Chapter Text
Quinn sat on the floor of his cell, glaring at the stones in the wall as if they held the answers to it all.
It had been many hours since he’d last seen anyone, but he didn’t have too much of an issue with that. The more time they left him alone, the better.
Maybe this would finally be the end for him? He smirked at the irony of not knowing how this would turn out. The visions that had plagued him every day of his life were conveniently absent when it came to his own future, so whatever the universe had in store would be just as much of a surprise to him as it would to everyone else.
Fate had been a bitch to him his whole existence, so why should this time be any different?
He closed his eyes and tried to get some rest. Sleep had been scarce lately. The calling he’d been on had required him to be awake for the past few days. He’d allowed himself tiny cat naps, nothing more, as he couldn’t risk falling asleep and being discovered with his guard down.
At least he'd finished what he’d set out to do before the Council captured him, though. They'd send him to his grave knowing that the family of water ghouls was safe from the monster that was about to prey upon them.
Not that they’d ever know the fate that would have befallen them. Quinn had made sure of that.
The unwanted scene of horror that flashed across his mind made him flinch as it once again played out in vivid detail behind his closed eyelids. It imprinted into his memory forever, along with the other visions of death and destruction he regularly endured.
Quinn hadn’t known the earth ghoul he’d murdered was a valued member of the Council. All he’d seen was the what, the where and the when, and he’d done his best to make it there in time to stop him.
The vision had come from a chance encounter on the road. He'd crossed paths with a massive earth ghoul, and it hit mere seconds after Quinn had registered the blackness of the other ghoul’s soul.
The earth ghoul had done this before, Quinn saw. Many times over. The insatiable bloodlust he kept contained most of the time strained at the mental chains he'd wrapped around it, but occasionally, he would lose his grip. The monster he hid from the rest of the world would slip its leash, choosing his victims and taking its time to torture and kill them in the most creatively depraved of ways.
The ether showed Quinn that three days after the initial encounter, the earth ghoul would pass by a small rural dwelling where a water ghuleh and her three kits lived. The sire would be away on some errand or other, and they'd be unprotected from the beast whose interest they'd piqued.
Despite swearing never to interfere in these kinds of situations again, this one had cut a little too deep and hit a little too close to home for Quinn. He’d resigned himself to the fact that he would once again be ending a life based on a vision, adding yet another notch to his sword.
Quinn always gave the visions a chance to be wrong before he acted on them, though. Every single time he prayed to the Dark Lord he was mistaken. Every single time, he prayed it would be nonsense. He’d hope with all of his soul that maybe this time he’d be wrong.
So far, his prayers had gone unanswered.
Fate must have laughed at his pathetic efforts, because every single time, the visions were unerringly precise.
Still, Quinn had followed the earth ghoul, stalking him silently. He’d watched for those three days, hoping that by some miracle he would take some other path or carry on walking right past his destiny.
Sure enough, though, after countless miles, the ghoul came to stand at the edge of the circle of light cast by the welcoming glow of the water ghuleh's cottage.
The ghuleh wandered through the rooms as the earth ghoul watched her through the windows. She tended to her kits and readied them for bed. The small, pretty, dark-haired ghuleh was no match for this tall, broad brute of an earth ghoul.
If the vision ran its course, there would be absolutely nothing she could do to protect herself and her beloved ones.
The ghoul shifted from foot to foot, his excitement spilling over into movement. Quinn crept close enough through the darkness that he could smell the perverse anticipation wafting off him. He was so focused on the ghuleh that he didn’t notice Quinn’s presence until it was too late.
Quinn leaned in, whispering close to his ear.
“Just don’t,” he snarled.
The earth ghoul jumped, spinning around to face him. Quinn stepped back and watched as his eyes glowed green, and he curled his lip, exposing long fangs.
“How dare you, quintessence! Do you know who you’re speaking to?” he hissed.
Quinn huffed, quirking a cocky brow.
“I know what I am speaking to. And you should know they are protected,” Quinn gritted out, tilting his head towards the cottage.
The earth ghoul laughed and raked his gaze downwards.
“Protected by who? By you?” he sneered with scorn.
Quinn wasn’t a small ghoul by any means, but this earth ghoul was big, even by their usual standards. He wasn’t worried, though; he’d fought with the legions of Andras for many seasons and could kill just as easily as breathe, if he had to.
