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Beta Dina: On spot. Midnight Guardian's port, Luca Madrigal, aka the Hebi, had already begun stirring up a nuisance at the port due to the special cargo from Moon Rose Familia.
Alpha Lar: Did the familia know about this issue?
Beta Dina: They were kept updated.
Alpha Lar: Alright, meet me up at Rose Net Café Bar and inform Lady Rose about it.
As soon as Vincencio left Skylar for his urgent business, Skylar met up with them at the Rose Net Café Bar. Arriving at the area, they quickly talked about the target and the issue entangled with it. However, something was bothering Skylar deeply. She tried to suppress it, but it had taken root deep inside her, crawling up to her throat, making her body tremble, causing her to almost lose her balance.
"SKYLAR!!!" Joey, Medina, and Verosha shouted in worry as soon as they noticed her balance suddenly went off.
"MOM!" Irina's worried appearance appeared on her side, helping her gain her balance. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, it's just…DAMMIT!" Skylar groaned, clicking her tongue in annoyance since her chest was still giving her a strange feeling, making her squeeze her chest to ease it.
"Are you sure you still want to go to this port?" Verosha carefully asked.
"Yes." Determined, Skylar firmly replied.
"Then why do you sound bothered?" Medina asked as she handed a chocolate granola bar to her. Skylar didn't hesitate and ate it, which helped her calm down.
"It's been swirling around my chest, Medina. I've been worried whenever Vincencio isn't around me, like something is in my throat and I wanted to scream, kill, anything." Skylar responded with frustration laced in her voice, making Irina hold and squeeze her hand tightly.
"He'll be fine. Just have faith, Mom. He's stronger than you think." Irina firmly reassured her, catching Skylar's attention and staring at her intensely.
"Irina, tell me something that I don't know," Skylar said calmly but laced with firmness, making Irina sigh.
"You're already sensing it, Mom, but you're still bothered as it overlapped with your vengeful soul," Irina answered in riddles, but somehow, Skylar knew what she was referring to, and she was not ready to face it due to the haunted past she needed to settle first.
"Just take one step at a time, Sky. Focus on one thing first and be bothered later afterwards." Verosha gave a piece of advice, making Skylar nod.
"Why did I feel like I was losing him each time he went out and returned home hurt?" With a sigh, she stated her bothered thought and asked them.
"Hey, Sky, he's not hurt this time. He's fully recovered." Joey assured her, but Skylar's heart wasn't even close to calming down. She was still bothered and worried.
"BUT I CAN'T SHAKE IT! I KNOW HE'S HERE AND ALIVE, BUT I CAN'T SHAKE THE FEELING THAT I MIGHT LOSE HIM IF HE'S OUT THERE BY HIMSELF. I DON'T WANT TO lose the only thing that kept me sane from my madness…" With a broken and desperate tone, Skylar broke down in front of them, trembling in fear of losing someone who mattered more than her life. "I had never loved like this. It's suffocating, intoxicating, and addictive. It's making me desire to burn and turn everything into blood if anything hurts him."
"We know, but you have to trust him, too." With softness and assurance, Medina patted Skylar's back, trying to calm her with it.
"Also, this is the first time I have witnessed a possessive wife rather than being a jealous one." Out of the blue, Joey tried to ease the heavy mood around them, confusing them.
"Meaning?" With a threatening voice, Medina asked him daringly, making Joey gulp.
"Well, ahm, I thought only men could be possessively territorial, but after Skylar's, I realize women aren't just jealous one, they could be possessively territorial too." Joey voiced out his thoughts regardless of his quivering tone due to Medina's glaring stare. It was like she was warning him not to say the wrong words to trigger Skylar more.
"Indeed, that I am." Skylar faintly smiled, but there was still worry in her chest, making her long for Vincencio's presence beside her before sighing, collecting herself, and cracking her fingers. "Let's get this done. I have to be home before he does."
"Then let's release Rose Slayer." Joey teasingly commented, earning a smack behind his head from Medina.
Amused, Skylar shook her head and finished gearing up before heading out. However, her chest was still in turmoil, making her mind jumbled with the recent incident that almost cost Vincencio's life, fueling her worry.
"Mark my words, I won't let anything harm you as long as I live." Skylar, being Rose Slayer, boldly vowed to herself, making her blood rise, and without realizing, she was awakening into something she could not grasp yet.
***
The drive was long and filled with silence, but every turn her motorbike made, her heart rate once again increased. Her breathing suddenly became shallow, and her body began trembling, forcing her to stop, clicking her tongue in frustration. She parked and hopped off the bike, trying to control the sudden turmoil over her body.
"What's truly happening to me?" Rose Slayer groaned, catching her breath, counting, and trying to stabilize her trembling body. "Is this it? The changes they were talking about? If it is, damn, it's harder than I thought it would."
After a few minutes of regaining herself, Skylar rode her bike again and drove to her destination, the Midnight Guardian port. As she got closer, the port's noises from clacking shipping containers, buzzing sounds from the ships, and waves from the ocean came echoing around her ears. However, despite the noise around, she still managed to notice a sudden shift in the air around the port.
"Why do I smell danger?" She thought and decided to park at the secluded area far from the exact port's location before walking on foot. "I better check it out."
