Reesa's Drabbles

[ℛeesa ℒuna]

1. Feel welcome to reply to this, I'm not gonna write a full story outta it though!

It stood against the test of time. No one had expected it to, no one had thought it would last even thought they were all happy it had. Why shouldn’t they be so happy that the last remaining piece of what they had all been through stood? It was more than that though, so much more than that. So many people wandered to this graveyard, this formerly empty and untouched field, in order to get a glimpse of it and wonder. In order to stop and stare in awe.

She would have loved it.

The tall, black haired woman knew this without a second thought. She gazed upon this wonder with sapphire eyes, simply keeping her gaze blank and watching, looking. Wondering. She was so happy it had stood as well, as much as the rest of them were. But she was proud at the same time, that their friend had withstood the test of time.

It was a marvel indeed. The statue was so detailed most people stated that they thought it would come to life at any moment, they were always so surprised by the level of artsmanship and was surprised that no one had yet stepped forward as the artist of this piece. The most amazing part of this art work, however, was the wonderment. It appeared to be made of ice, it had the same opaque beauty as the cold substance and when one touched it it felt like ice as well, so cold as to send shivers down the person who touched it’s spine.

It was simply a marvel.

Clear eyes gazed and appeared to be looking at middle space, not at anyone in particular which was good because they were detailed enough that she would probably freeze anyone who looked right into her gaze. A soft button nose, full lips that were parted slightly, one side slightly drawn up as if she was about to smirk at the world. Soft hair fell into her face slightly, as if the person she was modeled on didn’t have time to brush her hair out of her eyes before the artist started his or her work. One eyebrow, slightly visible, was raised ever so slightly in the girl’s characteristic sarcastic manner.

Jeans, torn beyond repair, were slit slightly to show skin here or there, or rather where skin should have been. A worn old denim jacket clad her top half over a loose tee shirt, that would have been black. If it had been real, but it was all the same icy stone, all in exquisite detail.

Her feet were shoulder width apart, as if she was bracing herself against some great force. Her hands, in contrast, appeared almost relaxed. Hands covered in fingerless gloves, had chains wrapped around them as she grasped the cold metal surface, the only bit not to be made of the ice substance. It looped out in front of her, as if she was about to use it to beat the hell out of some poor sap that tried to mess with her. She had the same feel about her that she had had in life.

The tall young woman, now in her late twenties as this sculpted girl who appeared only seventeen should have been, was glad she had gotten the timing right. She had come just late enough that the usual gawkers that came to stare at the wonder that was the Ice Bitch herself. But apparently not late enough to be alone.

A boy, the same age as she so not really a boy, not anymore, stood closer to her than the young woman did. Even if he had been younger she wouldn’t have considered him a boy, not after what they had all been through. Him especially. Eyes, blue as a summer sky, had lost the mirth they usually had when he was away from this place, now they silently mourned. He lay a hand over the one belong to the Ice girl, even though she knew it must be dreadfully cold for him to do so. He didn’t pull back.

They would all be here soon, she should have known he’d have been here first however. She let the flowers, lilies, fall to the bench to her side and stepped forward to put her hand on his shoulder. She felt the muscles under her hand jump when she surprised him, but he didn’t move, didn’t turn away from her. He never would when they were here and they all respected that enough not to try and make him.

”She always said she was like ice” the raven haired girl said softly, looking up to gaze on her friends face. For she knew something the masses did not. There was a reason this statue was oh so detailed, just like there was a reason her chest rose and fell ever so slightly. It was impossible to see with the blind eye, and no one dared touch her and brave the ice to tell. They all had, they had needed to make sure…their friend was still…there. And she was.

Hence their tradition of coming back here once a month, keep her company.

The boy simply nodded and didn’t grace the girl they always called their leader with a vocal response. She sighed and debated breaking her own rules to hug him, he always seemed like he needed it when they were here. ”She did it to save you…I doubt she has any regrets about that” she said softly instead. It was the closest the girl would come to consoling. She was busy trying to keep their group of friends together after what they had been through…after losing one of them in the battle that the world forgot.

He didn’t answer again, she didn’t expect him to. Instead she simply dropped her hand from his shoulder, took a step back and gazed on the living ice statue that once was their friend. In truth, she had sacrificed herself to save all of them because it was he, the one she had saved, that had stopped the war in the end. The raven haired girl nodded her head to the icy one. She honored this sacrifice, as she did every month…every day.

The raven haired girl looked up as she heard another person entering the graveyard that was once a field. She seriously hoped that she didn’t have to shoo off another ass that though they could come and see the girl that they were about to come to see. Instead it was a red headed woman, beautiful in her depression. The raven haired girl knew she didn’t want to be here and nodded to her, not surprised to get not much of a response. It was always hardest to convince this one to come, to convince her that their friend was still alive and that was why they always came every month, not to torture themselves, though there was a bit of that in there too. She knew better than to talk to the girl, the best she’d get would be a snappy response.

Another girl followed shortly after, a sniffling girl who’s sadness shone in her eyes. Chesnut colored hair floated around a face caught with grief as she walked. The raven haired girl frowned a little, and this girl she did break her rule for. She turned and walked past the redhead to catch the smaller girl in a quick hug, nothing big or long or tight, but it was full of comfort. The bookworm girl, the little sister to this group nodded her thanks, wiping her eyes as the leader girl stepped back and went back to the center, taking the quiet girl with her.

Just one left to wait for.

The one they were waiting on came here almost as often as the boy, in truth. But during their monthly gatherings it was always hard to tell whether or not she would show up. And when she did show she’d speak to no one, simply look on the statue that was her best friend. The leader girl didn’t blame her. There was a reason no one blamed her…to lose a Twin was a horrible thing. Chances were she would show up late, and they all…let her.

The girl with the dark as night hair and the sapphire eyes turned, facing the statue once more and sighed. ”And here we are again…”

[ash]

This is actually part of the same story as above. I know it doesnt seem like it, please be patient you'll see the connection soon!

Prologue
Five years ago the world was normal. Everything was just the way it always had been. I mean yeah, had it been a bit darker? Of course. But it had to change, it always changed. But not to get ahead of myself…it was the year 2012 when things went wrong. Funny right? How the Mayans…or the Aztecs…or whoever the hell it was, they were right. Everyone joked and said that nothing was going to actually happen but they were so wrong, so beyond wrong. It happened all right, and if I could have managed to avoid it, I would have. Mostly because I was with the part of the population that got the short end of the proverbial stick. But I’m getting ahead of myself again, I tend to do that from time to time.

I didn’t used to be this jumbled.

Once upon a time, I was methodical, I could keep all my thoughts perfectly straight, keep all my emotions to myself and locked behind an ice wall that I kept everything behind. I showed the world nothing and I liked myself that way. It meant I didn’t have to deal with anything or anyone’s shit. Now I’m lucky if I remember all the curses that exist when I used to be able to string them all perfectly into a sentence. I don’t know what it is that has me like this, but I’ll figure it out and I’ll stop it…somehow.

Ugh, I’m getting ahead of myself again. I don’t know how I intend to tell this story when every five seconds I’m jumbling it all up.

Right, so back to 2012.

On December whatever, I can’t remember the exact date for the life of me, they came. No, not the aliens. That would be idiotic. I don’t know what they were exactly or I’d tell you, they called themselves immortals. But I’ve seen them kill one another, which makes them less immortal if you ask me. See, I can remember that much. Anyway…they came and with their prescense, suddenly the electricity went out. It took a while for people to notice, it had seemed so weird the country wide black outs…everyone had thought it was some type of glitch. But then nothing fixed itself. No lights went back on, no computers started working again…and then cell phones went down. I was away at school when it happened, but my parents called me back and I reluctantly went, trust me I have no love for my family. But sometimes you gotta suck it up and deal.

I said goodbye to my friends, promising to be back soon. I broke that promise, I haven’t seen them in five years. I can’t remember their faces, which shouldn’t have happened, but this place has an affect on me. I’ll get back to that though.

Anyway, the beings, the immortals, they stepped forward. And everyone was so in awe of the winged people, so in awe they didn’t notice that their wings were as black as sin. I noticed, but who cared what a seventeen year old had to say about something like that? They said they had once ruled this earth and wanted to again, and if we gave ourselves up, they would give us back the technology we so needed. If we didn’t they would just take back the earth by force. My family was one of the first to give themselves up to these people. But my mother always had been a power hungry type of woman, she jumped at the chance to possibly gain some sort of power in this new world. But instead, they never gave us back out technology because that would make us powerful which they didn’t want. Instead, they came to the places where people had submitted…and started something that would come to be known as The Selection.

They would pick through the people in a house, kill off some and take others. Later, we learned they only took those pleasing to the eye. My big sister, the only one I actually loved in my family, called my mother an idiot. I wish I could remember her face, that moment, because that was the last time I saw her…they killed her. I ran when they came, hid myself away. Until I saw them pick Nadia, my niece, to go with them. I burst from my hiding place and told them just how they could fuck themselves, trying to give Nadia time to run.

They got Nadia anyway and I got the white scar that bisects my cheek. They would have done more, but like I said…they only took the pretty ones. My cousin Nadia, myself, and my big brother are all that remains of my family.

People got away from The Selection, once word got out that it was happening, they had time to run and get way. They became Rebels, searching for ways to over turn what had happened to the world. I would have given anything to be with them, but every time I tried to leave this place, I suddenly forgot how or where the door was. It was frustrating but there was nothing we could do…this place did something to the mind of it’s human inhabitants.

Anywhere from one to three immortals inhabited a region, taking over and keeping a close eye on the mortals that weren’t part of their household…that’s what they called it, being part of their household. More like being a servant. If you were part of an Immortal’s Household, you simply did what you were told or you feared for the consequences, there wasn’t even a thought as for how to escape, or whether you shouldn’t do it.

