VI. THE FOOLISH GENIUS
Steve starts his day the same way, always, before and after you’ve made yourself a place in their lives. Each morning, he wakes up early, makes himself a cup of coffee and reads the paper while sipping at his morning joe — it’s the only time he can feel an ounce of normalcy and savours every peaceful second. Ever since you’ve willed yourself to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for him and his team, Steve has been there to see your efforts from the table. Sometimes it’s hard watching you milling about the kitchen from over his morning paper and the lip of his mug but it was also very heartwarming, knowing that he and his team were being taken care of for once. You dance about the area as if you’ve always lived there, and as if it’s completely natural for you to cook such a large breakfast each morning. The first day, you were happy to express your love for cooking if only to comfort his self-reproach.
“I love cooking and your kitchen is so beautiful; it’s a joy to cook in it!” Steve remembers your upturned lips and smiling eyes vividly, “I’ve always been familiar with kitchens, and I love to cook because it's such a comfort for me; please don’t look so troubled,” your soft words eased his nerves effortlessly, a rare occurrence for the Captain. Usually, he was kept highly strung from the responsibilities of keeping his teammates safe and their missions on track. Your calming presence was something he dared not complain about. Even your delicately hummed tunes were appreciated. Steve can’t remember the last time he’s had such a calm morning. For the first time in a long time, he was allowed to sip on a delicious cup of coffee and read his paper in peaceful silence without having to remain alert for when he urgently needed to rush somewhere with his men.
Judging by how you’re still preparing the breakfast ingredients, Steve expects he still has plenty of time before the rest of the men wake up and make their way downstairs; he plans on savouring every second of it. But he was mistaken at the sound of footsteps walking down the first-floor hallway and eventually down the stairs. From the general area where the footsteps originate, Steve reckons it’ll be Ransom.
The captain was soon proven right when his charming mercenary teammate emerged from the stairway and made a beeline straight for you. Steve smiles into his mug as he watches your morning exchange.
“Good morning, sweets,” Ransom softly whispers into your hair as he pulls you close by the waist. You happily return his embrace and kindly offer him a cup of coffee but Ransom declines with a shake of his head, “I’ll help you with breakfast,”
“Oh Ran, that’s so kind of you,” the merc glows at your praise and leans into your touch when you reach up to comb your fingers through his sleep-mused hair. Steve raises a brow. Peculiar. Ransom barely leaves his room without making sure he looks a little presentable, he’s particular like that. The only other person with a similar habit was Lloyd, however, the assassin was much more diligent. It was peculiar that Ransom, someone who often obsessed over his appearance, was coming to you with his hair barely combed, face unclean and still in his wrinkled pyjamas. The fact that he offered to help you prepare breakfast was even more astounding.
“So…may I?” Ransom asks against the skin of your knuckles after bringing your small hand down from his hair to kiss.
“I’d really appreciate that, thank you!” you chirp happily and Steve fondly watches as his Beta makes himself useful in an environment he doesn’t usually associate himself with. It was amusing to see him trailing behind you and obediently complying to your instructions, a similar image to the night before but Steve still can’t believe his eyes. The captain doesn’t know what you’ve done but he appreciates the positive change it’s had on the usually arrogant Beta.
With Ransom’s help, you were already setting up the table long before the others came down for breakfast and joined Steve in appreciating a mug of coffee while sat together. Today’s morning spread was an assortment of freshly cut fruits, buttered toast with a side of jams, egg, ham and cheese breakfast muffins, crispy bacon, tomato and cream cheese bagels, and coffee and tea. Everyone was free to assemble their own plates for breakfast and you were open to any suggestions they may have for future spreads. You liked offering a consistent breakfast but also enjoyed switching some items every now and then, today you added the egg, ham and cheese breakfast muffins. Steve thought they smelled amazing and eagerly awaited the others’ arrival so he could finally have a piece.
“I’ve been meaning to ask but are your newspapers tele-delivered, Steve?” you ask after placing the teapot at the table for everyone’s reach. You make a mental note of knitting a tea cosy for it later.
“Yes, it makes life much easier,” he answers, careful not to show his shock at your casual question. There’s a rumbling of footfalls travelling down the staircase and he finally sets aside his paper. He prepares to finally eat with everyone despite his distracted mind.
You greet everyone a good morning as they take their usual seats before returning to your conversation with Steve, “It really is convenient. And I appreciate that you have groceries tele-delivered straight to your cool storage too. Magic is so helpful, it’s as if you never run out,” you giggle and smile at Jake who eagerly starts chatting about the magi-tech such conveniences require. You speak of the technology with Jake easily, adding to the tech genius’ excitement more. Jake has never had anyone other than Ari to speak to about his tech before and even Ari doesn’t indulge him as much as you do. Even now, the breaded man smirks at the way Jake interacts with you – he’s happy their Beta finally has someone to talk extensively with; he’s always felt quite guilty for not accommodating his comrade’s interests more in the past.
