[hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/PU6Oqag.jpeg[/img][/center] [color=SILVER][indent][sub][B]Location:[/B] [COLOR=SILVER][I]Southern Plateau [/I] - [I]PRCU[/I][/COLOR][/sub][sup][right][b]Hope in Hell #2.044:[/b] [COLOR=SILVER][I]I Wanna Hold Your Hand[/I][/COLOR][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][B]Interaction(s):[/B] [COLOR=SILVER][I]Aurora [@Melissa] [/I][/COLOR][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][b]Previously:[/b] [COLOR=SILVER][I]A Name Unspoken[/I][/COLOR][/right][/SUP][/INDENT][/COLOR] [i][color=#978184]"Maybe we can circle back around... before I found Haven, I felt someone-"[/color][/i] [indent][i][color=#978184]"NO!"[/color] [color=#978184]"Tell everyone - I'm --!"[/color][/i][/indent] [color=ffffff][i]Thank you for bringing Tiamat home.[/i][/color] [indent]Haven's body trembled as it remembered that hateful voice. The pain and anguish it had brought her, that cold metal against her back- [i]Amma had been pulled into hell so easily...[/i] The woman wailed as her wing was cut from her, a painful symphony that echoed in Haven's heart. Her own wings were stretched so tightly she thought they would be pulled from her body. They were going to pull her soul out of her. Blood trickled past her hip and knee. Her pain was growing as each second passed. She wanted to crumble to the floor, but she feared she wouldn't get back up again. Her whole body ached. Her heart [i]ached[/i]. Haven's hold on Aurora's hand tightened, as if she would be stolen from her too. [i]What was Amma trying to tell them?[/i] [i]What name did she choose?[/i] The lights at the end of the stretching hallway began to flicker out one by one. That horrible laugh rattling her heart inside her chest like she'd rattled that cage. Soon the only light that remained illuminated the frightened girls where they stood. [i][color=#978184]"They'll attack you at your lowest when you think you've gotten away far enough. When you think you're safe."[/color][/i] The words played themselves over and over in Haven’s mind as she stared into the darkness left in that laugh's wake. Their surroundings so silent that Haven swore she could hear their thundering heartbeats. [color=#d2b48c]"I... I don't know how much more I can take." [/color]She breathed. Her eyes finally turned to meet Aurora’s; her gaze distant and anguished. Her mind was still back in that lab, yet she wasn’t consumed by the memory. She was fortunately, and unfortunately, aware of where she was and [i]who[/i] she was. [color=#d2b48c]“We [/color][i][color=#d2b48c]need[/color][/i][color=#d2b48c] to get out of here.”[/color] Aurora’s eyes did not leave the wall where the chasm had come and gone, her baby blues remaining locked on the exact place where Amma had been swallowed whole by the void. Her hand did not cease to tremble and quiver, that last whorl of the raven haired girl’s power felt like it was continuously encircling her skin although she had already absorbed the energy bestowed upon her. As the pair stood there in shock, the redhead could feel the winged girl’s grip strengthen on her hand. Out of habit, she squeezed back, an action that instantly brought her thoughts towards a certain boy, who’s warm ember eyes were all she wanted to see in that moment. Where he was in this chaos, she didn’t know, and the notion made her heart ache. She desired nothing more than to be by his side, the place where she felt safest; after all, they had planned on sticking together. Fighting back the bile that rose in the back of her throat, she turned to Haven, her lips pulled taught and her forehead strained, exhaustion pulling at her limbs. [color=#8ecdb7]“You came from that direction, right?” [/color]She asked, nodding towards the left side of the hallway. [color=#8ecdb7]“I think Amma said that she sensed someone else before she found you. Maybe we can retrace your steps? There’s strength in numbers, whoever it may be.” [/color] Haven slowly turned her head to the left, looking back the way that she and Amma had come. She could figure out the way back, but… It meant she would be heading back towards that terrible room. Close again to the mangled body that would haunt her even in reality. Aurora had a point, and Haven wasn’t sure if they could make it the rest of the way in their state. She knew the redhead was exhausted and her shredded thigh would slow them down. Would it be as slow as Amma’s ankle had been? She visibly shivered as she wondered if it even mattered. It felt like the simulation would swallow them up no matter how hard they tried. [color=#d2b48c]“Yeah… We can,”[/color] she took a shaky breath, [color=#d2b48c]“We can go back. I can handle it.” [/color] The two girls, battered and bruised, began to make their way down the dimly lit hallway with fear in their eyes but hope in their hearts. The horrors they had seen were beyond imagination, but they’d have to find one of their teammates eventually… right? The redhead braced herself against Haven, her depleted body regenerating what she had lost after expunging her abilities whilst they hobbled in silence, the emotional weight they bore heavy. Eventually, they came to a fork, where the path diverged into two directions. One was bathed in cold white light, an incessant beeping and ringing ricocheting off the walls, and the other sat silent and ominous, each movement they made seemed to echo into oblivion. Aurora tried to examine each with equal consideration, but found herself favoring one over the other. But in her hesitancy, she turned to Haven. [color=#8ecdb7]“Which way?”