These castles, because that’s what they were, had that effect on the mind.

My niece was sent somewhere different from me, and I hope it’s in a better place than the one I ended up in. There are three Immortals in the North East region of what was once North America, the most there ever was in one place. Scary thought to be stuck there…I think that’s why I’m so baffled all the damn time. Three influences on my damn mind. It’s a wonder I remember how to tie my shoes, not that I would wear any even if I could. I would say it’s a wonder I remember my own name, but I don’t. I forgot that three years ago, when they decided we weren’t allowed to have names. Not even numbers for each household member was allowed. We simply were called by “girl” or “you” or simply “come”…there wasn’t any question, you went. And you always knew if they were calling you or not.

Forcas was the name of the Immortal whose household I was technically part of. And sadly he had taken a liking to me. I had the scars, emotional and physical, to prove it. I think he had just liked the challenge I had posed when I had first gotten here and neither the mind tricks they pulled or the fact that they were winged beings that had killed my family seemed to make me scared and willing to listen. He had broken me, broken me a long time ago. I didn’t even think of escape anymore. Didn’t think of anything other than getting from one day to the next intact.

Funny how that can turn upside down with the reappearance of old friends.


Part 1

I was attempting to fix the strap to my shirt. I was supposed to be working, but despite all that had happened in five years I had a little bit of self dignity from time to time and I wanted to preserve what little I had. The asshole that was Forcas had managed to break my damn shirt the last time that he had “bumped into me.” Not that I’d call him an asshole or curse…or speak for that matter, in his presence. He had cut out my tongue for that once.

Lucky for me, they were able to grow it back. Painfully. The memory still made me shudder and still infected my nightmares from time to time. Either way, he could watch what his oaf hands did to me or my things. I liked being able to be as mean as possible in my head, I couldn’t say it out loud, couldn’t always figure out how to sadly. But I could be as mean as I wanted to be in my head, no one could punish me for that. Not that they wouldn’t try. But considering I wouldn’t speak anymore, I wasn’t much of a target for the immortals anymore. I think it used to be a game to see how much pain I could take before giving in and doing what they asked.

Now I did it without a second thought. I knew I had fallen, I didn’t need anyone to tell me.

Sighing softly, I ducked into a side hallway to attempt to tie the strap back together. I only had one other wearable shirt, and he had to break it, didn’t he? There were enough rumors floating around about how if everything you owned was unwearable you just had to go around without it, and judging from what I saw from time to time I didn’t doubt it. Sadly, I had a feeling that pervert had meant to do it, that was probably his goal. Through all my grumblings in my head though, not a sound passed my lips, and my face didn’t change at all. No emotions was the way to go. Even though, sadly, if I managed to feel it it would pop up on my face.

I had lost the ability to hide my emotions after getting beat a good many times. At one point, it had to be a sport to see who could break me. Bets and all. There was no other way I could think of to describe why it managed to happen so often to me.

Forcas won.

Which was probably why I had gone from Isda’s household to Forcas’s the day I stopped speaking against what they did and what happened. Still, I was proud that it had taken more than him cutting out my tongue for it to happen.

I had managed to fix the strap using the tie from my hair. This meant the tattered chestnut strands fell in my face, but it was the best I could do unless I wanted to walk around bearing half of my chest to the world. Which I didn’t.

So it was hair in my face or showing more skin than I wanted to. I chose my hair in my face.

I stepped out of the side hallway then and sighed when I caught sight of the main hallway. Grey stone lined the floor like cobbles in the old streets, giving the entire place a cold feel that used to make me shiver before I got used to it. Tall brown columns rose on either side of the wide passage way, almost 7 of me wide passage way to be exact, I had measured once when I should have been cleaning. This was back before I became a wimp. I could fully admit this to myself, thank you. Either way, draperies hung from column to column, opaque, ruby and whispy. The ceiling was too high for me to even see. All in all, it looked like a royal entryway for a castle. And all in all, that’s what it was.

Today was my day to clean it. Lovely, I’d be here all day. I shook my head and snatched a rag from where it hid behind one of the columns. It was gross, but so was the water I was supposed to use to clean everything. I debated getting new water, but decided I was too lazy to walk all the way up the hall and risk running into Forcas again. I had tried that already, and all I had gotten was a ripped shirt and no new water. It wasn’t worth it.

I tried not to be skived out when I dipped the rag into the water and it touched my hands. Ewwwwwwwww! Dammit. When did I turn into such a girl? Mentally I gagged, sighed, and went about cleaning, all in one movement. It was almost automatic after so many years and it was easy to shut off my babbling, incoherent thoughts while I worked. Easy to stop thinking all together. The body just…naturally did what it was supposed to do and I relished in the fact that I was no longer babbling in my head. The constant influx of unnecessary thought was truly frustrating. I was used to not bothering with unnecessary thought. I was very to the point before this whole thing. Now I was lucky if I had a point.

And this went just fine. Two columns done, 20 million more to do. I really would be here all day if this kept up like this. I sighed and banged my head lightly against the clean column only to frown and wipe over the mark I had just left. Yeah, I was pathetic, I had come to realize that a long time ago.

A sigh passed my lips. And then another noise entered the hallway that should have been empty at this time, which was why I had chosen to do it right when I had. Instead a word that made absolutely no sense rang out in the hall.

”Cris!” a voice called. I nearly looked up because the word nagged at me. Like it was something I had once known but had long since forgotten. It wouldn’t be uncommon for this to happen. But I really couldn’t figure out where I knew whatever that word was from. I frowned and stopped cleaning for a moment, trying to puzzle it out before I shook my head and got right back to what I was doing.

”Crissatha!” the voice called again with a new pissed off tone to it. That made me jump a little, people being annoyed always caught my attention. We weren’t much capable of it anymore, but the immortals were. It was a natural reflex to jump when someone used that tone of voice.

It was more nagging at me that this longer version of that word sounded familiar too. I was nearly tempted to turn around, find the owner of this voice and ask what it meant so that way I would stop this questioning in my head. I would love to know, because it was picking at me and for the life of me I couldn’t figure it out. It was a familiar feeling these days sadly. I didn’t though, I just got back to what I was doing and willed the owner of the voice to go away.

But then more voices joined the original.

”Well maybe it’s just not her Red” a soft, completely nervous voice said to someone called Red. Who was called Red? Wasn’t that a color? I was pretty sure it was a color.

”No, it’s her” said another careful voice, the third to enter this conversation, this one was thoughtful instead, calculating almost. Icy was another way I’d describe it and I was jealous for a moment. That’s what my voice used to sound like, wasn’t it? I thought so.

”Well it’s been five years. How can you be sure?” the soft nervous voice replied again. She sounded like she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

”I know my best friend, Raea” The certain voice said again. And this time there was a hint of a scowl in her voice, but a reluctant scowl. Almost as if she didn’t want to be frustrated with the second girl.

”Cris, dammit turn around!” the first voice simply called again.

And I did, but not because I recognized the words they were saying, it was because I wanted to know who would go carrying on like that in here where they could easily get in trouble. It wasn’t decent and they would just get me in trouble along with them. I frowned a little.

There were three girls standing there, half in the shadows. A girl with shining red hair, a tiny one with long black hair and a soft seeming girl with light brown hair. And I could easily match them to their voices just by looking at them. They all seemed so familiar. Like I should know them. But I just frowned a little. They were so clean and shining, and their clothes weren’t the worn down shit people of this household had to wear. But they didn’t have wings either. That only meant one thing, they were Rebels.

A burst of thought went through my mind. Take me with you! But it was gone as soon as it had come, leaving me to wonder if I had ever thought it at all. Chances were I hadn’t so I forgot it as soon as it started and moved on.

”See? I told you it was her” the redhead proclaimed proudly, grinning over at the softer girl. The tiny one simply said nothing, but didn’t look away.

”Cris?” the girl said hesitantly, and there was hope in her voice. Enough to make me ache. Hope was a rare thing, one you never felt in this hall. It was something to be treasured and part of me suddenly leapt forward, wanting to protect that hope, but that was gone too as soon as it had come.

”Why do you keep saying that?” I asked instead, and then frowned at myself. I had spoken. My voice was sore and ill-used. Had it really been that long since I had spoken out loud? It had to have been. I spoke from time to time when I had no other choice than to speak, but it was never more than a sentence or two. Here it wasn’t necessary but I had spoken.

But a chill up my spine caused me to whirl around before I could hear the answer.

Isda.

”You” she said. I bowed my head, not wanting to look up and be disrespectful because Isda hated that more than the other two. She didn’t like any of the females to look at her. So I ducked my head, blocking from view her hair so black it was almost blue, her soulless black eyes and the magnificent black wings that spread from her shoulders.

I didn’t speak, I didn’t speak…

”Talking to someone?” she asked, slightly amused to ask me of all people that question. I shook my head in answer. I didn’t speak. That was my mantra. I felt my entire being going rigid the longer she stood there staring at me. Once I stood up to them, now all three terrified me beyond reason. She simply laughed, a chilling sound that made me shudder, which seemed to delight her. But ”Good” was all she said before she left the hall.

I turned my attention back to the spot where the three girls had stood, once it was safe to do so. But no one was there. I would assume later that my mind made it up, and nothing more. And without another thought, quite literally, I got back to my cleaning, set to have it take all day.

--

I always ached for more after that terrible half meal we got, but I didn’t complain. None of us did. I was exhausted all the time anyway. I felt like whatever it was that made us the way we were was in the food, but none of us was willing to starve to find out. Better to be compliant than dead, right? I winced at the thought, knowing that five years ago I would have thought the exact opposite.

Either way, I collapsed into bed, or what counted as bed, with a content sigh, happy to be able to sleep, even if I knew it wouldn’t be for long.

It was shorter than I would have normally got.

”See, I told you” a familiar voice happily proclaimed once more. I was getting the feeling she just liked being right.