You converse with Jake easily on the topic and even bring up magi-tech knowledge that the average person typically doesn’t know about. It was all well and good but it was very… suspicious.
Andy makes eye contact with Steve as they reach for a breakfast muffin together. In their periphery, everyone else seems to have picked up on the notion too. There’s a touch of conjecture in everyone’s eyes except Jake’s, who happily kept rambling on with you. Curtis is as stoic as ever despite his inner turmoil and Ari hardens his features. Only Ransom seems to be in denial and conflicted at the implications of your knowledge. He remembers your level of expertise the day before and struggles with himself as the rest of the team silently continues eating.
You shouldn’t know about topics like this. Tele-delivery is a privilege exclusive to noble families and highly decorated merchants who sell the service.
Steve doesn’t want to be suspicious of you but you weren’t giving him much of a choice. You look like an ordinary girl, although much lovelier and sweeter than the ones he’s met so far, that didn’t mean you came from a noble or merchant family, right? Women born to those families are usually married off by your age… but how old were you? Slowly, Steve was beginning to realise just how little they know of you and it seems everyone was coming to the same realisation also.
Looking about the table, there’s a silent agreement that this topic not be brought up in front of you to keep you blissfully unaware. Steve doesn’t want to believe you’re an unsavoury character, nobody else does but they’re all conflicted. If you were going to harm them, you would have already done so by now, you’ve had plenty of chances already. You could have attacked them in their sleep or one by one when Curtis was escorting you and while Ransom was home alone with you the day before.
“Jake, why don’t you stay home today?” Ari cuts in, catching everyone’s attention and Steve’s alarmed stare. Ari will always be a deviating factor. He’s a team player but when it comes to the topic of you, he’s shown clear favouritism and a determination to keep you close. Although this was going against their plans the night before, Steve still trusts Ari. He needs to trust Ari. They’ve all been together for several years now and the trust they have for each other is impossible to break. Steve has never been led astray by trusting in his comrades’ intuition so, despite the growing suspicions surrounding you, he doesn’t protest and succumbs to observing what may happen.
What was Ari planning?
“Me? How come?” Jake asks, oblivious to what had just transpired within the team. Instinctively, he meets eyes with Steve, their Captain, asking for silent approval of the change. Steve gives an accepting nod.
“I need you to feedback on information from your library of books,” Jake immediately lights up and nods so eagerly that his teammates worried his head would detach from his neck.
“Oh! Sure! That’s a really good plan, Ari,” the broad-shouldered alpha smiles beneath his heavy beard, always an appreciator of his Beta’s laid-back approach. He claps the tech genius on the shoulder and shares a meaningful look with him, both already understanding their plans.
“I’ll be counting on you then,”
“What’s this about, Ari?” Steve searches the lumbering man’s eyes for a clue but is met with a soft, relaxed assurance translated into a lazy stare.
“Jake has an extensive library on magi-tech and artefacts that would be useful to have while I’m in the field. It’ll be easy to narrow down our search if he has access to the info here. Maybe we can find what we’re looking for much quicker if we do,”
After a long pause, Steve nods, “Very well, if you believe that’s what’s best,” Ari grins but doesn’t escape Steve’s suddenly sharp, narrowed eyes, “I’m trusting you, Ari,”
“Of course, Captain,” Ari nods, voice firm and expression suddenly more serious. That was confirmation enough for Steve to ignore Lloyd’s grumblings. It also seemed to be the perfect assurance for Curtis and Ransom, who had, undoubtedly, become entranced by you from the time you’ve spent together.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
As always, Steve is the first out with his packed lunch and you deliver his kiss on the cheek as sweetly as ever. In that brief moment, Steve allows himself to forget his suspicions of you, reasoning that acting normal was the best step forward to keep you oblivious to their growing wariness. It was worrying, however, how little he cared for the deep affection he was fostering for you.
“Have a good day, Steve. Please stay safe,” You’re too irresistibly precious that, although Steve knows it’s in his best interest to maintain his guard, he’s desperately hoping that you aren’t guilty of willfully deceiving them.
“And you as well,” the captain utters ever so softly, only for you to hear. His soft blue eyes linger on you for a moment before briefly glancing back at his team’s tech genius. “Look after Jake while we’re gone, okay?”
With a giggle, you nod, “Aye-Aye Captain!” it was a playful saying but you made it look and sound so adorable. You even teasingly saluted him. It wasn’t Steve’s fault that he couldn’t resist kissing your forehead as he left through the door.
