Crimson

VINO : Eternal

Vita walked down the deserted streets of Agrippa .

He had not had enough time to assimilate after he found out who Juno was .

But , while he had watched Juno with the soldiers at The Haze , he had realized that Juno , his Juno was a criminal , an enemy of the Utopia .

If he was caught , he would either be executed or exiled .

Which meant that now that his identity was no longer a secret , he would have to be on the run .

There had never been hope for them .

He sighed .

Vita had always prided himself on how he was able to consider every possible option and prepare for the worst situations .

But , he just could not imagine a possible outcome of all this .

The nagging thought that Juno would get hurt or do something extreme to protect Ali and the shelter had been eating at him .

And that , just now , Juno had been saying goodbye on his own terms .

Was this really goodbye ?

A horse driven carriage flew past him , jolting him .

Fabia and Nero !

His horse had been like a brother to him and Nero an actual brother yet he had not thought about them .

As Vita watched the carriage riding off with a cloud of dust , he decided what he would do .

Some might have thought that making such a decision in a split second as he had done was thoughtless but Vita had never made a decision that seemed more right .

He made his way towards The Haze , Fabia Would come out once he had a whiff of Vita's smell .

He took the turn up ahead that led to where The Haze was situated .

The street was in ruins ,the stalls that had belonged to the neighbouring merchants had been dismantled .

The wood of the shops lay around , some of their goods had been strewn around .

Fabia stood in front of a stall his neck deep in a crate .

Vita whistled softly but the horse did not budge .

He trudged to where the horse stood , his head was buried In a crate of apples .

Apples ?

Vita smiled despite his dilemma .

It made sense now , why Fabia had gone with the thief .

He had known it was Juno , that was why he had been comfortable with leaving his own master behind .

He pulled the horses rein softly , the horse raised up his head to look at who was disturbing him .

When he realized who it was , his huge head began to poke Vita's body softly .

He was probably trying to see if Vita was injured , it was a long standing tradition .

Vita scratched beneath his neck and sighed , Fabia liked Juno too , he would agree with Vita .

" Come on ".

He pulled the reins gently and Fabia followed quietly , one more brother to find .

Vita chuckled at his joke and went on .

Walking so brazenly on the street was not such a great idea , as assuming that no one knew he had fought alongside the thief might be an overstretch .

He climbed on Fabia and Whispered to the horse , the horse snorted in reply .

He started off with a trot but was soon galloping at a surprising pace .

He was headed towards the house the governor had allotted them .

Vita was not sure how possible it was for Nero to be here but he had trusted Fabia even in far worse situations , so , he let him lead .

As they approached , Vita could see something in front of the house .

As they neared , he realized it was the mutated donkey that Nero had been riding .

Nero was slumped on her , his arms lifeless .

Vita was off his horse before Fabia stopped , he ran to Nero's side and pushed his weight in the opposite side trying to get a view of his face .

Nero's eyes were tightly shut .

Vita's heart had began to pound wildly , had letting Nero take care of the governor's place been too much ?

He put his hands between Nero's armpits to raise him off the horse and Nero twitched .

Vita stepped forward and held him tighter by his armpits .

Nero sneezed loudly and began to laugh , Vita took his hands out of his armpits .

He watched Nero open his eyes as his laughing intensified , he even grabbed his ribs and kept laughing .

Vita took a step back .

" What are you doing ?"

He ignored him and kept laughing .

" I thought you were dead or dying , at the very least ".

Nero stopped laughing and began to wipe imaginary tears .

" At the very least ?"

Vita nodded .

" Yes , at the very least ".

Nero jumped off his mutant ride , he was smiling like a fool .

" Did you think I was dead or something? "

Vita frowned .

" How are you here ? And what was that whole laying like an i***t ".

Nero nodded as he walked closer , he rested his cheek on Vita's shoulders .

" We were exhausted , cuddles and I , we were resting ".

Vita moved away from Nero's wandering face .

" You named it cuddles ?"

Nero nodded , he moved closer .

" Yes , perfect name right ? Now , tell me what exactly has been going on ".

Vita stilled .

" What are you talking about ?"

Nero stood properly and walked to face Vita .

" I am tired of waiting for you to tell me what's going on with you and the pretty boy from Queen's ".

Vita remained silent .

So Nero continued ," And then , there's the fact that you ran off when I told you about The Haze and then a fight broke out not long after you ran off ".

Vita still kept mute .

Nero smiled and took a tiny step closer , " Want to hear something fun I heard ?"

Vita shook his head .

Nero went on regardless ," I heard the thief was accompanied by a very skilled swordsman when The Haze was cracked down on ".

" How long have you known that Juno was the thief ?"

Vita sighed ," I found out a few minutes before the supposed c***k down ".

Nero sighed too , imitating Vita .

" What do you intend to do ?"

Vita frowned , there was no point informing Nero of his plans yet .

Nero chuckled ," Your reply will determine a lot of things ".

Vita sighed , " I won't let Juno get hurt ".

Nero squeaked loudly , Vita turned to him . He was smiling widely , his hands on his chest .

" Wrong spot " , Vita murmured .

" What ?"

Vita blinked , " Your heart is on the other side ".

Nero laughed out and changed the position of his hands , he proceeded to squeak again .

" The soldiers found Juno's house already ".

Vita exhaled .

" Why didn't you tell me that first ?"

Nero frowned ," I didn't know you were involved with him then ".

Vita got back on Fabia who had been standing off to the side , avoiding the mutant.

He whispered quietly , " Juno ".

The horse neighed loudly and flew ,

through streets and over stalls .

Vita had decided , it was not goodbye yet .

It would only be goodbye when he was ready to part with Juno .

They had reached Juno's house , soldiers littered the exterior , a carriage attached to oxes stood aside with a huge metal device on it , a battering Ox .

Vita drew his sword and guided Fabia ahead .

He ran , over the crouching soldiers and through the opened gate .

Juno was in the middle of his courtyard , his blades out and bloody .

He had his maniac smile on , his smile had paused with shock as he saw Vita .

Vita jumped off the horse and ran towards Juno .

" Why are you here ?"

His hair was out and his black shirt clung to his skin , drenched in perspiration .

" I am not saying goodbye to you ".

Juno's smile brightened , looking strangely relieved , he nodded towards the approaching soldiers .

" They ruined my gate ".

Vita turned around , picked a blade from Juno's open shirt and threw it at an approaching soldier , blood sprayed .

Juno screamed profanities and ran forward , blades flying out of him and into the soldiers , Vita joined him .