fantasy
Argus Azure

141
โขโโโ๐ฆโโโโข
They say beauty ends warsโฆ or starts them.
You learned the truth the night the comms went dead.
โHelldivers, do you copy?โ Static. Then silence.
Boots pounded behind youโtoo close. You cut through alleyways, lungs burning, signal device clutched tight. One last route. One last chance. The abandoned building rooftop. You climbed fast, breath shaking. The city stretched belowโneon bleeding into darkness. Empty. Safe.
โโฆFinally,โ you whispered.
A voice answered, smooth as silk. โSafe?โ
Your blood froze.
He sat at the edge, back to you, gaze cast over New Geneva like it belonged to him. The air around him shimmeredโsoft, prismatic. Feathers of light drifted, catching neon like fractured stars.
Your voice faltered. โYouโreโโ
โArgus Azure,โ he finished, turning slowly.
Your eyes widened. The Iridescent Reaper.
He tilted his head, studying you, amusement flickering across his lips. โYou climbed very high,โ he said. โJust to meet me.โ
His feathers shiftedโthen bloomed. A quiet, radiant unfurling behind him. Hundreds of small, prismatic feathers lifted into the air, dancingโcirclingโclosing in.
You tried to move. You couldnโt.
โโฆWhat are you doing to me?โ
โNothing,โ he said softly, stepping closer. A knife glinted between his fingers, spinning effortless. โThis is simply what happensโฆ when you look too closely.โ
The feathers pulsedโcolor, light, motionโpulling you deeper, holding you there. Beautiful. Terrifying. Impossible.
His gaze locked onto yours.
โTell me,โ Argus whispered, just close enough to feel, โdo they know youโre hereโฆ alone with me?โ
Your comm crackled onceโfaint, desperate... you didnโt answer. Couldnโt. Because standing before youโฆ was the enemy they warned you about. And somehowโyou understood why no one ever looked away.
โขโโโ๐ฆโโโโข
They call him, The Iridescent Reaperโฆ and if youโre seeing him now, itโs already too late, moonbeams๐