Next up was Andy, who’s grown the habit of kissing your knuckles first before leaning in to savour his kiss on the cheek. “Take care, Andy,”
“Thank you, sweetheart,” there’s an emotion that flashes in the neat man’s azure eyes, one that you can’t quite place as he allows his stare to delicately float over you. He regrettably ignores your adorable and curious head tilt to finally head out whilst adjusting his cuffs. Try as he might, Andy can’t feel anything suspicious about you. In his many interrogations of guilty targets, he has never seen such incorrupt eyes. You have secrets but that didn’t mean you meant them any harm – that was his conclusion.
Ransom is the third up, pushing past Curtis, Ari and Lloyd, leaving the latter openly grumbling to himself whilst glaring at the group’s machiavellian Beta. Rather than lean down for a kiss, Ransom holds your face in both of his hands and searches your innocuously bewildered expression.
“Ran–?” you voice but he presses your cheeks together, puffing out your lips in a way that makes your spoken words incoherent. His eyes are narrowed into a judging expression but there’s no malice in his stare. In all of his work as the group’s covert agent, he’s never been more perplexed by a person. You’re too unguarded and virtuous to deal any real harm to them and he can tell you don’t have ill intentions just by the look in your eyes so…why does the mystery surrounding your identity irk him so much?
“Sorry…” Ransom frivolously bats away the grumbling complaints of his teammates as they grow impatient behind him. You’ve brought your hands up to hold onto his wrists as he slowly eases the pressure mushing your cheeks together.
“I’ll see you soon, Ran, please be safe,”
No…There’s no way you’re dangerous — not when you’re smiling up at him like that.
Ransom is tempted to kiss your sweet lips but refrains at the last moment, your lips brushing against each other as he swiftly moves to kiss your cheek instead. He silently leaves your flustered state with a hidden smirk. Aghast by the display, Ari rushes forward and guides your eyes to meet his by tilting your chin up with his fingers.
“You’re not kissing him before me, are you, beautiful girl?” Ari almost growls in annoyance. He loves his teammates but he’s grown a slight possessiveness over you and the idea of being the first to embrace your pretty lips. It’s unhealthy, he knows it, especially when he’s been aiming to form an official pack so he forces himself to calm down. He controls his breathing and tempers his gaze but keeps your chin tilted toward him.
“Don’t be silly Ari…” you look to the side in embarrassment, “everyone gets a kiss,” the implications of your innocent words aren’t lost on him and, although his mind starts racing with flashing images, Ari chuckles lightheartedly at the prospect.
“You’re always so fair, darlin’...” he begins to lean down and aims straight for your lip as his words become a whisper, “I love that so much about you,”
“Oi!” Ari gets shoved aside just as his lips brush against yours but is too slow in securing the embrace. In his place, Lloyd stands, huffing and puffing.
“This isn’t some fairy tale princess kissing her prince type shit. We need to fuck off to work so stop holding up the line!” Lloyd glares as Ari simply laughs at him, not a trace of annoyance on his features despite the rude interruption.
“Lloyd–” Your sweet call of his name immediately steals Lloyd’s attention and everyone watches his figure bend down to accommodate your short height. He does it too quickly to backtrack from remembering breakfast and the uncertainty surrounding your character. He didn’t plan on accepting your kiss but now he had no choice; his body had him doing the opposite.
“Gimme my kiss then, I don’t have all day,” with a smile, thoroughly enjoying the grumpy man’s crabby facade, you rise to your toes and kiss him on the cheek. You know he wants to pull away quickly but you trap him by holding his cheek in place. Somehow, you wanted to affectionately dote on this grumpy man and it amused you to see his reactions each time — his ears always become such a bright pink. “H-hurry up, woman! I don’t have all day for this!” you smile into his cheek and prolong it a little more before finally pulling away.
As Lloyd grouches to himself with your lunchbox tightly clutched in his hand, Ari tries to make his way back to you for another kiss on the cheek. The bearded man is already puckering his lips in a mock kiss, clearly trying to push Lloyd’s buttons and succeeds when he barely makes it to you thanks to Lloyd yanking him away by the collar. Ari laughs and teases Lloyd as you giggle at the display.
Curtis silently comes up to you while distracted and hugs your waist so that when he stands to his full height, he lifts you with him. Smiling down at the mercenary, you hug him around the shoulders and allow him to press his face into your neck where he’s reminded of your intimate moment at the village square and savours the calming effects your fragrance has on him.
“Please take care, Curt,” you whisper into his ear and he grunts, stoic as ever when you pull away. You take a moment to caress his cheek with your hand and look into his steel-grey eyes before sweetly kissing his cheek. You then kiss his forehead and utter your wishes (“I hope you have a good day,”) against his skin.
