The Gifted Divide

We are all children of blood and bone. All instruments of vengeance and virtue. This truth holds me close, rocking me like a child in a mother's arms. It binds me in its love as death swallows me in its grasp. - Tomi Adeyemi (Children of Blood and Bone)

* * * *

Needless to say, when the rest of Aegis caught wind of what was happening—via a curt, cryptic phone call from Sera, they weren't exactly thrilled. In fact, "annoyed" would be putting it lightly.

It wasn't the first time she'd run off without them, and everyone knew it wouldn't be the last. And though many of them, especially those more seasoned in the ways of the underground—Raul, Letha, and Laura, understood the reasons why she did it, that understanding didn't mean they were any less irritated by it.

"There are times when I really feel like throttling her," Claudia muttered darkly, cracking open a soda with a sharp pop as she settled into her usual corner on the weathered couch on the first floor of the boathouse. Her thigh-high boots crossed at the ankles with casual elegance, but her pale green eyes were stormy. "What part of 'ask for help' is so goddess-damned difficult to understand?"

Lucie, seated cross-legged on the rug beside Raul's couch, gave a soft, nervous giggle.

It died quickly in the air, unheard or unacknowledged, as Raul let out a distracted grunt without looking up from his portable computer. He was hunched over it as always, the glow of the screen painting his features in faint blue, his fingers tapping rhythmically as if it was just another night.

"Well," Raul said after a pause, his voice calm but edged with dry irony, "we all thought this 'request' sounded fishy from the start. I'm not surprised Sera went digging into it solo. It's kind of her thing."

That earned a few nods, but no one looked pleased.

A heavy silence settled over them for several long moments.

The kind that stretches, cold and taut, as each person weighed what it meant—for Sera to walk into what turned out to be an ambush. Thirty hunters. Thirty. And she'd faced them down alone. No doubt she could handle herself. If anyone could, it was Sera, but that didn't mean she'd walk away unscathed.

And that, perhaps, was what made it worse. The fact that they all knew she would rather take on death itself than endanger any of them.

"If the hunters set this trap specifically for her," Letha said at last, her pale eyes like shards of glass under the low light, "then there's no doubt they know she's alive. And if they know she's alive, they probably suspect what she's really been up to."

More nods, heavier this time.

"Aegis came onto the scene not long after Blade went down," Letha continued. "And there's only a handful of people in this country who could pull off what Aegis does, day after day. The hunters aren't stupid. This won't be the last attempt to flush her out."

"We'll confront her about it when she returns," Neil said, his arms crossed as he leaned against the kitchen counter. His tone was quiet and composed, but beneath it was something harder. Frustration, perhaps. Concern. "But what exactly is this 'Pit' that she's challenged the hunter to?"

His gaze shifted toward Raul, Letha, and Laura—the three who had roots deep in the shadows of the underground, in a world that the rest of Aegis was still learning to navigate.

At Neil's question, Raul finally looked up. He exchanged a glance with Letha and Laura, the kind of wordless look that spoke volumes. The air changed then, with tension twisting tighter, as even the more experienced among them grew solemn.

"The Pit," Raul said at last, his voice low and steady, "is the underground's version of a courtroom. Our answer to justice." He leaned back, folding his arms. "Two go in. Only one comes out."

The room froze. Wide eyes. Sharpened silence.

"That's barbaric!" Kailey burst out, her pearl-white eyes flashing.

"No," Letha interjected swiftly, lifting a hand before the protests could build. "It's law. Brutal, yes. But law all the same."

"It hasn't been used in decades," Laura added, her voice thoughtful. "But it was never abolished. It remains…an option. When no other justice can be found."

"And in this case," Raul sighed, rubbing his temples with a long exhale, "the courts won't touch Ebis Ivanor. The hunters have their claws too deep in the system. How many times have we seen it? Cases dismissed before they even reached the High Court. Hunters walking away from crimes with no more than a slap on the wrist, if that. And if a Gifted is involved?" He scoffed bitterly. "Forget it. We've all lived it. That's why we ended up in the underground in the first place. It's the only place left where power still has consequences."

"But the Pit…" Lucie murmured, visibly unsettled. "It's… It's like some kind of gladiator fight."

"It is," Raul admitted. "And that's exactly the point."

"I thought Sera would've just executed her outright," Laura chimed in, twisting a strand of hair between her fingers. "But going for the Pit? That's personal. That's a message. She's furious. She wants it public. Wants everyone to know what happens when you cross her."

