, but it wouldn’t listen. Please, just a little more. Give me more time.

His vision turned black, and Saran had surely killed him.

Kaiser had his last dream.

He stood before the familiar orphanage he and Orion- or Ori, as he used to call him, grew up in. Kaiser’s parents died when he was young, probably at war, and Orions had abandoned him after seeing he was Jubilee. He looked at the orphanage that brought him good memories.

Kaiser jogged closer, and a few moments later, desperately ran back toward the orphanage.

The orphanage-

where everyone was happy,

where everyone was good,

Where the war wasn’t. His speed slowed into a stride as he saw a group of young boys surrounding Orion. They were all standing around him, yelling and screaming and beating the boy. Ori was on the ground, bleeding and shaking, a small crumpled body.“Go away, stupid Jubilee!”

“No one wants you!” They yelled as they pounded the crying Orion. Kaiser reached a hand forward. ‘Wait!’ He yelled, but his voice wasn’t heard. ‘Ori!’

Kaiser knew this wasn’t a random dream, it was a memory, a memory of the past. He knew exactly where he was while he was. Kaiser looked up at the orphanage, and there he was, a younger version of himself, staring at his best friend being beaten into a pulp. He was watching with a scared stare.

Kaiser knew what his younger self was feeling, too scared to go out and help Orion, and too scared of being exposed as a Jubilee. So instead of going something, anything. He stood there watching Orion cry and the boys scream at him.