[/color] Haven’s jaw clenched as she leaned her weight onto her left leg, giving her right a moment to breathe. She nodded to the right as she remembered how she and Amma had taken a left before. [color=#d2b48c]“We came from the right. Not sure how long we walked until we got here, but… I’ll remember where she found me if it looks the same.”[/color] Haven took the first step as she began to lead them down the overwhelming length of brightness and cacophony. Her breathing grew heavier the further they went as she tried to contain the panic bubbling up her throat. [color=#d2b48c]“So… You said that other Lorcán had your stepfather…?”[/color] Aurora watched Haven’s facial expression as the girl tensed. It was clear that whatever she had experienced in this space had caused a great deal of pain, and she was not eager to relive it. Every corner they turned in this trial had screamed agony, it was highly unlikely that anyone had remained unscathed. The redhead followed her companion’s lead as they walked, head on a swivel determining if any other threats were hiding in the shadows. At the question, her face paled, sweat collecting at her brow. It wasn’t a topic she was prepared to divulge in its entirety, but if it was a momentary reprieve and distraction from whatever hell Haven had emerged from, Aurora would shoulder that burden. [color=#8ecdb7]“Yes, he- he did.” [/color]She replied in a subdued tone, sputtering out the words, [color=#8ecdb7]“He was stuffed into a cabinet. Bound and suffering.” [/color]The redhead looked into the girl’s eyes. [color=#8ecdb7]“Just as he should be.”[/color] Whatever guilt Haven felt for asking such a question vanished the moment Aurora said what she had been thinking. Despite her growing panic, and despite the situation they were in, Haven huffed a halfhearted chuckle. [color=#d2b48c]“Yeah, serves him right.”[/color] She gave her hand a small squeeze after a pause. [color=#d2b48c]“I’m glad you got out of there before it got twisted.”[/color] Aurora shook her head, recounting the moment she had woken up from whatever had caused her to black out in the first place. [color=#8ecdb7]“It already was twisted.” [/color]She uttered, goosebumps pricking the back of her neck. [color=#8ecdb7]“I thought I was safe. I saw Lorcán - or who I [/color][color=#8ecdb7][i]thought[/i][/color][color=#8ecdb7] was Lorcán - and believed for a second that we had made it out of here.” [/color]The redhead could feel her heartbeat begin to quicken once more, dread stirring in her stomach as they passed by rooms of medical supplies strewn on linoleum. [color=#8ecdb7]“Had I not known him so well, I might have never realized that he was trying to trick me. I don’t think anyone else would have noticed the subtle differences, but to me, they were jarring.”[/color] [color=#8ecdb7]“He had his face, but a long scar on one side. His eyes were darker, more jaded. Cruel.” [/color]She shivered. [color=#8ecdb7]“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to unsee him.” [/color] Haven ignored the contents of the rooms they passed by watching Aurora’s expressions as she recounted her personal torture. The fear her friend presented, laced with what Haven now recognized as haunted memories, had that painful empathy returning to her stomach. Their experiences were so different, and yet they were both leaving with the same feelings of distress and horror. She was at a loss for words. [color=#d2b48c]“I’m sorry.” [/color]She murmured softly. It was all she could summon to her lips. She couldn’t bare her own nightmare to Aurora, not when they drew closer to it with each hobbled step, but maybe she could let Aurora know that she understood. [color=#d2b48c]“I won’t be able to forget, either. I guess it’s one more thing we can add to the list of memories that keep us up at night.”[/color] The redhead nodded, holding the winged girl’s hand tighter as they walked, eyebrows raising as another thought from her experience slipped to the surface. [color=#8ecdb7]“I don’t know if I can believe anything he told me- what was real or what was fake- but he said that someone from Blackjack is to blame for trapping us here.” [/color]Aurora uttered, her thoughts racing as she attempted to discern if it was just a cruel part of the simulation or reality. [color=#8ecdb7]“That they serve Hyperion, still.”[/color] [color=#8ecdb7]“I don’t want to believe it’s true. Who could support such a monster after everything he did?”