When Flames Fall "Leone... I understand... Why you don't let... People... Get close... Anymore... You're dangerous..." A woman coughed in the gentle arms of a young man, her blood staining both of them. "That's... Why... I... Love... You..." She coughed, her voice growing faint. Her eyes began to roll back, and as the period of silent sobs drew longer, her once rosy skin turned cold. He could still see the room falling apart around him, as countless people ran in and out. It was like everything was moving in slow motion. Nothing felt real, except for the chill that ran from his dead love's cold fingertips right to his heart. Many years later... A young man walked alone on an empty street, silence holding him in a deep embrace like a long lost friend. His dark grey eyes drifted up from the yellow lines of the cracked pavement as he heard some sort of struggle up ahead. He hurried to investigate and saw a big guy dragging some girl into an alleyway. "Hey, what do you think you're going to do with her?" He asked sharply as he walked over to the alley. "What's it to you, kid?" The man asked, his words slurred with alcohol. He took a swig from the vodka bottle in his hand, finishing it off. "Nothing. It just seems like your lady friend doesn't want to have wild dumpster sex at the moment." The boy stated, pushing a few messy strands of his black hair out of his face. The woman looked utterly terrified as she struggled in the grip of the man. "Let me go... Please..." She cried. "You heard her. Let her go." The boy stated, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the brick wall of the alley. The man let out a hearty laugh and threw the woman into the back wall of the alley. "Boy, you sure got balls talking to your elder like that." A dark malevolence shined in the man's beady eyes as he lumbered closer. "Too bad I'm going to cut 'em off for ya." He man growled, breaking the bottle against the wall. "Something tells me that things are going to end badly for you." The boy stated, simply observing the man from where he was leaning against the wall. "I'll take my chances." The man growled and lunged at the boy. The boy waved his hand and muttered a small phrase under his breath. The ground opened up beneath the two of them. The boy clung to the wall, a bit of surprise showing in his dark eyes. He could hear the man far below him, a stream of profanities bouncing off the walls of the twenty foot deep hole in the ground. "Well, boy, it may not be your balls, but it's something!" The boy glanced down long enough to see the man throw his broken bottle up at him. A grunt of pain sounded from deep in his throat as the bottle nailed him in the back of his thigh. He carefully inched his way across the wall, his fingertips growing numb as they scraped against the brick. The woman grabbed his hand once he was close enough to the edge of the hole. She helped him get on solid ground. Her emerald gaze looked over him carefully. "Thanks." The boy stated through gritted teeth as he tried to stand. It hurt too much. "Hold still. The bottle's still stuck in your leg." The woman's voice was gentle as she spoke to the boy. She pulled out the bottle without another word, a pained noise escaping the boy. "Next time give me a little bit of a warning." He stated in a bit of a higher tone. His whole body was trembling. "Sorry. My name's Aeva, by the way." The woman spoke with a gentle voice. "Leone." The boy grunted as he attempted to stand up. Once again, pain overtook him and he collapsed. "Would you hold still? You have a big, deep cut in the back of your leg. Your muscle is probably shredded, and it won't get any better with you straining it!" Aeva stated sharply. "You don't quite understand the situation here. If I don't get out of here soon, we'll be a lot worse off than dealing with some drunken buffoon." Leone stated as he tried to get up one more time. Same result as all his previous attempts. He waved his hand and muttered another phrase, and a portal appeared before them. Aeva looked down at him with confusion shining in her emerald eyes. "I'll explain everything once you get me through that portal." Leone sighed, a wave of exhaustion sweeping over him. "Fine. But promise me that you'll rest once we get there." Aeva sighed, carefully looping his arm over her shoulders and putting her hand at his waist. She carefully lifted him up. He was surprisingly light, even for the 15 year old that he looked like. She dragged him over to the portal and hesitated.