”We heard you the last twenty times…Up and at’em sunshine” another voice said before I was shaken awake. I was half awake anyway when they spoke. It didn’t take much to wake me up fully. I was awake in a moment and blinking. Now here I thought that I had imagined them, but they were here again. All three girls. I frowned a little again, but at the same time I was glad my mind wasn’t making up things to get at me again, it had done that before when I had first come here and it had just pissed me off to be truthful, back when I could be pissed off that is. I would have been now if I could have been, if I knew myself. Not that I really did…

I shook my head to dispel the rambling thoughts once more.

I looked at them, clearing asking what was going on and not willing to speak again when they had already gotten me to speak earlier unconsciously. The soft one, who had been standing behind the other two, was the one that answered. ”We’re getting you out Cris. We were supposed to get people out anyway, but we’d rather get you first” a small smile tugged at her lips. There was the word again, they kept using it like I was supposed to know what it meant but I really, really didn’t.

I frowned a little again.

I couldn’t leave. I wasn’t allowed to leave. I wasn’t allowed to have thoughts like that, they’d be taken from me or I’d be beat again and I really didn’t want that. I was so sick of the beatings…I couldn’t leave. No, I wasn’t allowed to…

I was dimly aware that I was hyperventilating.

I don’t know what happened next though.

Because the world went black after that.

[Seth Horus]

Red narrowed her blue eyes at her tiny friend. She sighed a bit and then shook her head, she knew that it was almost useless to actually argue with the girl, but someone had to say it or they would never get anything done around here. ”Did you really have to knock her out?” she asked, exasperated. She was mostly annoyed because she knew she was the one that would have to carry their friend. The other two were too tiny to do it. Given, however, it would be easier to do it now that the other girl was so painfully thin, they always were in these places, but still! Ki did something aggravating and Red had to pay for it, where was the sense in that? Red personally didn’t see any.

The other girl didn’t even look up from her friend’s unconscious form. ”She was panicking.” was her simple answer, it was always short and simple answers from her if anyone got her to speak at all that is. She had been like this for the last five years. Dimly Red hoped that once they got Cris back to normal Ki would be the little plotting, mischievous child she used to be. Life was more fun back then. Of course it was, it was before you were either a mind less slave or a rebel. There was no in between in todays world. And they intended to drag Cris over to the other side with them. She belonged there.

They all belonged there. That was the Rebel’s first goal, to get everyone back. The three who were here were just grunt workers towards this goal, but they always felt so good inside when the light returned to a former servant’s eyes. They’d get Cris’s light back and then she could help them get more back.

That was what had happened to Red after all.

She shook the thoughts from her head and then turned back to Ki. She knew Raea was about to step in and tell them to stop fighting, even though they weren’t precisely fighting, so she intended to get this comment in before it was too late. ”They always panic. Brainwashed, remember?” she commented. Feeling bad to lump a friend into that category, but it was true.

”Well maybe I didn’t want to watch that this time!” Ki finally snapped a bit, whirling on her teammate and friend. They were twenty something now, they were supposed to be calmer and not prone to hormonal snapping like teenagers, but it was hard to blame them for it and no one ever did. It didn’t help that they all still looked like they were still seventeen, sixteen, eighteen…when the immortals had landed aging had slowed so much it was almost impossible to tell anyone’s age anymore.

Raea stepped in like most of them expected her to, and stood in between the two. ”Guys, we should get out before this place wakes up” she said, being the voice of reason as always. The other two grudgingly nodded, seeing the sense in what she was saying even if they didn’t want to. The two would obviously rather duke this out, but at the same time it was a bad idea to let them. Friendship was so rare in this place, almost as rare as hope, and she wanted to preserve what they had left of it. If she didn’t, she felt like no one else would and that was a tragedy. Once Cris was better and the whole gang was back together, maybe they would be more steady, more calm. She hoped so. That was why she had suggested forgoing helping more than one to focus on Cris, and no one seemed opposed to the idea.

Justin and Seph would be pissed they opted out of coming tonight.

That was enough to make Red grin a little as she heaved the unconscious person over her shoulder with a grunt of annoyance. Dammit, skinny as shit and she was still heavy for Red. But this would be nothing considering what would come next.

Disconnecting a servant from their household was always the hardest part. They had perfected the process as much as they could through the years with a lot of sacrifice and pain, Red had done her part for this process almost more than another other Rebel had been able to do and she had considered it worth it in the highest sense.

But even still, the servant tended to…well…

They tended to die.

--

She was burning up before they even got to the hideout. This was understandable given that it had taken a day to get there and all, they made a point to keep their entrances far from the castle, but at the same time it was scary. Sometimes they lost servants before they even made it to the hideout to treat them, it was a type of withdrawal that could kill them. They weren’t sure the exact substance they used to addict the servants to the presence of the immortals, if they were they could have perfected their antidote a long time ago rather than having the hit and miss that they did have. Either way, being away tended to kill them…they lost just as many getting to the hideout as they did to the injections.

The fever was the worst.

They made it to the hideout just as she was starting to get the shakes. Gratefully, Red plopped her down on the infirmary beds, the one where they brought people like this because the cabinets next to the bed was full of the antidote. Without a word, Ki moved to the cabinet and pulled out one of the many, many black boxes. Opening the lid, she revealed three syringes, the first one only half full with a small needle, but they got increasingly more full and the needles got larger. The first one, with the pink liquid in it, was the one Ki pulled out, setting the box down on the counter once more.

She then proceeded to sit on her best friend’s chest, limiting her breathing but it would be necessary in a moment….

She turned and jabbed the needle hard into her Twin’s thigh and then she held on to the bed, hard.

Because moments later, something like seizures came over the shaking girl. It shook Ki so hard she thought she’d fall off if she hadn’t done this multiple times. Crap it was violent this time which made Ki worry just how bad they had addicted her friend. Just how much they had had to use to get her under their thumb. It made Ki partially proud of her best friend. But partially worried because it was always hardest to fix the really addicted ones. Her Twin was in deep shit…

Crap she was going to shake Ki right off if this shaking kept up. She saw Raea leap up out of the corner of her eye and secure Cris’s legs down so she’d stop kicking, and Red took her head, but it wasn’t enough, she was going to buck Ki right off her.

Until another presence entered the room.

The raven haired woman paused in the doorway almost like she didn’t believe who it was that they were holding down on that bed. But then she snapped into business mode just like she always did when something like this happened. Sephora was good at taking charge and taking control of a situation, especially when you considered that everyone in this room respected her without a second thought. She stalked over to the bed, not saying a word, and lifted Ki from the girl as carefully as possible to avoid getting hit by Ki for trying, and sat on the girl herself. Being that she wasn’t tiny like her friend, it had more of an effect.

Sure, there was a chance that she couldn’t breathe, but it was the best they could do, she wasn’t allowed to hurt herself.

”The next one Ki, now” the girl who had taken her place said without looking up.

And the next wicked needle injected a light blue solution into the girl’s arm. The shaking stopped immediately, replaced by an eery calm no one liked. This part was almost unsettling. Because the light blue liquid was often the one that killed them, it was the one that went through the body and eliminated the poison in the body.

It was scary because it wasn’t technically liquid. It was the only technology left to them. Nanobots. And no one could always gaurentee they’d stop when they were supposed to.

Sephora slid off the girl and the others stopped holding her down, there was no chance of her hurting herself now that she had stopped shaking. Red left the little room and came back moments later with a wet cloth that she laid down on the girl’s forehead to try and help with her fever.

The raven haired girl just shook her head, taking in the sight. ”You found her” it was a question, though not the one one would expect. No, she was asking where the girl had been found, not whether or not she had been. It was obvious to them that she had been.

”North east” Red informed her, sitting on the corner of the bed. She was usually the one designated to sit and watch the servants they brought in during this stage because she was the most patient. Raea would worry herself into a state, Ki had no patience for it anymore, Sephora never had patience for it, and the last member of their group? It was always hard to get him to concentrate.

Speaking of him…

Red shook her head, they wouldn’t tell him. Not just yet. They had to make sure that she made it through this phase, and then make sure she was getting her memories back, then they would worry about telling him. It was bad that all their hopes were up, they didn’t want to get his up too only to have them drop.

She waited, and slowly they all left. Leaving her alone with the unconscious girl. Her and Cris had never been close per se, but they had never been distant either. They were friends, she had just been closer to the ice girl’s boyfriend then the girl herself. It happened. But even still, they always had each other’s backs. And Red would watch her right now. Like old times…having each other’s backs.

She smiled a little, just a little. Rare sight from Red. If anyone got what she was going through, it would be the redhead. She had been a servant as well, though she had been rescued three years ago when the antidote was still raw and missing things. Red had given up someone she had thought she loved in order to get this potion working. But sacrifices had to be made…and Red had chosen her race over love.

Red closed her eyes against the painful memory and went back to watching the girl. This part usually took an hour or so, and it would be a long wait.

--

They had all come running when the screaming had started, which meant that the third injection had been used, the final one. This was the test, if it worked… it meant that she was broken out of the hold of the immortals and a true rebel with them. That was the goal.

Getting to the third injection meant that there was less of a chance she would die. The red one…the red one just felt like fire was racing through your whole body. Red tsked with sympathy but there was nothing else that she could offer to the girl. She would just have to ride out this pain, there was nothing else that could be done! It hurt like shit, but it was a necessary hurt.

She looked up when everyone came in, everyone but Ki who was last to come in and looked a little bit…well…panicked. She frowned a little and raised a questioning brow at the other girl. ”What is it?” she asked the girl.

”Who told him?!” was the demand. And they all knew straight off what she was talking about. Before they had all left they had agreed it was best not to tell him, best to wait until she was better and actually remembered his face or name. It had been clear from the way she had reacted back at the castle that the girl didn’t even remember her own name or any of their faces if the way she looked at them with blank eyes had been any indication.

