A/N:  I'm so sorry that I didn't update last week.  I was honestly still really sore and tired from my vacation, and I didn't do much but veg out and relax.  I sincerely apologize.

Updated 8-19-22

2729 words

As we entered the arena, I became overcome by all of the other emotions around me. It wasn't difficult to decipher the exhilaration and anger that most people were feeling, unfortunately the huge amount of emotions was just too much all at once. It had me wincing in pain as a headache, not much unlike a human migraine, tried to crop up and fiercely make itself known. I shouldn't have come here with her to begin with, but after not seeing her for almost a week I didn't want to leave her side. I sit beside her and glance in her direction. Despite the debilitating headache, the first emotion I am able to decipher from her is an overwhelming need to talk with Namjoon. "Don't try to communicate with him telepathically. It won't work here. They disable certain magic to keep the contestants from cheating."

My discomfort is overlooked for at least half of the fight. That's around the time Everleigh turns to me and notices the pain I am dealing with. "Oh my God. Why didn't you tell me that your empathy would work here? I would have insisted that you stay home."

"I wanted to be here to help support you. I honestly didn't think about the repercussions at the time. Now, I can't help but admit that I am regretting it." I know I am frowning, but it is impossible to put a positive expression on my face when my head is starting to feel like someone put it between two metal plates of a vice and began twirling the crank as tightly as possible.

She grabs my hand with hers. "Seems bogus that empathic abilities would work while telepathic abilities wouldn't. I mean I get that they wouldn't be much help in the ring, and that's probably why they didn't think to turn that off. You shouldn't have to suffer though when they have the capability of turning it off."

At first I think her sympathy is drowning out the others due to proximity and relieving some of the tension that way, but then my eyes catch sight of her hand. It's glowing. Is it possible that this might be part of her Spring Sidhe abilities? I have to admit though that I have never heard of anything like this before. Perhaps it stems off of healing? "Mm. Ever, you know how I was talking about helping you learn your Spring Court abilities?"

She turns to look at me, before noticing my gaze on her hand. Her look of immediate shock is pretty damn adorable. "Um. What is that?"

I feel like I have to be as honest as possible. "I'm not altogether sure actually. It's not something I am familiar with. I think it must be a spell similar to healing, but it is more like you are blocking the emotions around us." It's a little exciting to know that she might be able to offer this help to me in the future, but we should definitely test its limits at some point. It would be an advantageous tool if she could replicate it. I have to admit I'm curious what prompted the ability in the first place though, or at least her subconscious attempt at the magic.

As if she somehow senses a bit of what I am thinking she shares what occurred on her end. "I just wished that I could help you, and it happened. Hopefully I can activate the ability again anytime you might direly need it."

Not long after the fight is over she releases my hand since Namjoon seems to be beckoning her over. Once again, in the matter of only seconds I find myself immediately bombarded by the numerous emotions within the room. She turns to me and winces when she sees the pain I can't keep from my face. "Go ahead and go home. I really don't want you to have to suffer any more."

"Oh to be a fly on the wall during their conversation." Hoseok mutters.

I shake my head at him, turn to the others, and announce that I'm leaving. "I'm going to be stopping in Eisodoi though. I'd like to have a conversation with Hope. I might not even make it out of Eisodoi before you all come through."

"What are you hoping to learn from the Titaness?" Yoongi asked curiously.

"No, better yet, what do you want to talk to her about?" Jungkook's confusion was evident on his face.

"He wants to warn her to leave Ever alone from here on out. He also wants to interrogate her again about seeing anything fishy in Eisodoi recently." Taehyung may not be the empath in our Legion, but I sometimes wonder if something happened when he took the Sin that would have been originally assigned to me. If perhaps he picked up a piece of my abilities somehow. After all, my blood still spilled on the contract. My name was still on it as well. Even if his signature was just under mine.

Seokjin looks me into the eyes. "You know you won't be able to read her." Yes because she is too old or too powerful, or perhaps even both. "We didn't learn much of anything from her when we were Earthside last week."

I nod my head and instantly regret it due to the headache. I had nearly forgotten it during our conversation, but now it felt like a vein was pulsing hard at the spot right between my eyebrows.