[/color] [color=#d2b48c]“That has to be a lie.” [/color]Haven began in earnest, even as her brows furrowed as she debated it internally. [color=#d2b48c]“The trial is testing your faith... Why else would it give you a Lorcán that deceives you?”[/color] [color=#d2b48c]“I think… I think the simulations are trying to wear us down. To break our spirits. I don’t know how you felt [/color][color=#d2b48c]in that[/color][color=#d2b48c] moment, but if you didn’t have faith in Blackjack, or in the real Lorcán, you might have given into it.”[/color] Haven thought about how she’d felt on that table. She’d given up the fight the moment her wings had been pinned down. So close to destruction, with no means of escape and her body frozen with fear. Part of her worried that the simulation wasn’t testing her will, like with Aurora, but instead teaching her another lesson. A lesson she didn’t want to admit to herself just yet. Not with Aurora by her side, not when Aurora needed hope– When they [i]both [/i]needed hope to make it out of the trial. [color=#d2b48c]“Whoever [/color][color=#d2b48c]messed[/color][color=#d2b48c] with the trial, they want us out of their way. They want us scared and untrusting. We have to make sure we don’t give them what they want.” [/color]Her voice shook with the intensity of her words. She looked to Aurora and in her eyes laid the controlled burning within the forest of her soul, the defiance that had pieced her back together after she’d nearly fallen apart on that table. [color=#d2b48c]“I won’t give it to them.” [/color][i]Not again. [/i] Aurora shook her head, biting the inside of her lip. She waffled back and forth in believing the dopplegänger at Haven’s suggestion - he [i]had [/i]deceived her, but something about his chilling words seemed to churn in her gut. Maybe her supposed concussion was to blame for her lack of clarity? The girl’s expression grew heavy. [color=#8ecdb7]“They want more than for us to be scared,” [/color]She swallowed, [color=#8ecdb7]“They want us dead.” [/color] Haven stopped moving, her expression falling flat as her heart seemed to plummet off a cliff. Her now dead weight pulled Aurora back from where she’d taken a step. Haven looked between Aurora’s eyes as she swallowed, a poor attempt to wet the sudden dryness in her mouth. It still tasted like bile, even after this short amount of time. [color=#d2b48c]“I… I thought I was the only one it wanted dead.” [/color]Her head shook ever so subtly. [color=#d2b48c]“Do you think– Amma?” [/color]She couldn’t finish the question. Instead she looked forward with worry clouding her eyes. She forced herself to move again, taking a pained step forward until her muscles seized as she saw it… Footprints of ash on the linoleum, leading from an open room. Her muscles ached as they pulled her wings in closer to her back. Tanned skin paled, the fear draining the color from her face and neck. Her voice was quiet as she spoke again, as if she feared waking the horrors within that room. [color=#d2b48c]“This is where she found me. We have to go past it.”[/color] Aurora could see her change in demeanor instantly, the way her jaw clenched and her eyes grew wide at what lay ahead, and knew that whatever agony she had experienced before they had reunited was about to be re-lived. [color=#8ecdb7]“I’m right here with you.” [/color]She stated supportively, their footsteps continuing. Haven forced herself to breathe deep, and then released the breath in a shaky exhale. She was still mindful of her strength as she gripped Aurora’s hand tighter, although she may have overestimated how durable a human’s hand could be. Her stride was unsteady as she placed weight on her leg, but her pace was determined. Despite the pounding of her heart in her chest, she wanted to overcome the fear. She would look into that room, look at the poor student on that table, and then she would move on. [color=#d2b48c]“Please don’t-” [/color]Her words were stopped short as they stood at the opening, her breath escaping her lips in a whoosh. She didn’t take another. Eyes of a forest sunrise stared at them with muted colors, as if the light had been subdued. The tanned skin was clammy and spattered with blood; the cut on the left cheek still fresh. The muscles in her face were slack, and yet her hands would forever be clenched at her sides in rigor mortis. There was a cut from between her clavicle down to her navel, and a gaping hole where her heart should be resting within her chest. Wings lifeless, flesh and muscle torn and cut, laid in pieces on top of the metal. The feathers on her once tawny wings stained forever red. There was so much blood… and yet Haven’s eyes remained on the face. [i]Her [/i]face. She lifted a shaking hand in front of her, blocking the view of those dull hazel eyes. Her hand turned over once, twice, her lips parting as she was lost to thought. [color=#d2b48c]“Maybe I never left it…” [/color]She whispered the thought aloud, her brows furrowing. Her left hand slackened around Aurora’s, threatening to let go of her contact with reality. [color=#d2b48c]“I need air... I need to find Rory. I need to get out of here.” [/color]The words spilled out of her mouth breathlessly. Her eyes fluttered between her hand and her lifeless eyes on the table. [color=#d2b48c][i]“Not real.”