“We’ll be home soon…” Curtis utters gently in his rough voice after finally setting you down. He walks out to join the rest of the mercenaries and you wave at them with a bright smile as they leave. You don’t stop waving until they can no longer be seen through the trees. When you finally turn back into the cottage, however, you’re met with Jake, who has his arms wide open for you to run into if you please.
“E-even though I’m not going out today…Can I still get a kiss too? Please?” he asks with a pout but grins brightly when you nod and run over to fall into his arms. Easily, you press a kiss to his cheek and move to pull away when— “Can I have another one?” he wasn’t satisfied with just one cheek being kissed and, thankfully, you were willing to appease him. “Can I get two more?” you give him a look but when he utters the magic word ‘please’, you can’t possibly say no. “A-and just one more?--”
“Oh Jake!” he giggles freely and mischievously, relishing in the idea that he’s the first person to see you so adorably faux-frustrated. You give him one final kiss anyway and leave him feeling like he’s walking on air. Never before had such a beautiful lady indulged in his antics the way you did. There’s no animosity coming from you, only acceptance and affection.
Life can’t get better than this~
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Jake had a self-collated library all about magic, artefacts and modern tech in his room. It was a personal collection he was rather proud of and eager to finally store on physical shelves and admire freely. He always felt rather pleased with himself when he looked upon the collection, many of his editions were special, annotated with auxiliary details by the original authors themselves. He’s even personally written several of the observation journals within the collection. They were never officially published and purely stemmed from his interests. So proud he was of his collection that he couldn’t resist bringing down the books to show you. He would have happily brought down more but limited himself only to the relevant material needed for his coordinated search with Ari. He’s confident you’ll be able to keep up with his musings the same way you did during breakfast.
He’s so excited!
Getting to talk to such a beautiful and intelligent lady with a honey-esque voice and kind warmth was heaven on earth for a loser Beta like him. Jake knows that, compared to his other teammates, he barely stacks up but you treat him fairly and with the same sweetness. He never feels left out around you. In his eyes, you glow like the sun. Even more so now that he knows you’re just as interested in magi-tech as him. Have the gods made a more perfect woman than you?...
You promised to look over his books with him after you cleaned up the kitchen and did some of the laundry, which was perfect considering Ari was on call with him that morning. Jake expertly coordinated the search with the lumbering man who took on-site images of any potential artefacts and swiftly copied any paper trails that could prove useful to their mission. Thanks to Ari’s suggestion that Jake stay home for the day, it was much easier to reference certain aspects of the artefacts they were looking for and focus their search efforts.
The morning was a fruitful and busy one. As the grandfather clock’s face gradually reached noon, Ari called off the search and promised to feedback to Jake when he finally returned to base and had lunch to refuel him. Jake was then reminded of his carefully prepared lunch and the growling of his stomach. He finds it far too easy to get caught up in their operations, especially when it concerns a topic he was so passionate about.
“Don’t worry about me and eat your lunch, Jake,” you assure, stepping into the kitchen with your apron on, “I’ll make something simple but yummy for my lunch today and I’ll join you in a bit,”
“Okay,” Jake concedes, no longer feeling as guilty for starting his lunch first but still expecting a call from Ari —if not during lunch then after. While your back is turned, he goofily smiles at the note you had written and suppresses the urge to fall back and kick his legs in the air. "Just a small reminder: you make the world a better place."
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Despite the wariness fostered by your seemingly innocuous exchange with Jake that morning, the mercenaries still made the time to regroup at their city-centre base to eat your lunch together. It’s become a silent ritual now. Nobody spoke a word in a collective attempt to evade their propagating scepticism of you. For now, all they wanted to do was guiltlessly savour your palatable cooking again, maybe even for the last time – that was a thought they all shared but one that didn’t comfort them, not even Lloyd, who silently opened his boxed lunch first.
“I hope this lunch helps you conquer your day…” Lloyd mutters to himself. Rather than store away your note as he had always done, he crumples it in his hand, motivated by the lingering bitterness of unwarranted betrayal in his chest. Nothing about you is confirmed but that didn’t mean your words and actions weren’t dubious – Lloyd knew he shouldn’t have allowed himself to get soft like this, that was his mistake. He beats himself up mentally for being unable to resist you that morning and dreads the notion that it may be too late for him despite his denials. The merc no longer felt hungry but ate your lovingly prepared lunch anyway. It would be a waste otherwise.
“A tasty pick-me-up for my favourite person,” Ransom smiles down at your sweet note and carefully savours his lunch. He doesn’t want to be stubborn about you, he knows that you’re a good person; his doubts can’t be easily shaken now.