I take a much needed deep breath as I come out on the other side of the gate in Eisodoi that opens up directly into the foyer of the Tophet Fight Club. I'm not really a fan of raising my voice, but... "Hope!" I shout it so loudly my throat feels a little itchy and achy afterward.

A magical sounding pop precedes her arrival. "Ooh, tired of your little mate already?" She leans down to whisper in my ear. "I mean I always preferred Hoseok, but beggars can't be choosers when you are stuck in this place of 'in between.'"

I backed away from her. "I'm not interested in being one of your 'tissue men.'"

She wrinkles her nose in obvious confusion. "'Tissue men?'"

"Used like a kleenex and then thrown away afterward." I define myself for her. I'm a little annoyed that the conversation hasn't really started yet, and we have already gone completely off topic.

Hope makes a sound of annoyance. "Whatever happened to handkerchiefs?"

"Perhaps a handkerchief would have been a better word to use. After all, you don't really throw them away, but they are definitely more tainted and unclean after having touched you." I'm not usually the one to hand out insults, but honestly she definitely needed to back off of Everleigh.

She growls in obvious agitation. I may not be able to read her emotions, but when they are so blatantly clear on her face I have no problem deciphering them. "What...do...you...want?" She asks between panting breaths.

"First of all, I know we already warned you, but you need to stop flirting with Hoseok and the others in front of Everleigh." I warned her again.

"Pssh. I won't even bother her any more. I didn't mess with her last week when she was here alone."

My eyebrow lifts. "Last week?" Did she mean around the time of the attack Earthside? Or did Everleigh come through here herself in the past five days when the rest of us weren't paying attention? No, she has only been through here with us that one time before. She wouldn't know her way around the gates on her own. "I assure you she wasn't here last week, and she wouldn't be here alone."

Hope frowns. "I felt her. I sensed her magical signature."

My eyes widened. "Did you see her, or did you only sense her?"

"I mean. I saw her from a distance from the back. I didn't go seek her out. She was alone, there wasn't any point. I mostly sensed her magical signature as she tripped through the gate coming back from Earthside."

"Other than the first time she was here with us and tonight? Have you ever sensed her again since then?" I ask her.

She shifts her eyes away from me. "You did. When?"

"Five times tonight, other than the time I saw her head into the Tophet with all of you."

"Where did she go? Where was she coming from?" I ask her.

"I don't remember where all she has been. It's not my business." She grumbles at me.

"Okay, but which gate did she last go through?" I ask her earnestly.

"Gehenna."

I grab her by the shoulders. "Which gate in Gehenna?"

She winces at my grip so I loosen my hold on her. I can't help but be a little surprised that I inflicted pain on the Titaness. "I thought she was going home."

Home. She went to the gate leading home. I was essentially done with our conversation, but I wasn't about to go through that gate on my own. Not without waiting for the others, and not without letting them know what I had learned. Who knows what trap awaits us once we go through it?

Often I have joked in the past that I was 'a lover not a fighter.' I guess to an extent it was true, but I couldn't deny how I enjoyed taking out any and all abyssal fiends each moment the chance arose. I also often cheered louder than many of these fans in the stands during these matches. Right now though? I was bored.

It's taking them entirely way too long to have a heated discussion. "I'll be back." I mutter to the others. Not letting on where I was going. Let them think I was grabbing a drink and a snack or heading to the restroom. Instead my plan was to check on Everleigh and Namjoon. I wouldn't admit it out loud, but I was starting to find myself a bit overprotective of our mate.

I could sense the shared satisfaction and lust coming from the room beyond when I got within 5 ft(152cm) of the door. My dick grew stiff and tested the limits of the jeans I was wearing. At least the denim would somewhat conceal my current predicament. Sweats might have been more comfortable, but my arousal would have been exceptionally obvious.

I'll just guard the door for them. That's what I told myself, but I was partially hoping to catch a scent or sound of Everleigh's pleasure. Namjoon was a lucky bastard to get inside her first.