Blending in the shadow, Rose Slayer saw two ships getting ready for departure, but somehow, she felt odd around the ships. She stepped closer to have a clear view and saw a familiar figure managing both ships, directing armed men of further instruction before departing.
"Hm, they were on the move for something…" She muttered amusingly before waltzing in the shadow quietly until something moved in the shadow, not far from the warehouse. "Interesting."
Rose Slayer followed the shadow's trails and checked the warehouse. She was not even surprised that the area was fully secured. Every man was armed, securing the area tightly, but there was one particular area left unguarded. She found herself amused and checked the area for herself. From her sight, the unguarded area was a part of the shipping flow where cargos were securely stocked safely, but what caught her attention was the empty containers spread out in four colors: black, grey, green, and red.
"This is odd but interesting." Amused, she commented as she saw the colors, making her think it had something to do with the cargos. "I think these colors reflect what's inside the cargos."
As she was stalking the area, she saw a mysterious man, talking and observing his port like a hawk. Sensing the danger coming from the man, Rose Slayer cloaked herself entirely in the shadow while watching, eavesdropping.
"Boss, the Moon Rose Familia's cargos were fully secured and ready to deploy tomorrow."
"Good. Secure the area. I'll be in my office."
Hearing a very firm and cold voice from the man, Rose Slayer shivered in familiarity, curious about who lay beneath the mask. But as she was stalking the area, searching for her prey, a shadow once again began moving, and it was not alone; it began multiplying, which she found herself grinning.
"Hm, I think they were about to explode this area." Rose Slayer muttered in amusement and decided to wait for an action to unfold. "I wonder how that boss will handle this place."
***
As Rose Slayer waited for almost an hour, the shadows began moving again. They were not starting a fire, but they were moving on their designated position, and she was watching them from a nice yet hidden part of the shadow – the ceiling.
"Ohho, it's starting." She mumbled, and an explosion started as gunfire began raining in both places, but she noticed something among the fire. "That man is invincible. He moved like the bullets didn't matter."
The man who captivated her showed up, waltzing in the shadow, killing anyone who was in his way, but Rose Slayer noticed something else. He was searching for something, and the more she watched him waltz in the shadow, the more she was fascinated, desiring to cross blades and guns with him, but for now, it had to wait.
"Who are you? You sent my blood in such a rush." Grinning darkly, Rose Slayer thought in wonder as her eyes held so much fascination, causing her to jump off from where she was hiding.
She rushed into the shadow and began witnessing blood splattered around her background until her eyes squinted toward someone. She finally found the reason she came to the port in the first place. Forgetting her fascination, she began tracking her prey from behind until smoke began blinding her sight.
"Dammit. Smoke gas." Rose Slayer muttered in annoyance since she was close, but somehow, magically, her eyes adjusted and saw through everything moving in the smoke. They were not silhouettes, but they were clearer than expected. "Where are you, Luca Madrigal?"
Rose Slayer dashed into the smoke, dodging bullets coming everywhere, forcing her to tuck and roll a few security guards in the port and knock out some invaders before dashing where she was needed to be. Skipping out of the smoke, she hid herself perfectly in the unguarded area, climbing up to have a nice, clear vantage point. A sly smirk played over her lips when she saw her target, secretly running away, leaving his men behind.
"What a bad commander. Chicken." Rose Slayer commented with disappointment before she clicked her gun, aiming at her running prey's back, and pulled the trigger.
However, she was alarmed when she heard two gunshots echo in two different ways, one coming from her side and the other coming from her left. She quickly searched for who had released the same shot, aiming at the same target. Smoke started to fade when both figures in the shadow stared intensely at each other.
"Him? Why do we have the same target tonight?" she thought in wonder while her eyes felt like they were burning as she stared back at the mysterious man across her. She wanted to confront him, but her wristwatch began vibrating, alarming her to end the night. "Dammit, I missed. I have to go, but let's leave you something."
Rose Slayer took the split second of blinking and plucked a petal from a rose that was supposed to be for her prey before leaving without tracks to follow.
"I'll be meeting you again." She whispered as she vanished through the darkness of the Midnight Guardian's port.
***
Rose Slayer was storming as she drove her motorbike, not caring how dangerous her drive was turning into. She was swerving and didn't care much about the cars in front of her because all she could think about was heading home before someone did – her husband. As soon as she arrived, she was about to drop the bike on the driveway, but instead, she parked it at her workplace. She quickly covered it with a dirty cover and was about to rush inside the house when she noticed something.
"Fuck, I almost forgot this." She muttered and quickly removed her mask and her coat when she heard clattering keys by the front door. "Dammit. Hurry, Sky!"
Skylar tossed everything that she was wearing during her night hunt and quickly covered herself with an oversized hoodie covered with paint. She even set up her canvas and a few paints on the side with little drops scattered on the area.
"I have to make this believable," Skylar muttered as she quickly threw her brush and doodled whatever came into her mind on the canvas. Then a knock happened, jolting her from pretending to paint. "Come in."
"I thought you'd be here since the lights were open," Vincencio said, smiling and approaching his wife.
"I could not sleep, so I waited," Skylar replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and pecking his lips. "Welcome home."
"I could see that…" He grinned and answered before asking something he noticed. "…but did you borrow this motorbike from someone?"