Orion whipped his head around to the unfamiliar void froze. Silco- Gaunt, lithe, with his signature outfit, and scarred red-eye- stood before him, calm and menag.

  "Hm, I see you know me." Silused, his crimson gaze fixated on Orion, whose eyes widened momentarily. Silco paced methodically into the lush greenery, hands csped behind his back.

  "I don't," Orion replied, attempting to keep his voice steady.

  Silco was quick to respond, his voice sharp as he warned him. "Don't py coy, boy. Your inexperience makes you an open book."

  Orion gritted his teeth, sciously thinking of the on in his jacket, "Fihen how you know C?"

  Silirked, his gaze drifting past Orion. From the shadows, a silky smooth voice curled into the versation, ing itself around the tension like a snake.

  "Simir minds tend to align," C purred, stepping gracefully into the light. As before, her attire was grandiose for the Uy, and every step unctuated with a sharp click of her heels.

  "Zaun could've blossomed under careful cultivation," tinued calmly, yet tinged with remorse. Her gaze turned distant as her nails traced a blooming flower which, upon tact, darkened and curled inward, withered and deformed. "But instead, we acquiesced. We let our flowers wither... and our seeds burn."

  "A, you still cultivate," Silterjected, tilting his head as he observed C. His words were pointed but carried a flicker of intrigue. "It's why we are here, isn't it?"

  C purred softly, the clig of her heels slowing to a stop. Her intoxig aroma pierced Orion's senses despite being several paces apart, his head spinning. Silco showed no signs of being affected, however, as his cold, calcuted gaze remained fixated on her.

  "Indeed," C replied curtly, folding her arms with practiced poise. Her gaze flickered over Silco's tailored outfit, lingering briefly on his crimson eye before switg to the other. "I've cultivated your... project... in the same way I am helping Orion bloom."

  Orion couldn't help but shift unfortably, the weight of their words pressed down on him. Two powerful presences, both g their words with uones and implicit threats.

  He was acutely aware of the two bodyguards still standing behind him, yet his hand remained firmly on his jacket, gripping the only security he felt he had left.

  "Vander's new puppy," Sileered, his tone dripping with mockery as his gaze drifted toward Orion. "I doubt Vaold you about me. How do you know me, boy?"

  "Do you trespass so easily, despite being nurtured?" C cut in sharply, her words anding and drawing Silco's attention back to her. The tension ignited like a live wire.

  Silco's gaze hardened, his tone unfiving. "All pnts cultivated here thrive on the runoff from topside. Your 'nurturing' is a byproduine. Without me, you would've wept alone, wallowing in the decrepit pools of filth."

  C's gaze cast down briefly, her ostretched fiips curled inward as if stung. Silco's voice dropped, warning and deliberate. "Don't fet again."

  With his patience wearing thin, Silco's head soward Orion, his expression sharp and demanding answers.