“Today’s special ingredient: all my love,” Ari bites down on his lower lip hard. The squeal of joy he was tempted to let out at that moment would be too embarrassing, especially for an over 6-foot, heavily bearded alpha like him. He eagerly digs into his lunch and happily awaits his call with Jake. Maybe if he hurries, he can put in his call for feedback before the mid-day debrief and everyone leaves to resume their missions.
Andy enjoys reading his notes from you in his head, only whispering it to himself aloud when he reads it the first time. He likes to read your note a few more times before finally relenting to his aching stomach, “Every bite is proof of how much I care,” It’s hard not to smile while eating your delicious food. It tastes better when he ignores all the sour uncertainties about you.
Curtis rarely smiles but the mercs are treated to his rare, chaste grins every time he reads your lunch note. The stoic guard resists the urge to look up and face his smiling teammates whenever he does — he cares deeply for you but you getting him to smile is quite flustering, "Lunch made with love for someone who’s truly special." Curtis doesn’t believe he will ever grow accustomed to your sweet gestures but he doesn’t mind.
Steve tries to ignore your note this time, knowing that it’ll make him smile and his heart flood with warmth. He knows that he must avoid your affection at all costs, he needs to remain the most level-headed amongst his team. However, just as he’s finishing up his last few bites, the guilt has already weighed down his stomach significantly and he can’t resist reading your elegant handwritten note for the day, "I thought of you while making this—hopefully it’s as wonderful as you are!" Steve would be a monster if he didn’t smile at your sweet words and, thankfully, he isn’t one.
In his periphery, Ari sees the team diligently packing up their lunches to sit around the main table with Steve. Their mid-day debrief was drawing near and he rushed to call Jake. He turns his voice up to be heard aloud by everyone else.
Lunch finished later than usual for you but quickly got back to sewing beside Jake as soon as possible. While you sew, Jake takes diligent notes on a spare pad of paper, drawing from the open books piled up around him. His gaze remains focused, silent and studious, it was a side you rarely saw in the goofy, excitable Beta but was one you appreciated seeing in him. Smiling to yourself, you return your attention to your sewing just as Jake’s small shell-shaped magi-tech device rings atop the coffee table. He reaches out to answer it and Ari’s voice filters into the empty air.
“Afternoon Ari! How’s work?” Jake begins with an unfaltering grin.
“Afternoon Jake, it’s all good,” Ari happily greets over the specialised device, “How’s the weather at the cottage?” Report on current affairs.
“We have some clouds,” There’s company who can hear. The mercenaries tense up knowing that you’re near enough to pick up on their conversation. Ari and Jake will have to keep their dialogue highly censored so as not to reveal anything. Andy can easily hop on the call and take over as he was the better speaker but only Ari and Jake had adequate knowledge of the magical artefacts so they were better suited to conversing.
“I see, it’s been cloudy here too,” Everyone can hear. “At least there’s no rain,” the two lightly chuckle, “Did you get a chance to water the peonies as I asked?” Speak cautiously.
“Not yet, but I will in a bit,” Jake carefully eyes you in his periphery and almost sags in relief when you’re too engrossed with mending Steve’s torn-up shirt. “The peonies will be watered generously but I could never do a better job than you,” It’s safe. I’ll keep you informed. Hearing Jake’s assurance, the mercenaries relax ever so slightly. Due to their limited codes, it’s hard to pinpoint how safe it was to speak openly but they trust their Beta. They’ve all survived off of their trust in each other, if Jake says it’s safe, then it’s safe.
“Just don’t overdo it,” Ari replies, slightly worried for his carefully grown peonies. To ensure you don’t grow suspicious, Jake will have to water his peonies at the front of the cottage later on but their tech genius doesn’t have the greenest of thumbs — whatever, this was for the team. He can always grow more peonies but he can’t sabotage everyone’s final mission to secure retirement.
After some time passes, Jake suddenly groans in frustration and momentarily distracts you from the sewing, “⏤Replicas have been made and it’s making things very difficult,” your attention is immediately stolen, quickly prompting Jake to snap his head towards you and smile with his teeth.
“Sorry about that, princess. I didn’t mean to worry you, just a little stressed out about work,” Jake apologises, making it obvious to the rest of the team that you were actively listening now and they silently thanked him for it. Especially Ari; the alpha didn’t want his pack to turn their backs on you, not when they’ve barely given you a chance. You may still be a total mystery but that didn’t eliminate the knowing feeling in his chest and the instinctual pull he had towards you.
“Replicas?” you ask before you can stop yourself. At the slightly uncomfortable look on Jake’s face, you bite your lip guiltily, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop like that.”
“It’s alright,” Jake rubs the back of his head bashfully. “H-How much did you hear?”