"The Pit is a relic," Letha said grimly. "From the days before the underground had structure—before the Enforcers and the Premier brought any semblance of order. Back then, it was chaos. Gang wars. Blood in the streets. If someone wronged you, you took them to the Pit. It was the only form of law people recognised. And if that doesn't paint a picture of how savage things used to be… Well." She shrugged.

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Lucie's brows furrowed deeply. She was new. Still adjusting. The laws of the surface world, cold and biased as they were, had at least been laws. This? This was survival through carnage.

"There's one rule that still echoes through the Abyss and every dark corner of the underground," Letha continued, her voice quiet but resolute. "A remnant from that savage past. Survival of the fittest. If you want to speak, you need strength to back it. If you want to lead, you fight for it. That's how Sera rose to power. That's how Blade became untouchable. And that's why even now, no one messes with the Abyss lightly."

Raul nodded. "Even the ESA and the hunters understand that much. They've avoided open conflict with the Abyss because they know. One misstep, and the Premier will tear them apart."

Kailey shifted in her seat, frowning. "I always thought the ESA were the ones who destroyed Blade. That's what we were told back then."

"We all did," Letha said. "Everyone in the underground believed that. But from what I've seen, Sera and the other Blade survivors never said a word. They knew the truth, and they kept it close."

Lucie pulled her knees up, hugging them slightly. "Sera's been keeping a lot from us…"

"She has," Ness agreed, his tone more understanding than accusatory. "But that doesn't mean she doesn't trust us. She's been surviving alone for years. That changes a person. But it's on us to show her she doesn't have to do that anymore."

"They've infiltrated the ESA, the courts, the council," Raul muttered, shutting his laptop with a soft click. "The hunters are everywhere. But they haven't touched the Abyss. Yet. Word is, Hayder's putting the whole sector into lockdown after this. Cleaning house. Making sure there's no hunter rot in the foundations."

"If the Abyss falls…" Claudia said quietly, "there'll be nowhere left for the Gifted to go."

Silence followed. Again. The weight of it different this time. Heavier.

"Whatever happens at the Pit in two days," Claudia murmured, "Sera better make it count."

Soft snorts broke the tension. A few smirks, and the atmosphere lightened just enough.

"You've never seen Sera in a real fight, have you?" Letha asked, grinning. "They don't call her the Death Reaper for fun. If she's stepping into the Pit, her opponent won't be walking back out. Hell, I doubt her second will even need to show up."

Lucie blinked. "Second?"

Letha raised a brow. "Caught that, did you?" She exchanged a knowing glance with Laura. "It's another rule of the Pit. Each fighter names a second—someone to finish the fight if they fall. Not that Sera will need one. She's never lost."

That brought an eerie hush to the room once more. The kind that came before storms.

Neil looked toward the door, his brows furrowed. "Where is she, anyway?"

And none of them could answer.

* * * *

When Hayder Beck had first passed along a request to Sera via Alexis, prompted by a troubling series of half-truths and veiled reports Ebis had dropped on his desk, he hadn't expected it to detonate into a full-blown crisis.

And certainly not this kind of crisis.

He hadn't expected it to lead to the invocation of the Pit.

"The Pit, huh?" Larissa mused, the ornate stem of her smoking pipe resting between two fingers as a plume of fragrant smoke curled lazily in the lamplight. Her voice was calm, almost amused, but there was a weight behind it. "Of all things, I didn't think Sera would bring that relic back. Ebis won't be leaving that ring alive. Or in one piece, for that matter. If I know Sera at all."

Hayder leaned back in the chair across from her, his silver-grey hair catching the light as he exhaled slowly, his golden eye narrowed beneath the edge of his black eyepatch. He hadn't even taken off his trench coat. That said enough.

"Yeah. I figured she'd want Ebis dead," he said, tapping a gloved finger against the armrest. "But not like this. I expected an execution. A clean, swift kill. Not…the Pit. It hasn't been used in decades."

"The Pit isn't about execution," Larissa replied, her gaze sharp. "It's about justice. Or more specifically, underground justice. This isn't just about Ebis. It's a message. And it's not for us. It's for the hunters."

At that, her gaze flickered sideways to Alisa and Leroy, seated side by side on the long dark couch against the wall. Both looked unbothered. Maybe even too calm.

"I was under the impression it was ESA agents who wiped out Blade," Larissa continued, her voice cool and cutting. "Not hunters. But judging from your faces, I suspect that's not the truth. Tell me. Did you know?"

"Yes," Leroy said flatly. No hesitation. No theatrics. Just quiet resignation. His chestnut-brown eyes didn't flinch from her sharp stare. He ran a hand through his reddish-orange hair, mussing the already messy strands further, before continuing in a more clipped tone. "We knew. But what the hell were we supposed to do? Tell the underground that it was hunters who butchered Blade? That they were the ones who razed Elvryn and turned our home into ash?"

