There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)

Just because Zein wanted to, didn’t mean he could just go up to the Temple.

In the first place, he was supposed to stay hidden for the time being. And him being literally on the Temple’s bad side made an official visit a tricky business. Generally not a good idea.

Even Radia had to sit still for a good while to contemplate all the risks and calculate what he needed to do for them to thread on this safely. However much he loved these two, he couldn’t afford to make a jeopardizing move. The fate of Trinity and even Mortix was hanging in the balance, and he couldn’t sacrifice hundreds of people just to satiate one man’s jealousy--even if that man had no idea how to spell the ’J’ in jealousy.

All the while, the only thing Zein could do was watch Radia finish three golden needles before finally, the older man got up and told him to wait in the annex. Once again, Radia walked to the main house, and when he got back, a white robe was in his hand.

"Come," he told Zein briskly.

The short words and dry tone were telling Zein that Radia still churning his brain even now. The man still made a phone call--several phone calls--while he walked toward somewhere deeper in the mountain. They walked to an inconspicuous large building that turned out to be a hangar. Instead of the other aircraft Zein used before, however, the one in this place was unmarked--no Trinity or Mortix sign on its side, just a plain black color.

"Jock, I need you to pull a barrier master and infiltration specialist," Radia said to the bodyguard while handing the white robe to Zein. "Wear this, and listen to me well..."

And then Zein had to listen to precise instructions for a good half an hour, before, for the first time, he was face to face with two members of the shadow guards.

So it was an emergency enough situation.

He knew there were still a lot of things Radia did on the side to make this possible, but for now, his role was to go as stealthily as he could, finding Bassena and perhaps finding out if it was truly the Temple who was behind this.

For that, Jock was replaced by two people Zein never saw before, but who had already been around him for months now. A stealth barrier was put on him, and he wore the white robe; a quiet heavy, traditional-looking cloak with iridescent shimmer and crimson embroidery on the inside, coming straight out of the Mallarc’s treasure vault.