[/i][/color] Aurora’s panicked gaze darted from Haven to the lifeless version of herself on the table, to the abundance of crimson that covered the girl’s small frame, the tangled limbs, and the disfigured wings. She swallowed a scream at the gory sight, trying her best to maintain her composure, a few silent tears falling from her eyes. Had the real Haven not been standing next to her, she would have assumed she had met her end, the resemblance was uncanny. And for that reason, stifling a sob, she didn’t hesitate to close the door, sealing off the room for whoever may encounter this hallway next. The redhead gripped the girl’s hand as she felt her presence waver, a physical bridge reminding her that she was standing right there next to her. Gently and cautiously, she brought her hand to the small of Haven’s back, making sure to avoid touching her wings and guided her away. [color=#8ecdb7]“You’re alive, you’re here with me.” [/color]Aurora consoled as she forced her to continue walking down the hallway, away from that fated room, from a distorted vision of the present. [color=#8ecdb7]“We’re going to get out of here, we’re going to find Rory.” [/color]She repeated to her, hoping she would hear amongst the chaos that likely raged in her mind. [color=#8ecdb7]“This isn’t real.”[/color] The door was closed, cutting the image off from Haven so that her eyes returned to her hand. Distantly she felt Aurora’s anchor to reality, yet she didn’t even flinch as she felt the pressure of a gentle hand against her back. So lost in her fractured state that she hardly acknowledged that they began to move again either. The pain in her thigh was a dull throb compared to the torment inside of her. Aurora’s words whispered to her in the depths of her mind, each one slowly pulling her back to her body until she gasped for air. It felt like she'd been drowning. Her free hand reached up to her chest to check if it was whole. She pressed her hand against it to make sure of it. Her heart beat against her palm, fast, but steady, and the rising and falling of her chest as she regained her breath was slowing, returning to her usual pattern. She realized how limp her hand was in Aurora’s and slowly wrapped her tan fingers around the pale skin. [color=#d2b48c]“I’m sorry-I… I almost let go.”[/color] She turned her head to Aurora, the foggy look in her eyes slowly clearing. Her brows furrowed for a moment, tears pricking at her eyes, before she spoke again. [color=#d2b48c]“Thank you… I might have been stuck there forever.”[/color] The redhead exhaled as she felt Haven’s grip tighten once more, watching as color slowly returned to her features. She blinked back her own tears that had formed, not wanting the winged girl to see how much the sight had shaken her as well. It very well could have been any of them on that table. Rubbing comforting circles on her companion’s back, Aurora continued to reassure her as they left the medical wing behind them and found themselves back in a similar looking hallway of classrooms from where they first started. [color=#8ecdb7]“Don’t apologize.” [/color]She consoled. [color=#8ecdb7]“You’re strong, you can do this.” [/color]Aurora’s words reminded Haven, but were also to remind herself. The Trial continued to throw obstacle after obstacle in their way, and there was no end in sight, but they had to persevere. Haven nodded even as a tear escaped down her cheek.[color=#d2b48c] “[/color][color=#d2b48c][i]We [/i][/color][color=#d2b48c]can do this.”[/color] She parroted. Inwardly she searched for the fire within her soul, finding it quenched but not extinguished. It was all she had left in her to keep going. She would have to hold on tight to it if they had any chance of escape. Her next words were soft, as if she was afraid the simulation might hear them and thwart their plans. [color=#d2b48c]“Let’s get the hell out of here.”[/color] Aurora was in full agreement, her eyes revealing her determination as she took her hand off of Haven’s back and began to lead them down the hallway once again. Sure enough, they reached another fork, which she delineated was what Amma had spoken of before, where she had sensed one of their teammates down the alternate path. [color=#8ecdb7]“This must be where she felt someone else. We should go this way.” [/color]She murmured to herself, looking around. But it was at that moment, she realized something. She couldn’t feel Haven’s hand anymore. Turning on her heel to look where she thought her friend was following, she found the hallway empty. [color=#8ecdb7]“...Haven?” [/color]She fearfully asked, but already knew there would be no reply. Except someone [i]did [/i]answer. [color=#62d5f8]“Aurora! Firecracker, where are you?” [/color] The redhead’s eyes grew wide. [color=#8ecdb7]“Mom?”[/color] [/indent] [hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ulmeolp.jpg[/img][/center]