”Hey, I’ve been here” Red said automatically defending herself. How could she have told him if she hadn’t moved?

”I was the one that said we shouldn’t in the first place, remember?” was Sephora’s response, her hands going to the hilt of her epees that were around her waist on their belts as they always did when she was…well all the time really there was no set reason when it came to Seph and her swords.

So they all turned their eyes to Raea. Who blushed and ducked her head a little and they all groaned. But Raea was quick to attempt to defend herself. ”Well, he was asking about the screaming!” she said quickly, bending to scoop up her little brown puppy and pet the cute little pup in an attempt to avoid their eyes.

”So tell him it was someone else?” Seph said slightly exhasperated. She was more worried about what would happen. She worked so hard to keep this group of friends together, it was practically her goal. And it was a goal that often left her with a head ache and a heart ache. She was worried now, what would happen to her group, what would happen to him, if Cris managed not to pull through? Chances were she would now, but then there was always the chance of a relapse or that the memories wouldn’t come back.

She knew he’d put on a brave face, but the heartache would be visible and she knew that would kill everyone else. There was nothing good that could come out of this, nothing at all. She could practically feel the migraine coming on as she tried to think of how to damage control this little disaster now.

It was always up to her, even if the other’s always helped, she always felt like as the leader of this little group, it was her job to do it. They may not be big fish in a little pond like they were back at school, but they were still friends. They were still a group, even if they were one of the lowest in the group of Rebels that they fought with. It didn’t matter.

They were the strongest in her eyes.

And now she only had moments to work damage control. But steps heavy on the stairs made her rethink that. She had less then moments to work damage control now. Why her? She had never asked to lead a group of insane people. But here she was, and she loved them all. She needed to see Raine, take a break.

Note to self.

Her eyes went, like everyone else’s, to the door when he entered. He smiled briefly at them all, happy to see his friends obviously, but the moment he caught sight of her it was like…his focus shoved them all out.

Subtly, Seph nodded her head towards the door, shooing them all out of the room. He could take care of her, they didn’t need to all be in here.

--

True to her word, when Sephora left the infirmary, she was quick to go and visit her best friend. The bubbly blonde dancer was obviously a lot less bubbly after everything that had happened, but she still managed to be an ever bubbling fountain of happiness either way, considering Raine refused to ever see the dark side of things if she could manage it.

Raine wasn’t a fighter, wasn’t an active rebel. Seph would have refused to have let her even if she had wanted to be. Her Raine wasn’t a fighter, she was too sweet for that, too good natured. No, instead Raine was one of the many in charge of the young ones that were all over the underground hide out they lived in. It was hard for everyone to keep track of them, and not every child had a parent sadly, Raine kept them occupied happily. Mostly by teaching them how to dance. Seph had taken off the night before to stay with her best friend and watch her play with the young ones. She almost wished she had gone now, but at the same time she was happy to have had the time with Raine.

And now she really needed it, to relax mostly.

Raine was back home in her flat, after giving her kids to another caretaker so she could have her time off. Mentally Sephora thought that maybe she shouldn’t barge in on Raine when she was supposed to be having her time off, but she knew Raine would roll her eyes at her for saying something like that.

So she just went, it was easier than risking the wrath of her best friend. The thought nearly made her laugh. She was the warrior out of this duo.

Knocking on the door, she waited until her bouncy blond friend came to the door, and couldn’t help but smile back when the girls’ face grew into a grin.

Somehow, she knew this was a good idea.

[Crissatha Pandora]

I hate hate hate how Cris centric this post is. SO much. But it's sadly necessary for the story to move forward -_-

There were a few things I noticed when I woke up, not that I exactly remembered going to bed that is. The first that my whole body was so fricken sore I didn’t want to move… The second was more that my thigh, arm and neck were stinging and I had no idea why. A heavy weight on my other thigh though was what made me spaz out enough to open my eyes and look.

And see a boy’s head on my leg.

I froze, considering I didn’t recognize him…but had the weirdest sense of déjà vu that made me stop and think that maybe I did know him… There was that annoying sensation again. I always managed to feel like this and it upset me. Only, it was stronger this time, like maybe I would actually remember instead of perpetually hanging off that cliff of maybe.

Gently, with the arm that wasn’t stinging, I cautiously ran my fingers through his hair, feeling like I needed to reassure myself that this familiar boy was real and not just something from my imagination, which managed to happen from time to time.

But then another realization hit me.

He was dressed nicely, just like those girls from earlier had been. And then I was shocked to realize that I actually remembered them! It sent a mini bolt of excitement through me. And then I wanted to facepalm because it was so sad that just remembering something was enough to make me happy. But still, remembering was rare for a servant. And then there was the other part of that realization…that I was laying on an actual bed, not some crappy imitation. It was actually comfortable and for a moment I debated closing my eyes and sinking into the bed.

I was also happily reveling in the knowledge that there was no nagging sensation in the back of my mind to go work on something. Which was a marvel in itself.

I hadn’t felt this relaxed in…well…a long time.

But the need to know where I was, why I felt this way, what was going on…so many questions. So many questions. A smile tugged at the corner of my lips just thinking that. Questions. I had missed those…what was going on with me?

For a second I panicked.

And the boy who couldn’t be comfortable sleeping in the chair next to my bed stirred. Who was he to have fallen asleep by the bed like that? Didn’t people do that when they worried about someone important to them? Was I important to him? Better question…was he important to me?

But thoughts of this boy caused all other thoughts to fly out of my head for a moment. Which actually calmed me a little. I was still babbling on about nothing in my head. If things had changed that much, I’d have been scared. As grateful as I was for feeling slightly more like myself and my thoughts feeling more normal…changing scared me, lots of things scared me.

I used to pride myself in being fearless. Ha. Funny. Now every little thing managed to make me jump and shake. It was pathetic…

Either way, I wanted to know where I was…this strange room with more than one bed, medical supplies…it looked almost like the infirmary back at school. School…funny how long ago that seemed now. I would give anything to go back there. Life was easier when all we had to deal with was causing pranks.

We…pranks… I blinked. I remembered that. I hadn’t remembered that in the longest time. But that little thought that had randomly popped up in my mind had just randomly appeared, I hadn’t had to push for it. Second time that had happened since I had woken up here. So now it was time to figure out what was here? And better yet…what had they done to me? And who could I thank for it, quite seriously.

The possibility of my mind being my own again was an exciting one that I pushed down. That was a hope, and it was best not to have those, not anymore. Today’s world wasn’t friendly to hopes.

But back to wanting to know where I was. It was so hard to make sense of my own thoughts..if anything they seemed more jumbled than usual because all these new possibilities were there! And these new feelings, these new…memories. I loved that word, relished in having them to myself again.

Gently as I could, I tugged my leg out from under the boy, who had yet to stir. Carefully I slipped a pillow under his head, and stood carefully. I was still all sore, my joints protesting the move, but I had never let pain stop me from working before, and I wouldn’t let a little bit of sore joints keep me from figuring out where I was. I was still that tough at least, still strong in that respect.

The door was right there, a few easy steps, except something stopped me entirely. A pile of clothes sat on a chair, and they simply looked so familiar. I brushed my fingers across them and they even felt so familiar…so right. I figured and hoped that they had been left for me, even if they hadn’t…I couldn’t resist. I’d apologize later and take whatever punishments came along with it, but I needed to… Unfolding the pile revealed a pair of torn up black jeans, a simple black tee shirt and…a denim jacket. I paused entirely when I saw that, and then picked it up and breathed it in. This was mine. It was mine. I knew this in that moment, it just felt like me. It was me. It had my scent, even after five years, was still worn just perfect in all the right places.

It was mine.

The best part about being a servant? The only good part really, to correct myself. It was that we never aged, even while the rest of the world had slowed down. Members of a household were frozen in time. The immortals had a thing for people who were pretty. And they liked to keep them that way. This meant it would still fit me perfect…

I was getting ahead of myself though. Carefully I slipped the tattered fabric from my top half, not being self conscious even with the boy in the room. I took my tie from the shirt, which made it fall apart, but I used it to tie back my tattered hair once more and push the bangs out of my face. The baggy shirt went over my head to settle on my shoulders and I smiled a little. It felt nice, it felt better than the shit I had been in moments before.

The pants were next and I bent my knees experimentally, loving the freedom that all the tears and rips gave me. I suspected that I always did. The denim jacket though, that just felt right. I closed my eyes for a moment and wrapped my arms around myself for a moment. I felt pathetic again, but I didn’t care right in that moment. It felt like I had slipped on an old friend. Corny but it was the only way I could feel to describe it. There were no shoes laid out and personally, I wouldn’t have taken them even if there were.

I had a thing against shoes. Always had. And another grin threatened at the corner of my lips as the memory came to me unbidden once more. I would start grinning all the time if this kept up.

The door wasn’t locked, so cautiously I left through it, taking a moment to glance back at the boy who was now restless in his sleep on the bed. I supposed it was because the leg he was using as a pillow was gone but part of me, the part that had been asleep for a long time and was slowly waking up, knew that wasn’t true, it was so much more than that. I just didn’t know what that was exactly yet, but I would. I swore I would…I wanted it all back.

Now that I had a taste, I wasn’t going to be content just to cruise through life not knowing anymore. I needed to know. I needed to know it all.

Fuck that, I would know it all.

Leaving the room though for real, I almost tripped over a girl who was sitting on the stairs that lead up to the door, no hallway, just stairs. And I almost tripped down all of them, smooth. I stumbled back, eyes wide.

To come face to face with the girl who I had called soft before. I stood by that assessment. She smiled, and it was a comforting smile that made me relax a little automatically. Did she know she had that power over people? I’m sure she did. ”You’re up!” she said happily before patting the spot on the stair next to her where there was just enough room for another person and hesitantly I sat.