This earth ghoul didn’t know that, though.
Quintessence ghouls weren’t typically known as warriors. They rarely killed unless it was absolutely necessary for survival. Taking a life went against every fibre of their nature. They ranked alongside water ghouls as the least aggressive of the ghoul species and were generally amiable and chilled out.
Others rarely looked beyond that stereotype when they met Quinn.
In this case, that was a grave mistake.
Quinn met his gaze and held it. He let the blue fire in his eyes burn, and he smiled a wolfish smile.
A look of confusion crossed the earth ghoul’s face. He’d expected Quinn to drop his gaze, to back down from a fight and walk away.
Quinn's smile widened as he registered the sweet moment the other ghoul realised something wasn’t quite right about this strange quintessence ghoul who'd interrupted his evening of fun.
A heady spike of fear, and a split second later, his nerve snapped.
The big ghoul turned and ran.
And Quinn?
Quinn followed.
The chase didn’t last long. Just inside the treeline of the nearby woods, Quinn tackled him. Before he even realised what had happened, he’d fallen. Quinn pressed himself along his back, pushing his face into the moss-covered ground.
It was over way too quickly, but Quinn was tired. The sleep deprivation of the last few days had worn him down, and he didn’t want to risk letting this one escape so he could go back to the cottage and act out his twisted fantasies.
The ghoul struggled beneath him. Quinn took his head between his hands and twisted before he could use his strength to gain back the upper hand.
The thick neck snapped, and his head fell at an unnatural angle, the green glow in his eyes dying out.
Quinn shoved him away and went back to grab his bag from where he’d dropped it. Knowing it would be discovered at first light, he dragged the body to the roadside and left it there, within sight of the road.
He didn’t understand why the ether would tell him he needed to do that, but he didn’t argue with its will. He’d learned long ago that it did everything for a reason. When he chose to act on a vision, his life would be a lot easier if he just did as it asked.
A noise startled him out of his thoughts and back to the present moment. He looked towards the cell door.
It swung open, and he breathed a heavy sigh as two Council ghouls came in. Two bulky guards flanked them, and Quinn resumed staring at the wall, waiting for whatever judgement they would pass on him.
“Stand up, quintessence. You've been granted a temporary summoning to Earth.”
Quinn’s head snapped towards the air ghoul who'd spoken.
“What?”
“You heard me. Get up. You’re going now. The chapel is ready.”
They dragged him to his feet, and he shuffled out of the cell after them. The warded chains around his wrists and ankles clinked as he moved, and his mind swam with confusion. Was this some new form of punishment? What reason would they possibly have to send him to Earth?
For the first time in a long while, a sliver of fear worked its way into his gut. He wished his curse would allow him to see what was coming. At least then he could prepare himself.
The quintessence ghoul guard turned back to look at him, giving him a sympathetic smile. He'd have felt the fear, and Quinn felt embarrassed at his lapse in concentration. He usually hid his emotions well, but they’d caught him off guard with this, and the emotions bled through the walls he’d so painstakingly built to contain them.
They arrived at the chapel, and the guards dragged him to the summoning circle, pushing him down to his knees. He frowned as the air ghoul spoke.
“You should be thankful. One of your kind has foreseen this, so don’t fuck it up. You will be sent back here in five Earth hours, and the Council will decide your sentence then. I presume you can speak at least one of the Earth languages?”
Quinn nodded in a daze as he heard the incantations that would send him there.
A few minutes of complete disorientation later, he appeared inside another summoning circle. His stomach churned, and he struggled to catch his breath.
The air inside this chapel was frigidly cold, and he tried to wrap his arms around himself to combat the chill, but the chains prevented it.
Sensing others of his kind, he looked up.
A human stood before him, surrounded by four large ghouls wearing black hooded robes. The human's face was painted like a skull, and he had one white iris and one green.
When Quinn met his mismatched stare, his eyes widened in shock.
For the first time in his long existence, a vision of his own future flashed through his mind.
Family.
Comradery.
A life with this man and the four ghouls who stood staring at him warily.
The ether showed him this strange, cold place was his future, and for the first time in centuries, Quinn would have a home.