The café was a ruin.
Shattered porcelain littered the floor like fallen teeth, tables splintered into uneven limbs, and the smell of burnt sugar clung to the air—coffee beans roasted not by a careful barista's hand, but by an explosion that had rattled the windows three blocks away.
Smoke trailed lazily toward the ceiling fans, turning their slow, useless spin into a cruel joke.
I panned my camera over the wreckage, adjusting for focus as best as I could with the cracked lens. The livestream chat lit up immediately with emojis of coffins, fire, and the occasional pogchamp.
"Ladies and gentlemen," I said, my voice carrying that particular brand of calm you only get when you're way past panic, "this has officially become the most expensive cup of coffee I've ever ordered."
Nyx, perched on what remained of the counter, licked a paw and flicked her tail. To her, this was apparently Tuesday.
Seraphine stood near the shattered front window, her cloak torn at the sleeve, silver hair dulled by ash. She pressed her hand against the glass as though she could feel something beyond. Something I, very intentionally, did not ask about.
Because asking usually meant answers.
And answers usually meant nightmares.
---
[LiveChat]
DarkLord42: bruh u owe that café owner ur kidney 💀
witchsimp99: ngl Seraphine still looks hot covered in ash 🔥
LatteLover: I'm crying over the wasted coffee beans 😭
modHammer: language, guys, remember TOS
lurker101: is anyone else noticing the figure outside the window???
camfan88: bro fix ur lens, the stream looks like 144p lmao
???:: [message deleted]
---
"You're still recording?" Seraphine's voice cut into the smoke.
"Of course." I tapped the cracked lens. "History doesn't pause just because my equipment broke. Besides…" I glanced at the chat. "They'd riot if I cut the feed here."
She didn't argue. That, somehow, was worse.
For a moment, there was silence. Not peace, never peace—but silence. The kind where your ears ring from the echo of battle, and the quiet feels heavier than the fight itself.
I zoomed in on Seraphine's face. She looked tired—not the kind of tired you fix with sleep, but the kind you fix with miracles. And miracles, last I checked, were in short supply.
---
The café owner finally stumbled back in, hands on his head.
"My shop!" he wailed, stepping over broken chairs. His apron was streaked with flour, as though he'd run from the bakery next door when the fight started. "Do you know how much an imported espresso machine costs?!"
"About as much as my camera lens," I muttered.
"Who's going to pay for this?!"
We both pointed at Seraphine at the same time.
Her golden eyes narrowed. "I protected this district from annihilation. You're welcome."
The man swallowed, looked at the smoldering ruin, then at her glowing aura, and decided that perhaps this wasn't the hill to die on.
Instead, he stormed toward me. "You filmed all this, right? Insurance proof?"
I raised my broken camera and gave him my most professional smile. "Crystal clear."
(The lens, of course, was cracked so bad it made everything look like an impressionist painting. Monet would've been proud.)
---
Later, when the café owner left to tally his damages, I lowered my voice.
"Seraphine."
She didn't turn.
"That guy in the trench coat. What did he mean by 'the other one'?"
Finally, she looked at me. Her expression was so carefully neutral it was terrifying. "It means," she said softly, "that what we fought tonight wasn't the whole story."
The words lingered, heavy as ash in the air.
---
Flashback Insert (Gray-tone narration)
The café lights flicker again in my memory. The man in the coat adjusts his hat, his voice casual, too casual:
"So. You finally noticed the other one."
Back then, I didn't process it. Too busy making sure my microphone wasn't fried, too busy thinking about the trending clip I'd just captured. But now, replaying it in my head, the phrase coils like a snake.
The other one.
Which meant… there was always a pair. Always a shadow behind the monster we saw.
---
We left the café not long after.
The street outside was quieter than it should've been—nobody daring to peek out windows, no late-night carriages, no vendors. Just smoke rising, mixing with the faint glow of lanterns, and the sound of broken glass crunching under boots.
"Where do we go now?" I asked.
"Home," Seraphine said. "Yours or mine, it doesn't matter. You need rest."
"I need donations," I muttered.
Nyx trotted beside us, tail swishing, as if mocking my empty wallet.
---
[LiveChat]
tip4coff33: bro u should put a dono link rn, I'd drop a coffee tip ☕
SeraphineStan: protect the witch at all costs 🔮
povpasserby: uhh did anyone else hear that growl in the background??
lensfixer: lmao just tape ur lens, easy fix 🤣
Anonymous: …watch the rooftops.
---
The walk back should've been nothing, but I couldn't shake the feeling of eyes on us. Every time a shadow stretched longer than it should, my finger twitched on the record button.
Seraphine walked as if she carried the weight of every silence.
We passed a pair of gossiping neighbors sweeping ash off their stoops.
"…told you she'd bring trouble."
"…but didn't she save us?"
"…maybe. But at what cost?"
Their whispers weren't meant for us. That didn't make them any less sharp.
---
Back at my apartment, I dropped into my chair, set the cracked camera on the desk, and sighed.
"This is going to cost me three months of rent."
Nyx hopped onto my lap, kneading my stomach like dough. She purred with the satisfaction of someone who didn't have bills to pay.
Seraphine stood by the window, staring at the skyline. "It won't stop."
"What won't?"
She didn't answer. Or maybe, her silence was the answer.
---
I ended the stream with my usual sign-off, voice light but hands shaking:
"And that's a wrap, folks. Broken lens, broken wallet, broken café… but hey, at least I'm not broken. Yet. Stay tuned."
The chat erupted with emojis, spam, jokes. But just as I reached for the 'end broadcast' button, a flicker crossed the screen.
A shape—no, a shadow—darted across the far corner of the room, visible only for a frame.
Too fast. Too sharp.
And when I replayed the footage seconds later, it was gone.
But the comments saw it.
---
[LiveChat]
lurker101: rewind. 5:23 mark. did u see it??
darklens: BRO THERES SOMETHING IN UR ROOM
camfan88: nah that's just his camera glitching lol
witchsimp99: …no glitch. i saw eyes. glowing.
Anonymous: Told you. The other one.