I nodded. I assumed it was obvious I was up considering I was walking around and people that were sleeping couldn’t do these things. I still didn’t want to speak either way…

She frowned a little. ”Does he know you’re up?” she asked, guesturing back to the room. I shook my head in answer. I wasn’t sure why it was important that he know I was up. I just knew that he didn’t know I was. She sighed softly. ”Cat got your tongue?” she asked with a little smile.

And with that I did smile. I stuck out my tongue and showed off a light white line that went across my tongue where it had been cut off the first time.

Her gasp was enough to make me jump a little. But what she did next was what really made me jump. She hugged me. Hugged me tight and I winced a little. I got all stiff and awkward. Touching wasn’t really…what I did best. Lately touching meant hurting. It was still kind of linked in my head.

She pulled back, sniffling a little and I wondered what it was that had made her upset. The fact that I hadn’t hugged back? Or was it the fact that they had tried to cut out my tongue? It didn’t bother me that much, at least they had given it back to me. They didn’t always. But apparently I was more amusing when I could talk. ”You never were good with hugs” she said with a little smile, but her blue eyes were so full of sadness…I couldn’t help it. Out of character, but apparently I had done it before if the little spark of memory served, I put one arm around her in an awkward little hug, feeling the need to because she was so sad and that bothered me, shouldn’t be sad over little me. I nearly jumped though when she took that opportunity to hug me again. Tighter.

But part of me knew that just happened sometimes.

I obviously wasn’t good with being touched, so she pulled back a moment later and smiled sadly again. ”I’m being so bad at this. Anyone else and we do this just fine, we pull out someone we know…well at least I’m doing better than I did when we pulled out Red. I was such a mess then. But I mean, she was my roommate! Anyway…you probably don’t even remember me. I’m Raea…and this is Dana” she said smiling a little, but there was a slight blush on her cheeks I suspected because she was embarrassed to have babbled. I smiled a bit at the pup.

But with her name, a few memories came unbidden to my mind. Of considering this girl who was sitting next to me practically my little sister, of fun times laughing…I smiled a little, just a little bit. ”Astraea Dike to be correct” I said with that little smile, feeling the need to say it because I had remembered it.

Her brighter smile was as much as reward as anything else. And her laugh. I was glad to see her happy rather than sniffling. ”Exactly! Okay…now let me just leave a note for Justin and we’ll be on our way.” I hoped my confused face was enough to make her realize I had no idea what she was talking about because I spoke enough for right that moment. ”You’ll see!” she said with another smile before disappearing into the room I had just come from.

The puppy, Dana she had said, stayed behind when she went in. And I hadn’t seen a pet in gods know how long. It was funny, animals avoided the castles like the plague, I guess they just had more sense than we had that way. Not that I was surprised. Animals were damn smart. I smiled a bit at the pup and reached out a hand. And was rewarded with an enthusiastic puppy glomp instead. I laughed out loud and pulled the pup into my lap and happily made that little tail of hers wag as fast as I possibly could manage. It felt good…felt good to make another creature happy.

I jumped either way when the girl came back out. No, not the girl, Raea. My friend. Loved that word now that it had been given back to me. She smiled gently again and I relaxed a little. I felt like I’d be jumpy for a while and it would bother me. It hadn’t yesterday, but it did today…and I didn’t know why but I liked it.

Dana wriggled from my lap and I stood, sensing that we were leaving and I was right because moments later we were up and moving down the stairs.

To a world that seemed so different from anything else I had ever seen. I assumed we were underground, in caves of some sort, which would account for the lack of sky. But someone had taken the time to paint an elaborate skyscape up on the ceiling which made a small smile tug at my lips. Trying to make it feel more homey? But it did…just standing on the dirt path I could feel that. Automobiles and cars were lost to us, but it seemed like all the animals had fled down here with the rebels and horses and oxen were pulling carts of meat and produce and cloth through the streets. It felt like something out of a story book.

I let Raea tug me into the street and the flow of people, my barefeet getting dirty on the packed dirt road, people flowing on either side of us. Some smiled at me kindly and I wondered if it was really that obvious that I was new or did everyone around here just know everyone else? The way Raea greeted everyone seemed to suggest so.

Raea started explaining things as we walked.

The way this town worked was interesting and made a lot of sense to me. They needed everyone to work in order to keep this place going, there was no money but it was more of a barter system, only different. There were so many jobs to go around, and none more important than the others even though the warriors that got Servants back typically got the most idealized because of what they did. Everything was necessary though to make this place run. Basically a person logged their hours or what they did with their boss…and you got points. Points you could use for food or baths or clothes, necessary stuff. Yeah, money was nice, but they didn’t have the time to waste with that stuff.

If you didn’t work, you didn’t live. That was the way it worked down here.

”And we get serious points for curing a Servant…not that we got you back for those of course. We would have done that even with out the points” she said kindly with a smile and I felt like she was just humoring me, but at the same time she sounded so genuine, I wasn’t sure. My bullshit radar was far from repaired, I didn’t expect it to come back for a long time.

She went on to explain that because I was new and obviously couldn’t work, I would get things for free for a while until I was on my feet which made me feel like a charity case and I scowled a bit, though I hid it behind my bangs as best as I could. I hated feeling like that, I wanted badly to work to earn my keep. But considering even this short work had me pretty exhausted, I knew that wasn’t a possibility for a little while longer at the least.

I also had no idea where she had taken me or why.

It was soon clear though when we got inside the building before us and a wave of steam hit me. I blinked a few times and looked around entirely confused. We were in a bath house. Didn’t that type of thing only exist in the stories or far away countries or something? I was pretty sure it didn’t exist around here. Or…well I would have been sure about that if I wasn’t looking right at it with my own two eyes. I looked to Raea who looked like she was trying not to laugh at my disbelief. ”No offense, but you so need one” she said through the giggles and I just narrowed my eyes at her. Right, because I totally had access to water for a fricken bath or shower so often. Yeah right, I was lucky if I saw one once every other month or something. If that.

It wasn’t a huge priority, despite their need for pretty things and people to be around them at all times. I think they thought we’d get too much self worth if they let that happen. And that wasn’t allowed…hence why we weren’t even allowed our own damn names. I frowned at my thoughts.

For two reasons.

One…I still couldn’t manage to think of my own damn name…

Two…I was still thinking in terms of we and our…when I was here, I wasn’t there anymore. I should watch that. Maybe if I was careful I’d stop…

Chances were I wouldn’t for a while, but I could hope.

See, now, I so wanted the bath, even though my slight glaring at Raea seemed to suggest I didn’t, but at the same time…I didn’t want to lose something. I curled my fingers around the hem of my denim jacket protectively.

”I’ll hold on to it for you? If you don’t want to leave it with them that is. We…we knew you’d want it if you came back. I mean, we thought you were dead. But we always kinda hoped so we kept a bunch of your stuff. Yours and a few other’s. It came in handy twice, with you and Red” she said with a smile at that point. And then I simply sighed and handed over the denim jacket to her. I may not have all my memories, but Raea was the most trustworthy person in my memory right this moment. And I didn’t trust people I didn’t know.

Though when the people that worked there tried to help get the rest of the shit off, they didn’t seem that surprised when I skirted away from them. I could do it just fine on my own, thanks.

Oh but the water when I finally got into it was heaven. Did I really have to leave? Please someone tell me no. I could sink into these slightly perfumed hot steaming waters and die happy down there. At some point when my eyes were closed against the world, someone must have left stuff to clean up with next to the side of the bath that really was more of a pool.

I smiled a bit, it was rough compared to the stuff the world was once used to, mostly because it was all homemade. And smelled faintly of vanilla. Which was bizarre because it was the same scent I always used…either someone had done that on purpose or it was a really weird coincidence. Maybe I’d actually use my voice again to ask Raea…in a million years when I decided to get out of this water. Not gonna happen.

Either way, I was happy I had remembered it was the scent I usually used. Maybe that was why they had left it? Science always said that scent was the strongest of the senses when it came to remembering things. And as I actually managed to work myself clean, really clean not like the half baths of before, I felt flashes of memory popping up here or there in my head. It was nice to have my brain back. Even if it was broken…it was healing slowly. Way too slowly for my liking. But I should be grateful right? Right.

Or I’d be grateful when the babbling stopped. Inner babbling that is. And now I was doing it again. Dammit.

I would run down the soap if I kept this up. But, my memories of even the time in the castle were sketchy. And they began to come back to me too. I wish they hadn’t. I shut my eyes against them as if I could push them out for real if I just tried hard enough. I felt…I just…I was happier not really remembering everything that had been done to my battered body. I kept up the mental babbling to distract myself, but the soap never stopped scrubbing.

”I didn’t think you were a mermaid!” a slightly familiar voice called with a slight smirk after I had been in there…by my estimate…about an hour. The red head came into the bathhouses fully amused and fully composed, whether or not it was a front wasn’t always easy to tell with Red, I remembered that. Her name came to me easily.

It came along with the hair I guessed.

She slid a critical gaze along my arms that were the only visible thing above the cloudy water and shook her head before sitting on the edge of the pool. My skin was scrubbed nearly raw and pink but it felt better to do that, almost cleansing. ”Yeah, I remember how that feels” she said softly, nodding a bit to me. ”Those memories are recent so they come back quicker, it sucks” she said with a bit of an off laugh.

Weird part? I knew she wasn’t bullshitting me. There was a bit of bitterness to her voice that made it obvious that she knew how it felt.

”Either way, times up. Besides, I brought a visitor” she said with a slight smirk, seeming happy to be the one to bring whatever or whoever this visitor was to me. All proud. She stepped out of the water and waited slightly impatiently for me to reluctantly slide from the warm waters and into a towel that sat there.

I had been happy there, thanks.