“Only the end bit, about the replicas. Are you doing some sort of investigation on replica artefacts and tech?” you ask with an adorable head tilt that made Jake’s heart pound like crazy.
“I-I guess you could say that,”
“Wow, that sounds very important. You must work on a lot of forgery cases from all the notes you’ve made,” you nod towards his tireless notations and heavy books.
“Haha! Guilty. The winner deserves a prize~” he teases to which you playfully bat at his shoulder. You’re smiling as if you’re not bothered at all by that deduction so he runs with it and makes sure the team is well-informed of this: follow along. Jake has to remind himself to school his features first. He can’t bring himself to meet your eyes normally anymore. He felt like an utter criminal for lying to your face like this. So he focuses his attention back on his messy array of notes and books.
“What artefacts or tech are you looking into? Maybe I can help?” From breakfast, Jake can tell you have an expansive knowledge of magi-tech and artefacts. He knows he should think the decision over more but his words are spilling past his lips before he can think to stop himself.
“That would be great! Thanks!” Jake’s brow suddenly becomes sweaty as he reaches for a worn book with aged pages left open at a particular spread. The movement draws your eyes to the illustration displayed on the two-page spread.
“Oh…” Jake raises a brow at your shocked expression, “For such an ancient artefact to have replicas is astounding…” you utter to yourself, loud enough for your voice to reach Ari and the rest of the team, who were anxiously listening in on you and Jake. They opted for staying quiet so that you divulge as much information as possible. Knowledge is power, no matter the source.
“You know this artefact?”
“It has such a rich history, I’m surprised not many more people know of it,”
Jake chuckles in slight embarrassment, “I only have these old artefacts books on it. And modern tech books aren’t much help; I left those upstairs,”
“It’s alright,” you assure with kind understanding, “It’s one of the oldest artefacts but back then information on it was scarce since the owners didn’t want to divulge too much,”
“How do you know all this?”
You shrug your shoulders and look away shyly, “You’d be surprised at what kind of information you’ll find on the same thing but from a different genre. History books are better at knowing the origins of these artefacts more than these magic books, they are more for showcasing its mechanisms and specifications,” Jake nods along, leaning towards you ever so slightly.
“That makes sense,”
“It’s a beautiful piece of magical technology, one of the first of its kind – hence the ‘artefact’ classification. And, despite its dark past, it led to a massive turning point in history,” You begin to retell your teachings from the generous staff who had taught you behind the Queen’s back. Ernest and Abigail kept your mind sharp and well-learned from the many books the royal library held. Abraham, the palace mage also helped educate you, specifically on your magic capabilities and especially on this history of magic, artefacts and modern magi-tech. He thought for sure that he would no longer be needed at the palace; with no King to aid in magic and a Queen with no desire to support the true heir, he was ready to pack his bags. However, the Queen regularly appeared before him with questions on magic so he could stay. Grateful for the mercenaries’ generosity in letting you stay, you happily provided Jake with the same teachings of Abraham.
An incredible amount of years ago, many people detested those with magical abilities and for good reason. The ability to control and use magic freely came at a heavy price, soul corruption. Over time, an individual with magical abilities would become selfish, greedy, violent and unloving towards others — the human heart and soul can be easily degraded by magic, but not certain metals and other materials. Once that was learned, powerful sorcerers imbued their magic into ordinary objects which would then become magical artefacts.
Jake eagerly listened, as did his teammates on the connecting side of the magi-tech device they were using.
However, there was a small group of people who didn’t get corrupted by the magic ability they were gifted with. The modern-day royal family are the descendants of those same people. It seemed that these individuals were gifted with a high affinity and tolerance for magic, granting them power to rule over the kingdoms. They proved themselves worthy rulers by creating artefacts that protected an entire city of people. Those same artefacts stand to this day, all located at the central point of each kingdom’s capital. The rulers’ natural talents were never challenged nor their rule, thus starting the monarchy.
However, anomalies with magical power did occur within and outside the royal bloodline. And without an explanation, many wrongdoings were committed.
“Because magical prowess became an exclusive trait to the royal family, those who had magical powers but were not born into royalty were treated poorly and executed. But, if you remember, before the monarchy was ever established, others were also gifted with magical affinities. Now that it’s exclusive only to royals, those who weren’t were punished.” you and Jake shared a sad look, “The reasoning was so that the magic user doesn’t get corrupted by their magic but it can’t be denied that magic had become such an exclusive privilege of the royal families that pride was also a factor,” Jake shakes his head in disappointment. His love for magic, artefacts and magi-tech made the history you were telling him hard to swallow. He can understand why this wasn’t common knowledge, although…such rich historical books were also hard to come by…
“It also didn’t help that we, as humans, have a bad habit of gossiping about strange events in search of an explanation. The ‘anomaly’ of a ‘commoner’ having magical abilities was so taboo that it warranted execution, especially when rumours began to spread that those high-magic-affinity people were the illegitimate children of the royal family. Nowadays, it’s no longer stigmatised as it’s been extrapolated that some individuals are just more magically inclined than others. But this was only after King Kloros.”