He let that question hang in the air, rhetorical and bitter.

"Think about it. The underground already hates the hunters with a passion. Has for years. We don't trust them. They don't even acknowledge we exist unless they're dragging us out in chains or gunning us down in alleyways. If it came out that they were behind the Blade massacre? You think it would just end in riots?"

Leroy's voice dipped lower, and colder. "No. It'd be war."

Larissa's fingers curled beneath her chin as she listened. Her eyes, dark as molten earth, narrowed ever so slightly. "The underground and the street gangs would unite under one cause," she said softly. "And the only thing bloodier than a united underground is one that has nothing left to lose."

"And worst case?" Hayder muttered. "We don't just get riots. We get civil war. A full-blown, blood-drenched slaughter across Eldario."

They were silent a beat.

It was already bad enough when word leaked about the attacks on Whirlwind and Zalfari. The evidence had been vague, twisted by media filters and bureaucratic half-lies. But the undercurrents were clear: the hunters were growing bolder. Sloppier. More violent. And less afraid of exposure.

Had it not been for Larissa's steady control over the Abyss's power structure, and the delicate political balancing act she maintained between the factions, vengeance would've already erupted.

The only reason it hadn't was because she was holding the powder keg lid down with both hands.

Even then, she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold.

"The informants have already started pulling back from the ESA," Larissa said slowly, her voice lower now. "I've seen it. Heard the whispers. They're cutting ties, or sabotaging contacts. Even Ethan has pulled back. And even the ones that used to swear loyalty to the Eldario Council don't trust them anymore. And why would they? As far as most people are concerned, the ESA let Blade fall."

Alisa nodded. "That's exactly why we kept our mouths shut. Letting people think the ESA was responsible may have caused political damage, but it contained the backlash. The ESA, for all its faults, is still part of the ruling government. There are rules. There's oversight. Some protection."

"The hunters, though?" Leroy scoffed. "They don't answer to anyone. They don't wear official uniforms. Hell, they barely follow laws. They vanish into shadows, kill who they want, and leave no fingerprints. They aren't just a threat. They're ghosts. Ghosts with guns, and agendas."

"And they're on the move again," Larissa murmured, her voice barely audible as she stared into the curling smoke from her pipe.

The names echoed between them like curses.

Blade. Whirlwind. Dragonfly.

All gone. All in the same pattern. Swift, surgical eradications. Bases burned to ash. Survivors, if any, scattered to the wind or silenced forever.

And now this entire incident with Ebis Ivanor, an Enforcer turned hunter mole, sowing chaos directly inside the Abyss? It was too precise to be coincidence. Too personal.

"They're testing our defences," Hayder said grimly. "And I think they suspect Sera's alive."

"They don't just suspect," Larissa countered. "They know. This challenge, this move in the Pit—Sera's practically confirming it. And if they connect her to Aegis…"

"They already have," Leroy cut in. "You've seen how hard they've been going after Aegis lately. They've accelerated everything. Night raids, curfews, and even assassinations. All since Aegis started making serious dents in their plans."

"And Sera," Alisa added, her tone flat, "isn't just some rogue operative. She's their leader. And whether they've got solid proof or not doesn't matter. They believe she is. And that's enough."

"It's her influence," Hayder said. "That's what terrifies them. Not her combat ability, though that alone is terrifying enough. It's the fact that she could unify the underground. Bring together the scattered remnants of the Gifted, the ex-gangs, the dissidents. She's the one variable they can't control."

"And then there's the Gifted themselves," Larissa added, exhaling. "More have appeared in the last ten years than the two decades before that combined. It's not a fluke. Not random. It's a shift. Something's coming. Something big. And the hunters know it."

"And that's why the Pit matters," Larissa went on, her voice now cutting through the air like a blade. "The Abyss has rules—ancient, brutal rules, but rules, nonetheless. When the law fails above, it's the Abyss that answers below. The Pit is the oldest of our customs. Trial by combat. No court tricks. No politics. No bribed judges. Just blood, strength, and consequence."

She stood slowly, her heels clicking softly against the floor of her office, the dark blue of her dress catching the light as she moved.

"The Pit exists because justice up there," Larissa nodded toward the ceiling, "never applied to people like us. The Gifted. The forgotten. The outlaws. So we made our own. And now, with everything happening, the hunters will see exactly what kind of justice the underground delivers."

Behind her, Leroy leaned forward, his voice quiet but firm. "I don't know how this ends. But if they come for the Abyss next… They better be ready for what's waiting down here."