Stepping outside, it felt slightly chilly after the humid warmth of the room I had just been in, but that was quickly remedied when I got my demin jacket back from Raea. I smiled my thanks at the girl and slid it on quickly. And then I looked questioningly at Red. She had dragged me out of the nice warm bath for a reason I assumed.

But before anything, Red scowled slightly, just a little twist of the lips. ”Ya know, you not talking is really annoying” I blinked, but the memory came back that Red was usually the one to announce the elephant in the room. Which was helpful, but I hadn’t been expecting it. ”Anyway, there’s a certain baby that wants to see you” she said with a little secret smile that made me both suspicious and curious at the same time.

Plus…a baby? What would a baby want with me?

Until I saw the baby in question. I froze entirely as she came over to me, not willing to move. I had no idea what was going on. This wasn’t a baby…this was a panther. A black panther cub to be exact…but not a baby. That was not a baby. It was a lethal big cat and it was coming right for me. What to do. Were you supposed to freeze or run in these things? And why had they brought a panther cub to me?

Until the panther stopped less then a foot away from me…and made an odd huffing noise. And then…then it all came back.

Chiisai Kage would have been grinning if she were human when I dropped to my knees and planted a kiss between her eyes. ”Hi baby” I said softly, just for her to hear. She rubbed her cheek against mine, which was a big guesture for big cats. It meant they saw you as their friend to mix their scent with yours that way. But I wasn’t just a friend…I was Mama. She still only looked about a year and a half old…still young enough to be my baby. Even if five years had passed she was still my baby…still my Chii. I wrapped my arms around her and thought I may cry, just to have my baby back. She purred, a big rumbling noise that vibrated both of us.

”I missed you too, baby” I said softly to the cub. I hated when people called me baby in a relationship, funny how that memory came back, but I always called Chii baby, because she was my baby…my darling…

I had gotten so sucked into my little reunion that I hadn’t remembered that there were other people around me still. They didn’t matter. But I was a little surprised when I looked up to see another person standing with the other two. He was smiling, and I recognized him as the boy that had been asleep next to my bed.

But nothing more beyond that.

His smile faltered for a moment and I could see hurt in his eyes, even though he tried to hide it and did a good job of it. But I could still see it. And I wasn’t sure how exactly I knew him well enough to know what to look for. But I did.

There was carefully hidden disappointment in his voice when he spoke, like he was trying very hard to sound normal. ”Still don’t remember me?” was the careful question.

The thing was, just his voice was enough to trigger something. Not a lot, not a lot at all, but it was a start. ”Course I do…Justin” I said with a small smile. I didn’t remember a lot, but I remembered enough. Enough to know how I could read him so well, why he would be disappointed I didn’t remember him. I may have just scrubbed my skin raw because of being touched.

But I still didn’t protest the next touch I got.

Even if it caused me to proclaim ”Holy fuck!” seriously loud. Which was weird considering my vow to stay silent but I couldn’t help it, it had simply burst from my mouth the moment he had picked me up and spun. I hated being picked up. So much. But instead I rolled my eyes and let him do it.

”You should still be in bed you know” he said, like he was the greatest authority on the fact. I frowned a little. Maybe he was. I didn’t know. He could be, I had been missing for so long and much of my memories were still missing, so he actually could have been back when I knew him and I didn’t want to really risk upsetting him again. For some reason, that I was beginning to put together, it was upsetting to me to think of upsetting him. Ew. Sappy.

”Are you really, now” I said in my hoarse and rarely used voice. Most I had spoken all day was for this boy. And that was a bizarre concept to me. I would have to delve into this…figure out why this was. I wanted to know!

I wanted to know so much…

”Oh yes, you’ve been gone five years, m’lady, you’ve missed a lot” I had reason to suspect that I didn’t like being called that normally, so the slight glare I gave him hopefully wouldn’t be too out of place. I was being careful. I was pretty sure I was usually blunt, but it hadn’t all come back, not just yet.

It was worse than having pieces of my memory missing to have pieces of my personality missing.

I looked over his shoulder to see Red shaking her head violently and mouthing “no he’s not!” to Raea’s chorus of giggles. I also saw Chii starting to pad after us as he started to walk away with me. And I would have protested being carried, loudly for once. But I was kind of exhausted. I could let this happen just once…

I almost laughed. Almost. But that sound was still going unheard, for a little while longer.

But it seemed possible now…

[ℛeesa ℒuna]

Sorry this part is fail.

I wasn’t entirely sure that I remembered him, this boy who had made me come so close to laughing, but the more time I spent with him the more than came back. He was just so…happy, so vibrant. Justin kept making me smile without even trying, and I liked the way his face lit up every time I did. I had a feeling that I didn’t laugh all that much, ever, even before any of this. I wasn’t sure yet, but each and every moment, more came back to me. And it seemed to be coming back quicker with him. I wasn’t sure why that was…wasn’t sure that I cared all that much as to why that was. I just wanted to know. My earlier vow to remember it all came back it me, and it was true. My voice was ill used, and out of practice, and I wasn’t talking much, but that was okay.

He didn’t seem to mind telling stories.

I wasn’t sure that I believed them all. Lacing the school with cat-nip? Sneaking Chii, the panther who was curled up at the foot of the bed, out of a zoo? I supposed that one had to be true, how else could the panther be here with me? And I had dim recollections of everything that was being said. It wasn’t anything concrete, but I was sure it was true.

There seemed like there was something he kept avoiding though, some subject that wasn’t allowed to be touched. I wanted to ask, which was weird for me when I had just come from a place where asking was so far from accepted, the word had been lost to my vocabulary, but I wasn’t that much like myself yet. Instead, I let him pick his subjects and chose what he wanted to say rather than push it one way or another. It was fine, he could say as he pleased. I was just happy to hear the stories and feel them ring true in my mind, happy to be curled up on the bed with him, touching him.

Happy to feel the press of his lips to my forehead just before I passed out, beyond exhausted, though I suppose that would be acceptable given what had happened today. But right now, I didn’t want to suppose or think…I just wanted to sleep.

And hope this wasn’t all a dream.

To his credit, I thought as I passed out fully, he had never asked what had happened to me those five years I had spent away from him and the rest of our friends—because I was starting to remember them enough to call them my friends—he simply kept telling what had happened to them. Or what had happened to us before the world went crazy. I didn’t remember much of what had happened before, what had happened those five years. Obviously, enough to scrub my skin red and raw in the baths. But not enough for any real detail. I wanted to keep it that way, wanted to keep it far from my mind. It was like he knew me that well, well enough to read my emotions on my face when I thought I guarded them so well.

Dimly I knew there was someone else who could do that too. Now…if I could only remember his name….or his face…

--

”So what’s the plan now, Boss Lady?” the smallest girl asked, much calmer now that her twin was back with them and doing so much better. There was actually mischief starting to bloom in her eyes where just blank staring had once been just two days ago. She was plotting out in her head all the things they could do to liven this place up now that they were back together. Fuck yes, she couldn’t wait. She wanted to cause chaos, just like they had back at the school all the time before it had all fallen apart. Of course, she could do this well just on her own, but it was always so much more fun with her partner in crime. Wasn’t everything more fun with a partner? Someone to hide out with behind something and watch the work come to fruitation? Someone to run away with if you got caught? It was more fun with someone else. And Cris and Ki had been the best at what they did.

”We go out again in the morning, hit a new castle and see who we find. If no one, we bring back anyone we can manage to snag” was the answer the tiny girl got. For her part, Sephora was calm like she always appeared to be, but her mind was working quickly. How to split up the teams, how to re-work the missions now that they had another player in their crew. She had already informed the Council who ran the Rebel underground that Cris would be staying on their crew and not be moved like they had planned.

”Cris coming with us?” asked a new voice. Being that the Council liked to keep all the teams even in numbers plus a leader—which technically made it uneven but Seph didn’t ask—when Seph had requested Cris stay with them, she had also had had to pick a new person stay with them as well and work with them. Sephora had picked Lightning. She liked the girl’s spirit. She had recently joined their group, their “Brat Pack” back at the school before all hell broke loose. Lightning had gotten close to them pretty quickly. Mostly Cris and Ki being that the twins had taken her under their wing. Seph wondered if Cris would remember her. Probably not right away. Either way, despite her inexperience with fighting, Lightning was a good asset because she was tough and Seph knew she’d work well with them all.

Raea, leaning back against the wall of the room this group did their work from, shook her head. She didn’t like the idea of Cris coming along. ”Its too soon, isn’t it? she protested, and Seph nodded in answer. Raea let out a breath of air, a sigh of relief and continued on. ”So that means we won’t have Justin either, he’ll want to stay with her.” Seph nodded again, too deep in her planning to reply verbally.

Seph knew that there were new dynamics to worry about now. Usually she paired up Ki, Raea and Red because their different styles worked well together, or she’d pair up Justin with Raea because she was soft and he was goofy, it tended to put people at ease, and then she would go with Red or Ki. With Cris now on the stage, and Lightning as well, it varied things. She had to think about how she wanted to do this. She could just stick Cris with Ki and Lighting, and Justin with Red and she herself with Raea, though her and Raea had barely ever had a conversation let alone worked together. Ki and Cris together was the best option, she knew that much.

Well, it was a headache waiting to happen. For now, she’d put herself with Lightning, and Raea could go with Ki and Red.

For now.

She shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose momentarily. How did she end up leader of this whole group? She used to be of course. But that was back at a boarding school when they were a notorious group of rebels who caused chaos whenever they could manage to do so, not now that they were literal Rebels trying to stop immortals from turning their race into mindless slaves. She didn’t sign up for this.

Sephora could clearly remember the night that they had ran though. The school was on fire. They had come out of their hideout, the place they used to escape from the hell that was the rest of the school, and saw it was on fire. Panic came first, and it came strongest. What to do, what to do? Her group was falling apart in that moment. Most of them were methodical, but the place they lived was on fire. They had to move, they had to get out of there. What to do?