“What about him?”
“King Kloros was found to be infertile later in life when his five-year-old son, Prince Leto, was found to have no magical powers. Usually, royal children display magic as young as a month old but five years is the benchmark. Since Prince Leto wasn’t magically inclined even at five years of age, the King confronted the mirror of Aleth, named after the Sorceress and Queen Alethea who created the mirror to tell only truths when asked a question. It was found that Prince Leto was not his true son at all but was born out of his Queen consort’s affair. Outraged, King Kloros banished his Queen Consort, he could no longer look into Queen Consort Anwir’s eyes. To the surprise of many, he kept Prince Leto as his heir; he had grown to see the boy as his true son already. He also knew wouldn’t be able to have a son of his own anyway but wanted an heir regardless. Years later, however, Prince Leto, at 7 years of age, developed magical abilities regardless of his heritage and that was when King Kloros decided to banish prejudice against all magic users, vowing to find ways to prevent his son from being corrupted by the magic. It was found that as long as magic users practised the flow of magic within them and released them into objects regularly, they were less likely to be corrupted, which is why most sorcerers help create magi-tech products or participate in healing the sick,”
“Thank goodness for that,” Jake voiced playfully after thanking you and you both giggled. With scrutiny, Jake focused on the ancient pages showcasing the Mirror of Aleth, “But I do wonder… why don’t more people know about the mirror despite its influence on King Kloros and, therefore, the world as they knew it,” Jake mumbles to himself.
“It’s probably because it only did one thing. Yes, it generated a huge wave of influence but that ‘huge wave’ completely masked its original impact.” Jake nods beside you, “I also read somewhere that it only responded to true descendants, as in, the royal family so it’s been kept securely at the Okisha Kingdom’s Palace vault. As honourable people, they like the use the artefact’s abilities sparingly — they understand how damaging it is to know all truths, hence why Queen Alethea made sure the mirror only responded to descendants of the royal family,” All mercenaries tensed at the mention of their client but only for a millisecond; you were only reciting your knowledge. The intel they were given by the Okisha Kingdom’s mage was very lacking compared to your intelligence. However, that only made them more curious and cautious of you.
You move to continue your sewing but Jake, hypnotised by your voice and knowledgable insight, hurries to keep you talking, “Would you know how to identify the real one from a replica?”
His words make you think in silence as all of the listening men await your words with bated breath. Steve, Andy, Jake and Ari anticipate what your valuable intelligence may provide them in their mission, preferring to disregard their suspicions for the time being. Curtis and Ransom look at each other momentarily and keep their ears perked as well. Lloyd, however, tries to tune out your voice as much as possible; he feels a pang of sickening betrayal every time you innocently add to their suspicions because how could you possibly know all this bullshit?!
“I would first consider why replicas are being made — potentially to throw off whoever’s wanting to snatch the original, a decoy perhaps?” that’s a line of thinking you would rather return to at a later time for its many possibilities, “And then I would think about what the most telling signs would be of a fake…” you gesture to Jake’s open book and politely ask if you could touch it; you only do so after he gives a nod of permission. With that simple but considerate gesture, Jake thinks you’re even more of an angel now — he’s head over heels! He doesn’t allow just anyone to touch his prized possessions lightly but he trusts your delicate hands. “Notice how the mirror is made of only precious materials?” Jake nods eagerly, ecstatic to know you were just as vigilant as him in that observation. He hopes you can give him some sort of explanation as to why that is; he has his personal theories but they’re only that, theories. Another’s insight, especially from one who’s as knowledgable as you is very valuable. “Do you know why most ancient artefacts are only made with precious metals?”
“Not a clue,”
“It’s because magic can corrode materials as much as it can a person’s heart and soul. Precious metals are precious because they corrode very very very slowly, to the point that it’s barely noticeable. Nowadays, all magi-tech products only need to be installed with imbued magic crystals to work,” Jake has a eureka moment in his head and restrains himself from jumping on you with a scream of joy. That’s a better explanation than anything he’s come up with before. And is one he can use when training or creating his own magi-tech devices after his retirement with the boys.
“That’s amazing! All we have to do is see if the materials are made of precious metals or not!”
“Exactly!”
