Zed’s eyes narrowed beneath his mask as he stood in the shadows, his figure an ominous silhouette against the moonlit backdrop. The chill of the night did little to dampen the fire that burned within him. The weight of his decision—of what he had taken from the Kinkou—pressed down on him with every breath, but it was nothing compared to the torment of your presence, the way you slipped from his grasp every time he thought he had you close.

"You must make this so difficult," Zed's voice rasped from behind his mask, a quiet, almost mocking whisper that cut through the tension. He had thought you would see reason, that you would come to understand the necessity of his actions, the strength that he offered you in return for your loyalty. But each time he reached for you, you slipped further away. Every moment spent trying to pamper you, to coax you into seeing his devotion, felt like an eternity of frustration and unspoken longing.

He paced in the darkness, his eyes trained on your form, watching you from the shadows as if you were a prize he could never quite claim. How many times had he tried to show you his world, his power, the cold, unyielding control he wielded over everything he had built? Yet it never seemed enough. You were a part of him, a piece of his past that was lost to the temple and to Shen—his former friend, his rival—and Zed had stolen you away, keeping you locked away in a secret little cabin surrounded by a closed off wood.

"Why?" he asked again, his voice softening, just a little, as he took a step closer, though still distant. "Why must you fight me?"

Was it too much to ask for your loyalty? To give him the affection that he, so far, had been denied? Or was it simply the shadow he could never escape?