She had immediately gotten to the head of her group and turned them around, ushering them back into the secret passageway that led to their hideout. No one knew about it, they should be safe. She ignored the cries and wonderings where Cris was—she had gone to her house, she should be fine they shouldn’t worry—and where Lightning was—she had had to make up a test and hadn’t been able to come to the Hideout but she had to be fine—she just needed to get her crew, the parts of it she had here with her, back inside and into safety.

Satisfyed they were all safe, she had pulled the bookcase back across the passageway with help from Justin.

They had stayed there for over twentyfour hours, grateful for the mini-fridge they had snuck down here a few months ago. That wasn’t enough though. They had only come out when they were hungry…and found a bunch of people scouring around the building.

Someone had tried to take them apart, to be studied and make sure they weren’t contaminated. Seph had stepped forward, had kept them from splitting them up. From that day forward, she had been marked as responsible for them all. It was a heavy burden…but one she took because she knew she had to. They respected her, her batch of misfits.

She knew they’d never respect anyone else. And they’d get themselves killed. SO she had to be good enough, she had to be the best so no one would question her leadership and take them away from her.

Sephora scanned her group of misfits. Shy, but sensible Raea, tell-it-like-it-is and matchmaker Red, troublemaker but loyal Ki, Lightning who had a tough time of it, but came out of it tough and ready to help…and then there were those who weren’t with them right then. There was Cris who was icy but just as loyal as Ki. And there was Justin who always did his best to make them laugh and make it seem like it’d be okay. And she mourned for who they lost. Aqu who had yet to be found…and Cloud, Lightning’s twin, who shared the same fate. She would watch over all of them, and make it seem easy.

That was what they needed her to do.

”Get some sleep. We have a trip ahead of us” she said simply. Maybe Raine was right, she took on too much.

Ki grinned a bit, and saluted Sephora before turning and leaving the room and taking Raea with her. ”Whatever you say bosslady,” she called back to Sephora, with an easy way that made Sephora suspect…

”And no finding Colby you rabbit!” she called after Ki. And got back laughter. She smiled as she sat down on a chair behind the only desk in the room. Laughter…funny how long they had gone without it.

[Imara Sophia "Immie" Deveroux]

I wasn’t sure where I was. It wasn’t where I had been moments ago, that was for sure. No, the place I had been moments ago had been warm, but now I could see my breath frozen on the air. Moments ago I had been inside, in a dimly lit room and many other beds, in the arms of someone else that I had a feeling I might love. But right now, none of that was true. Taking a moment to glance around, I had the distinct feeling of being in a graveyard, I wasn’t sure why though. All I knew was that, it simply felt like it was supposed to be a graveyard. In reality, the old field that I stood on had nothing to it, except big creepy trees lining it and keeping it away from the rest of society.

As I stood there, however, things began to take shape. Gravestones, old and ancient…so worn away that there was no way I could read the eroded names if I tried to. An ancient statue of an angel, with her wings outstretched, stood right before me, right where I was about to step. Eyes wide and full of panic, I backed up so quickly that I ended up on my butt a moment later, staring with horror up at the winged figure until I managed to calm and reassure myself that the wings were black from being worn down, and it was just stone, it couldn’t touch me. Couldn’t turn me into a mindless drone again and take away all the free will I had so painstakingly won back for myself slowly over the course of the day.

I needed to relax, I needed to reassure myself I was fine. I took that moment, sitting on my ass, to relax and take those breaths and try not to freak myself out anymore than this place already had. There was just something creepy about the magically appearing gravestones, the layer of fog that was now rolling in and caressing my skin like a big cat, not a housecat, the dangerous kind that wanted to brush against its prey before it went in for the kill. And with that horrid image I pushed myself to stand, using a gravestone to get myself up and standing. What was going on? I frowned a little and looked around. I wished for the warmth of those arms I had left, I was alone here.

But this place seemed to respond to my thoughts.

I could hear something in the distance, almost like singing. I frowned a little, sounded like little kids. Little girls to be exact. It sounded like they were singing Ring Around the Rosy. In a graveyard? What kids did that? Maybe they were scared or something….I didn’t do well with kids, but shit no kids should be in the graveyard like this, especially one like this. I smiled a little when I realized I had remembered I didn’t do well with kids. I was getting better, slowly, but that was okay, it was allowed to take time as long as it did get better. Slowly. I got closer, following the voices.

And then I realized that was not Ring Around the Rosy they were singing. It had the same tune, but the lyrics were…slightly disturbing. I started to be able to pick out the words as I made my way, cautiously now, over to where the girls had to be.

Ring around the gravestone
Lilies all air blown
Grave dust, bone dust
We all fall dead

It was official, whoever those kids were, they were creepy little kids. I shook my head and crept closer until I could see two little girls dancing around…something? I couldn’t make it out for some reason, the fog was too thick around it and it was too obscured.

As I watched, one girl came closer into focus, and I paused, almost stumbling a step backwards but managing to keep my footing by holding on to one of the stone pillars that served as a gravestone. That one…that one…was me. I couldn’t be more than five, but glasses were no where to be seen, so it had to be about five then. When I had turned six my long distance vision had started to become fucked up and I had needed glasses. But at about 15 they had corrected themselves enough that I didn’t need the things anymore. Another triumphant grin at the memory before I remembered, again, where I was and the fact that this was no time to revel in my small triumphs. Plain brown hair streamed behind the little version of me. A long black dress I knew I had never worn clad the little version. What was going on here?

The song changed as the other little girl came into view. It sounded like another twisted nursery rhyme, and I was beginning to worry about the sanity of this little tiny me and her friend. It was not worse than the last one, but it was no walk in the park either. The little girl that was with the little me was blonde, in contrast, hair long…far longer than any other little girl’s hair I had ever seen, and it was silver and shining. It caught the scant moonlight that filtered through the trees and fog. In place of Pop Goes The Weasle, they sang…

All around the graveyard
The angel chased the witchies
The angel wanted to kill them all
Down goes a witchy

Witch? Witches? Who was a witch? Those didn’t exist! Though, I supposed if huge angels could exist, so could witches I guess, I wasn’t entirely sure why witches seemed more improbable. Probably because I had spent five years under the thumb of two immortals that fucked with my mind and had cut out my tongue more than once. This could deffinantly be a reason.

As I watched, transfixed, the two girls danced happily around the thing that I still couldn’t see, and it was so frustrating not to be able to figure out what the heck it was they appeared to be worshipping or something of the sort. Without even thinking or realizing that I had moved, I moved out from behind the gravestone slash pillar thing I had been hiding behind, and I caught the attention of the little silver girl. The little me appeared to not notice me at all and that was good, I’d rather not have a conversation with a small version of me that probably knew more about me than I did at this point. I was learning and remembering a lot, but most of my memories were still shaky.

The little silver girl turned, and beamed when she saw me, catching my attention entirely. Instead of wanting to run away like I know I should have done because I had caught two little girls dancing to creepy nursery rhymes in the middle of a graveyard at night, one of which being myself, I felt oddly calm under her gaze. Weird. Her silver eyes met my icy blue ones and, instead of making me freak out, I relaxed entirely.

It reminded me of Forcas. I didn’t like it.

I fought it until I didn’t feel that way, and felt a relief when the whole freaked out feeling return, letting out an unhappy sigh at this whole thing. I had just gotten free, why me again?

And then she laughed and I had to fight the feeling all over again, this time it was stronger though. Was I just susceptible to everything like this now? Even back when I had been with Isda and Forcas, it had taken a while for me to feel like this right away. This time it was instantly. She spoke. ”Oh wonderful! I’m so glad it reached you! I wasn’t sure if it would work…” the little girl frowned a little, and as she did, I couldn’t help but think that her voice sounded like bells. Not anything musical, I wasn’t trying to be poetic here. It just sounded like bells.

I had no idea what to say, and apparently my recent talking only applied to being with Justin, so I just looked at her. What was going on here? Why was I so drawn to this woman? I was pretty sure I was straight. The feeling was similar to what the Immortals did but…lighter somehow? Less dark at least, less like I thought it was going to eat my soul and drain me of my free will. Still didn’t approve of the slight compulsion here though.

Her frown deepened at my lack of an answer and she almost pouted, I swear, almost pouted. ”Perhaps you aren’t ready? I suppose I should have thrown in my lot with Red then. Oh well, she did her big journey already though. Already took her steps” The little girl was muttering toherself now and I had no idea what she was going on about. It made absolutely no sense to me, that was for sure. I just blinked and waited for her to start talking to me.

And then she changed.

I wasn’t even sure when it happened. One moment she was standing there entirely normal—well as normal as this chick seemed to get—and the next she just…wasn’t. The next she was taller than me, more beautiful, older. She seemed ancient infact. And she had giant white wings. I had a moment of panic again, another impulsive need to run. It didn’t matter that I used to be big and tough, it didn’t matter than the wings were white and not black. I wanted to spaz out and get out of there as soon as possible. I didn’t like that. I didn’t…

She shook her head. ”I need to see in person. You must come visit me.” she said, very serious. And I found myself nodding before I could even think about doing anything else. Stupid fucking compulsion with this woman!

I shook my head, trying to clear it rather than to deny her, and caught a movement. Back with the little version o me, which still crept me out that she was there in the first place. It was the fog. It was lifting.

And where the fog had once been stood a statue. Of me. In perfect detail. Only it looked more like Ice. And somehow I knew, I just knew, that that wasn’t a statue. That was me. Dead? Frozen? What was this?!

I stumbled back, terror taking over my senses. I was still far too easily panicked, but I figured this warranted panic. Certainly warranted panic.

I turned on my heel, and I ran. And I screamed, loudly. I didn’t scream much anymore, but the sight had torn one from my lips. But no matter how loud I screamed, I could still hear the child voices, singing, and following after me. In the tune of twinkle twinkle little star, the haunting little voice followed me, louder than my screams.