I almost jumped up to join Hoseok. The gut reaction felt weird. I had grown adjusted to being a part of a group. In my heart though I would always be somewhat of a loner. My alter seemed to glare at me from within my mind. What? I almost mentally asked if the cat had his tongue, and I realized that the silly joke was the result of being around Ever now.

She was so vibrant and full of life. I think a part of me was afraid I might contaminate that somehow. I was often too negative in my own mind, but that's why I was often so quiet. So the others didn't hear that part of myself. It's interesting that I had no trouble opening up to her that night in the pool. It felt cathartic to share my past with her. It also made me feel a bit emotionally closer to her.

I glanced at the others around me. Well, maybe not as close as the others.

My alter started pacing in my head. I muttered quietly that I would be back, before I too went to see what was taking our leader and mate so long.

"Oh, hi Yoongi." Hoseok offered to me sheepishly from the door.

I caught their combined scents and something between a growl and a purr rumbled from me. I wasn't sure if I was annoyed or excited at discovering what was going on in that locker room.

After Namjoon worshiped me like a goddess I felt like my whole body was lit with power. I hadn't fed on him. I glanced over him to assure myself of that fact. No, he doesn't look remotely weakened. In fact, he looks just as invigorated as I feel. Wait, invigorated isn't the right word for it. Giddy, I feel giddy. I'm not even sure of the last time I felt giddy. I bet it was when I was selected as the understudy for the principal dancer in college. It was unheard of for a Freshman to get that opportunity. And only a month or so later I ran away from that life and left it all behind.

It doesn't take much to gather my thoughts before they tipped over the cliff and left me in despair, lost in those memories and regret. In fact it takes a total of two things to have my mind whipping away from my past. I picked up the bra and panties that I had removed earlier. Now, where exactly did these come from? Because they most certainly aren't mine.

"They aren't yours? What do you mean?" Namjoon asked from behind me.

I think back to a few moments ago. "What? I didn't say that out loud. I didn't want to sound all 'looney tooney Bugs Bunny movie.'" He chuckled at my response before I lifted the bra directly into his line of sight, and by that I mean I waved it back and forth in his face. "This is not mine. It is not what I was wearing before I removed my shirt...however long ago it was."

"Oh. Huh. I wonder if that is an ability a Succubus gains when she finds her Circle." He wrinkles his forehead. "But, I felt the bond snap into place. That was most definitely a Fae bond I felt."

So, I know I felt that too...but.. "We bonded just because we had sex? I thought it might be something more profound than that."

He smirks at me. "It can be, but I'm pretty sure the reason it was sex is more than likely due to your Succubus blood."

I couldn't be mad at that. The sex was pretty fucking amazing after all.

He frowns at me. "I'm a little mad at you."

Both of my eyebrows lift sky high at that declaration. "Um. I'm pretty damn sure you have no reason to be mad at me."

"You called our love making sex." He almost pouted, and it was ridiculous that I wanted to pinch his cheeks due to the way they rounded with the action.

I roll my eyes though when his words fully register. "I didn't mean it that way."

He smacked my ass, and my yelp was more a surprised response than one of pain. I couldn't help but rub the abused cheek though because it was going to be slightly red after that. "Get dressed." He growled at me.

I lifted the bra again. "Not mine. Not wearing it."

"What were you wearing?" I take a second to remember before describing the matching pair in great detail. In a moment or two the strange garments transformed to the pastel striped pink, purple, and blue boy shorts and a jersey cotton wire demi bra I bought to match the panties. "Those are sexy too. Wonder why my mind must have settled on the others." He growls out in response. I glance down at the lingerie that I personally consider tame, and find myself pretty happy that he happens to find them sexy since these are the type of undergarments I tend to prefer.

I can't help but ask though. "Do you have an obsession with cherries?"

He hauls me close so the gap between us is virtually nonexistent. Takes my lips in a heated kiss and sucks my lower lip in his mouth. He gently abuses it with his teeth before releasing me. "I might have an obsession with two cherries." He says before cupping my left breast in his hand and rolling my nipple between his thumb and index finger.

Oh. That's what he meant.

"You better get dressed. You're tempting with clothing on. You're irresistible naked."