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[COLOR=tan][indent][sub][B]Location:[/B] [COLOR=SILVER][I]Senior Dance, ARC Center[/I] - [I]PRCU[/I][/COLOR][/sub][sup][right][b] Dance Monkey: #4.087 [/B][COLOR=SILVER][I]Dive For You[/I][/COLOR][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][B]Interaction(s):[/B] [COLOR=SILVER][I]Jim O’Neil, Chernobog [@Lord Wraith][/I][/COLOR][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][b]Previously:[/b] [COLOR=SILVER][I]A Cuckoo in the Nest[/I][/COLOR][/right][/SUP][/INDENT][/COLOR]
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Haven trembled where she knelt on the blood soaked floor of the ARC center, staring at the pool of blood and entrails before her. Her baby hairs, once delicately curled, were now sticky and flattened against her brows and cheekbones. The tawny feathers adorning her back and wings weighed heavier than they had ever felt, soaked in scarlet blood.

Her heart felt even heavier. Heavy with the blood of Gil, heavy with the snapped bones of her lover, the bruised necks of Cassander and her sister, the soul torn asunder across the room now waging war with her many selves, Lucille Calder’s heart which continued to beat– She knew it was still beating, she [i]saw[/i] it pumping the blood into her former teammate’s body. Even the shredded form of the woman who had plagued her nightmares since the trial added to the load.

Jim O’Neil knelt next to her now promising a path of escape. His vibrant power shielded her from the monster’s blood soaked talons, from a future of suffering, from being re-made into Daedalus’s creation. The Chancellor promised that Rory was safe now. That if she could only will her body to follow him, she would allow Luce and Alyssa Townsend to hold the beast back until she was out of his grasp.

Was it worth the risk to their lives, too?

Was her life worth more pain and suffering?

The anger that fueled her ceaseless will to defy the cruel and twisted fate that was placed upon Haven burnt bright for one moment…

…until it too was weighed down and snuffed out by the despair in her heart.

She turned her head to look at O’Neil, imagining the ways the monster would tear him apart in front of her as she looked between his steady eyes.

	[color=tan]“Get the others out.”[/color] She began, her voice strong but shaking with the weight of her decision. [color=tan]“Rory’s going to die if he doesn’t get somewhere safe.”[/color]

She was already slipping her feet out of her heels, her hands pressing into the blood of a friend as she pushed herself to her feet and looked through the purple shield at the fight happening for her sake. Her voice was softer now as she spoke again. [color=tan]“Tell him I’m sorry. I have to stop this before someone else gets hurt.”[/color]

Before her trembling legs could fail her, Haven slipped out of Jim’s reach and past his shield into the fray. She held her wings and chin high despite the utter defeat she felt in her soul.

	[color=tan]“Take me and end this.”[/color] The tear running a line through the blood on her cheek betrayed her fear. [color=tan]“[i]Please[/i], no more suffering.”[/color]

Because she wasn’t sure if her heart could take anymore. She wasn’t sure if she could continue living, knowing that she could have prevented this if she’d just given in when the monster first extended its hand towards her. If she hadn’t let her closest friends act for her.

Somewhere within her fractured resolve, a smoking ember still hoped that this would provide an opening for someone to end the monster while it was distracted.
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