Crimson

Traceless acceptance.

Traceless .

Mama had taught me to be traceless .

Hide , run , lie , pretend , steal , be traceless .

That had been her principle .

But , you could not be traceless when others depended on you , I had learnt that and assimilated it , my principle had also changed .

I did not want to be traceless , then , I would be easily forgettable .

I did not want to be forgotten , especially by Vita .

****

Vita was watching me .

I knew but I did not want to acknowledge it , so , I looked on ahead , my fingers on my blade .

I knew he wanted to know about my blades or something more than just my blades but I did not know where to start from or what to say .

" Did Ali bring them to your house ?"

I nodded . We both knew that was not what he wanted to know .

We reached my gate , he went ahead and pushed it open at once .

I smiled , adrenaline .

I walked in and he did too , I turned to watch him close the gate .

When he was done closing , I went to the gate to make sure it was properly closed .

It was only a matter of time before the soldiers were here .

Ali stood by the door , watching us approach .

I stood to show him that I was okay , when he had confirmed , he turned and closed the door behind him .

I laughed quietly , I had known he would be besides himself , worrying .

I turned to Vita , he had a troubled expression on .

" Are you worried about something ?"

Of course , he was worried about something , he had so much to worry about .

His duty , name and job was at risk .

He nodded .

" Nero ".

I blanked . He was worried about his partner , of all the things that were going wrong and needed to be worried about , he was worried about his partner .

I must have laughed out because he gave me a confused look when he was the confusing person .

I could ease at least one of those worries , I put my hand into my coat , he looked like he was having an apoplexy .

" How ?"

I smiled and pushed his sword into his chest .

I left him outside , hugging his sword and almost in tears .

Larona was on my bed , a little colour had returned to her face , the doctor sat by her , his little legs dangling off the bed .

Ali stood off to the side , he was staring at something in the kitchen .

Vita came in and Ali turned , glaring at the unsuspecting man .

I moved towards my bed and knelt when I reached Larona , I stroked her hair .

Her forehead was hot with beads of sweat drenching it , I looked at the Doctor , he was pale from exertion .

" She's feverish ".

He nodded and closed his eyes .

" A good sign ".

She murmured something and flinched , I grabbed her hand , trying to reassure her .

Larona had a daughter once , she had been a beautiful woman that worked at the Governor's building .

Her mother had wanted to use her connections to help her get a better job , she had refused , something about wanting to start from the bottom .

She had also wanted their relationship to be a secret .

Larona had taken care of every of the governor's dirty business and when the governor had told her to take care of a young woman that had been threatening his position with evidence she had found of his embezzlement , she had done what she always did .

Hired a few men and left them to do as they pleased with the woman .

Her daughter's body had been found on her street the next morning , stabbed and r***d to death .

Apparently , after the men had thought she was dead , she had began to crawl to her mother's house .

Larona had lost it then , she had found the shelter and asked to meet with me .

Adah had talked to her and deemed her not suspicious , so , we had invited her to The Haze .

Ali had refused to let me meet her , not until almost a year of her working with us .

We had become fast friends after , seeking refuge in each other as she had lost a child the way I had lost a mother .

I had never been able to judge her even though I knew that a lot of people might have not understood her .

I had somehow understood her and promised to protect her .

Now , she lay shivering , plagued by nightmares that she had been forced to already live through once .

The doctor cleared his throat and I lifted my eyes to look at him , he was holding a small medicine pouch .

I moved away to give him space to work .

Vita and Ali were by the kitchen , whispering furiously .

I stood quietly and walked to them , they stopped talking the moment I reached hearing distance .

" The bloodthirst gives you away " , Ali commented .

Vita grimaced , I snorted .

" That's a lie , what were you guys talking about ?"

I moved closer to Ali to see Vita's face , he was giving me a devilish glare , I moved away from Ali and the glare was gone .

" Nothing " ,Vita said .

I turned to Ali ," You wouldn't lie to me ".

Ali nodded ," I wouldn't , I was asking him why he was here last night ".

I coughed , nothing was a much better answer .

" Why do you think that ? "

I was sure there were no physical evidences .

Ali scoffed , " The kitchen is not how I left it and since you never use the kitchen , it's not you ".

I laughed , " I use my kitchen ".

Ali turned to face me completely ," Your salt container has been carrying baking soda for two years ".

Ahhh...I did not know that .

Ali turned back to Vita ," ...Our brigadier here seemed to know that ".

I sighed .

" What do we do now Ali ?"

We were all avoiding and not talking about the fact that we had just had a showdown with the City's soldiers .

Soon , the whole cavalry would be on us and it would be worse when they discovered that Vita had fought alongside me .

Ali was silent , I looked at Vita .

He nodded , " I also need to speak to Nero ".

" Will you be okay out alone ? "

He smiled and took a step closer to me , I smiled daring him to take another step , he did .

Ali stretched and Vita pretended not to notice , I stepped between them .

" Vita , you need to talk to your partner and Ali and I need to determine just how much trouble we are in ".

Vita was frowning .

I turned to Ali and raised a finger , indicating that I needed a moment .

I grabbed Vita's hand and went out with him .

" What do you plan to do , Juno ? "

I smiled , " I'm not certain on what's the next thing , Larona's health determines a lot of that ".

He put his hand up , caressing the side of my face .

" Will you stay at the shelter ? "

I sighed .

" No , Ali was working with some people to make traceable documents of how the shelter is funded in case of situations like this . Going there now would not only lead the soldiers there but also disprove all of Ali's work ".

Vita understood then , I smiled at his questioning gaze .

" Will you tell Nero about me ? "

He faced up , he was looking at the sky .

" No ".

Oh...." Why ?"

" I want to keep it all . Every single moment of you , I want to keep it all ".

I looked up too , I wanted to see what he was seeing .

I wanted to say the same or something . Something that encompassed how I was feeling but nothing seemed to come forth .

Nothing came forth when he looked at me and smiled , a sad smile .

I had so much I wanted him to know but I didn't know how to say any of it .

So , I just watched him .

I watched him caress my face , watched him kiss my forehead and then turn to leave .

I let him go .

I let him go because even though I could now protect , I could still not protect everyone .

I could not cost Vita the life he had worked so hard to build .

I turned and walked in .

The doctor was looking at me , he smiled , his thin lips stretching impossibly .

I pretended not to see it , because for the first time in a long while , I was feeling pain that I could not smile through .