Sparkle Sparkle icy chain
Pull it taunt, watch dark be slain
Waver and you all shall fall
Stone shall answer to the call
Sparkle sparkle icy chain
Bind up tight the blood and pain

---

Someone was shaking me. And saying my name over and over. ”Cris! Cris wake up, its only a dream! Come on, its okay, its okay!” said the voice over and over again until I woke up. My eyes popped open, wide and still scared, and I knew I was soaked in my own sweat. Fuck. The first time I can dream in five whole long years and of course the first one would be a nightmare. What else was knew?

I sighed and closed my eyes, taking a moment to calm myself. I was okay. I was okay. There was no freaky angel lady, no weird songs to follow me. No ice statue. No graveyard. I was okay. I was fine.

Reassure that I seemed to be okay, the boy sighed and it took me a minute, but I knew his name again. Justin. Seemed just as freaked out as I was. I wondered if I had been screaming?

Either way, as much as I wanted to forget it…

The creepy songs kept echoing in my head.

[Imara Sophia "Immie" Deveroux]

”That was a fucking waste of time” Lightning grumbled from her place behind the rest of the pack. She was pouting just a little bit, but she thought she had every right to. That had been such a bust. Her first raid back with her old bunch of friends and it ended up being a total bust. Fuck. She hated this bullshit. They hadn’t been doing that well lately, the stupid fucking immortals had started to pay too much attention to the people that were around them, too much attention to the Rebels that snuck into their palaces and stole their mindless servants.

”At least we didn’t end up like the Third Squad” Raea put in, trying to keep a little spark of hope alive at least. They all shuddered when she said it. Yes, at least they hadn’t ended up like the Third Squad. The Third Squad had been caught. The weakest of them had been killed and the strongest of them were so mindfucked now by the immortals they probably washed the halls with their tongues if the stupid idiots said to. So yeah, they had that at least.

Either way, Red sighed. ”So that means no points for us today. Not that that’s what’s important, we should be getting more people out. But we’re starting to run low if no ones noticed” She had been doing the math in her head the entire way over. They had two new people in their crew which meant they had even less points to go between them and their lack of success was going to put them in the proverbial poor house. They may need to start taking up jobs back at the base if they didn’t watch out. Fuck.

None of them wanted that. They liked what they did.

Ki, for her part, was staring up at the sky. The blue, blue sky that none of them saw that often anymore. It was safer to be underground and undetected. She knew that, it was a tactical advantage and Ki was always for taking that aspect into consideration. Always alert and fuck half the time she was part of the reason they made it out alive. ”We would’a gotten that one but she panicked and started screaming” she said, quietly, almost as if she wasn’t really there. Her mind was elsewhere. Mostly on the fact that she felt like a huge burden was off her shoulders, like she was lighter than she had been before. It was a good feeling. To smile.

Seph shook her head, she had been thinking the exact same thing and chose that moment to voice it. ”I guess we have to tear Justin away from Cris then, we need his ability to make them relax.” she said with a nod, making sure they all knew this was the final decision. Seph didn’t used to think of herself as the leader type. Especially because she tended to be a very solitary person. But she had taken to the role and saw no reason to give it up. She was the one who would make the decisions that no one else would make, the ones that needed to be made to keep them all safe and sound. It sucked but someone had to do it.

She knew Justin would not approve and voiced this fact out loud to all of them, more musing out loud than anything else. She wondered if maybe she should get Raine to keep an eye on Seph? The new ones really shouldn’t be left alone. They tended to get confused and turned around because they were still trying to come to grips with their old memories and become the person they used to be, as well as work around the things that happened while they had been out of the loop and out of their minds. It was a sucky process.

Lightning picked up the pace until she was up to where Sephora was. She grinned a bit, tying her long dark hair up and away from her face. The heat was beginning to be killer out here. They were all getting troo used to the coolness of the caves. ”I’ll keep an eye on her. I’m new anyway and you guys have a dynamic, it’d be better if I didn’t fuck it up”

Seph frowned a little, but one could see in her bright sapphire eyes that she was considering it. It did make sense. ”You sure, Li?” she asked, all seriousness.

”Positive”

And of course there was no alterior motive. None at all.

---

As expected, Justin didn’t approve.

Cris had stabilized enough while they were gone that he figured that she could be moved out of the Infirmary. Plus, her nightmare had shaken her up pretty bad. She was pretending it hadn’t, but Cris’s ice wall that she usually put up over her emotions hadn’t fully reformed after all that had happened, plus he had always been able to see around it even when it had been at its strongest. So, he figured he should move her somewhere more personal and it may help. The Rebels, those that went out and fought and got back those that were Servants, they got their own quarters. Each Squad got their own suite of sorts, with a common living area and a few rooms, usually enough for everyone in the squad even if they did have to double up sometimes.

So yeah, she was in his bed. But it was for her own good, right? Nothing indecent about that. Nothing at all. No need to freak out. No need to spaz. He was fine, he was totally fine. No reason to freak out in the slightest. He was fine. He just needed not to flail out of the damn bed everytime he thought about this too much. Same old Justin.

He had slipped out of his room when they had knocked, making sure not to wake her because she had passed out again. And he had disapproved entirely.

”Not happening” he said stubbornly. He didn’t care that Lightning would be replacing him and he knew Lightning well, and he liked Lightning. He would be worried the entire time he was away from her. This wasn’t okay, he wasn’t leaving. He didn’t care that Seph was now slightly glaring at him because he wasn’t listening and usually he did, he wasn’t going to move.

”Justin…” she said with a sigh and then she pinched the bridge of her nose, a sound of agitation.

Justin resisted the urge to say Sephora and mimic her. This was not a time for goofiness.

”I’m not going to leave this apartment, Sephora” he replied, standing his ground.

A burst of humor lit Seph’s feature for a moment and Justin was confused until Seph spoke and clarified her amusement. ”So you intend to stink everyone out?”

He blushed a bit. Right, the fact that the baths were in a separate house may be an issue. And Cris should probably have a female companion for all that loveliness, because there was no way he could help in that department, he practically turned red thinking about it…but still…”I’ll be distracted the entire time we’re gone.” he protested.

Seph nodded. ”I know, but you’ll also be motivated. The sooner we get it done and get back, the sooner you’re back with her.” She had a point, so he sighed and nodded.

They would leave in the morning.

[ℛeesa ℒuna]

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, VERY ROUGH. BUT I DON'T WANT TO LOSE IT SO I'M PUTTING IT UP. NO ONE LOOK. IT NEEDS TO BE EDITED AND ITS NOT DONE!

I couldn’t make sense of anything. Everything seemed to be blurring and swirling and the colors all seemed to swirl into each other. The purple meshed with the blue which meshed with the brown, and made the whole room turn on its head, making me feel like I was falling. I guess I was lucky I was sitting down, but I kept finding myself thinking the couch was going to swallow me up. It was going to gobble me up into its tummy. The thought made me giggle, a lot. A way lot more than necessary. I couldn’t help it, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself. In the distance edges of my vision peope were moving but I couldn’t recognize them as hard as I tried. I felt like I should be paying attention.

But for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why I thought that.

Everything seemed to blur and make me dizzy and make me giggle. I couldn’t sit still but at the same time I couldn’t move. I felt like there were voices in my head telling me what to do and that freaked me out until I realized that the voices were my own. And that started up the giggling all over again. I didn’t like being like this, being on anything that put me out of control. I had been out of control for too long and this was just putting me out all over again.

I threw all my mental power in to stopping this feeling. This floating feeling. I needed to remember. What was important. What was the reason I had to stop giggling and focus? I forced my mind to think back…and back…and back until I figured it out.

The woman in white, the one from the nightmare. The one with the really big white wings. She was here. She was the one that had done this to me. She had twisted me out of my own control from the moment I had stepped into this room. But that tea…that tea had made it worse. She should have never taken a sip, but she trusted it because Lightning had taken a huge sip first, she had been watching.

Lightning.

It was Lightning who had brought her here. And it was her who had apologized a million times about doing so, but it was for the good of everyone if she did. They could never stop the Immortals if they didn’t do this, according to her. I didn’t see how drugging me helped them in the slightest to stop the immortals. People were talking around me, but it just sounded like noise .I couldn’t pick out actual words from what was being said.

I was off in my own little world.

And then I really was as the drugs took serious hold of me. I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland…and there was a light floating around in front of me…

I wanted it so badly…

So I followed it.

---

He had an unconscious servant on his back. She was beginning to sweat with the fever that wracked them all whenever they got them out of the Castles and away from the influence of the Immortals. She was doing well though, considering how far they had come from. He knew he should be worried about helping this girl and the two others they had successfully gotten out, but his mind was completely elsewhere. He was focused on one thing, and one thing only. He was surprised he had actually managed to get through this mission, but maybe that was because he had wanted to do it quick and get out so they could get back.

He wanted to make sure that they were okay. That she was okay. That was his first proiority right then, and his only priority. Sure, he needed to help them help these three, but the moment that was over, he was happily racing back over to their apartments to make sure she was still there. That he wasn’t dreaming up her new existence back with them. He adjusted how the girl was slung over his back, making sure that she wasn’t uncomfortable. Well, he hoped she wasn’t uncomfy, because he sure as hell was, what with her elbows constantly poking him in the face every time she decided to flop her unconscious self from one place to another.

People these days had no manners. Besides, who’s idea was it to give people such flopy limbs that would flail all over the place. Wait. No. He was so not complaining about flailing. That was not part of his complaint! He almost smiled then, realizing he was actually thinking about flailing. Things could get back to normal now though, right? The gang was back together, they were all safe and sound. That was the good thing about lately. That and he could find himself being happy again.

Just as soon as they got this mission over with.

---

Despite Justin’s over eager self, it was Seph who actually managed to get in the door to the apartments first.