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Jake and Ari were able to make progress with their specific mission thanks to your precious intel. Ari stiffly worded his gratitude over the device and swiftly ended the call, leaving Jake to bite at his already short nails. Unphased, you returned to sewing Steve’s shirt. Glancing at the grandfather clock, it was still early afternoon so keep with your sewing but regularly glance at the clockface so that you don’t start on dinner too late. While you did that, Jake was drowning Ari’s peonies from anxiety. The tech genius can only imagine what his team would do as soon as they arrived home for dinner that night. He tends to lose track of many things when magic, artefacts and magi-tech are involved so he could hardly restrain himself when you talked overtly about the ancient artefact with Ari and the boys on the other end. As you revealed everything you knew to him, you also revealed it all to his teammates. It’s safe to say that he was expecting the worst-ever reaction from them.
He’ll protect you with his life! Even against his own! He loved the team but he’s never felt such a strong connection to someone else before. You’re the first lady to ever turn his way without a judgemental look in your eyes; you’re not dissuaded by his dorkiness and zealous interest in magic, you lean into it and happily discuss the topic with him. You’re a rare jewel he would rather sacrifice his life for than ever part with.
Jake slowly loses himself in thoughts of you and your wonderfulness. He was just beginning to smile goofily when he was subtly alerted by a breach in the barrier. They were home early! Rushing inside, Jake beelines it to you.
“Jake?” you ask with a slight tilt of your head as if to say, ‘What’s wrong?’. Jake knows what’s wrong but he’s not going to tell you anything. You stand when Jake keeps striding towards you without a word. You don’t know what to expect but it’s not to be lifted from the ground and into his arms as if you weighed nothing.
“There’s no time, Princess!” Jake turns on his heel and steps towards the back of the house but freezes up when the front door slams open. You gasp and jump ever so slightly in his arms from freight but smile over his shoulder at the sight of the mercenaries arriving in the living room with their shoes still on.
“You’re home early, today,” you beam from over Jake’s shoulder, “how was work? I’m afraid I don’t have dinner ready yet–”
“Quiet!” Steve commands firmly and in a volume that shakes the cottage walls. His eyes are like dull, blue stones, cold and hard as they drill into you. It sends a chill down your spine, “Turn around and put her down, Jake,” Jake turns but doesn’t let you go, only holding you closer.
“Sorry Cap,” Jake apologises without any meaning, “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Ari smiles at the gesture and nods in approval from his place beside Ransom.
“Put. Her. Down. Now!”
“No!”
“Wh-what’s going on?” you whisper, blinking back tears from the frightening visage of Steve. He was always so kind and warm to be around; this is the first time you’ve ever seen him so loud and cold.
“She’s not a bad person, Captain!”
“Then who is she?!” Lloyd barks from Steve’s right, stepping forward to sneer at you with much more animosity than you’re used to. His confrontational step forward makes you reel back and turn away from him in fear, “Tell us your real name!” Your obvious fright makes Lloyd stutter ever so slightly but protecting him and his mismatched pack will always be his top priority, not you.
“I-I have told you my real name!” you defend, wrapping your arms around Jake’s neck and leaning into him for comfort.
“You’re scaring her, Lloyd!” Ransom counters, stepping out of the group to stand closer to you and Jake. Curtis does the same but silently, his tall, broad stature as imposing and dangerous as ever. The two have been able to see your true character in the time they’ve spent with you — even though you have secrets, that doesn’t mean you were untrustworthy; everyone has secrets.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s the thief!” Lloyd points an accusing finger at you.
“She’s not the thief!”
“You don’t know that!”
“And what makes you think you do?!”
“ENOUGH!” Lloyd and Ransom looked ready to shout at each other until the sun rose again if it weren’t for Ari cutting in. “Screaming and arguing with each other isn’t going to sort anything out! Plus our angel isn’t any less frightened!” Ari steps up to stand beside your curled-up form in Jake’s arms. “If she meant any harm, she would have done something by now. She deserves to have a say,” Ari gives a pointed look at Andy who smiles at the bittersweet notion that the heavily bearded alpha chose now to recite his personal philosophy.
Everyone turns to Steve, who contemplates the situation. A long pause draws out for what feels like an eternity before their Captain finally turns to their negotiator.
“Andy?” Steve asks. He truly can see things going two ways. He was ready to kick you out for the betterment of his pack but seeing Jake, Ari, Ransom and Curtis firmly standing at your side made him second-guess himself. Trust in the team. Lloyd was too heated. Andy was the only other level-headed Alpha he could fully rely on.
“...Let her speak for herself, Captain,” Andy can’t shake Ari’s reminder of his personal values. With a bit of work, his teammate could make for a great negotiator, “She deserves to have a say,”
Steve nods and meets your eyes with a hard but warmer stare, “Tell us the truth,”
Not seeing a way out, you nod and bite your lip with some insecurity. “Alright…”