Emma emerged from the truck, the smell of smoke and burning flesh hanging heavy in the air. She was filled with apprehension and fear, but at the very least the fact that she would die with friends helped calm herself a little. She'd only known them for a little over a week, but cataclysmic situations tend to bring people together.
Time for one last goodbye... Emma remarked to herself.
For all the people that had vowed to live, today seemed to be full of farewells. If they were all going to make it out safely, why did it feel like it was going to be the last time she would see some of these people? A cynical voice rose in her, as it always did, lamenting the futility of this fight. They were still all inexperienced, barely trained, so what hope could they have against Factory? A subnatural with the power to completely demolished a small town. Emma sighed to herself as their ragtag lunch group began to form around each other.
Put on a brave face. Don't let them see how scared you are.Her smile formed- a weak smile, but a smile in spite of itself. She paused for a moment, considering what to say. Something encouraging, something brave, in other words a lie.
"Listen, no matter what... we're all going to make it back safe, right?" the words sounded hollow to her.
The sounds should have given her a better idea of what was to come. Callan had seen reports on the news of such things. Clips from cell phones prefaced by warnings to look away for the faint of heart. High casualty disasters. Numbers on a screen. But this wasn't the same. This was
their disaster. These were their numbers.
And she was expected to sit back and watch.
Gripped by apprehension like she'd never known before, Callan looked at the faces of their little group. Each of them had their strengths. She had to remind herself of this, but... was it enough? Emma's tulpas? Siena's books? Ernie's invulnerablity? Marcus's time jumps?
Looking back to the carnage, one certain corpse in the distance caught her eye. Positioned just so she could make out the mark across his cheek. She recognized him from the lunch room. A younger boy. With thick black hair and wide brown eyes-- now entirely lifeless.
"What are you looking at?" -- the last and only thing she'd ever said to the kid. Whatever strength he'd had... it hadn't been enough.
Without thinking, Callan grabbed Siena's hand and gave it a light squeeze as she released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. What else could she do? These people were all that she had. She didn't want to even think about losing them.
Callan nodded once at Emma's question, but said nothing, waiting to hear from the others.
Familiarity had Siena following with the group she'd grown to be comfortable with, her eyes taken with the carnage. It wasn't the same as their first fight. It wasn't even the same as the hazy memories that Siena tried to put together--it was worse. The girl did her best not to think about it, did her best not to consider the weight of the belt cinched around her waist. Did everything she could not to consider that the knife wasn't meant for any of the monsters she was expecting...
hoping to fight. There were too many things to think about.
Would she survive? Would
they survive? What about all the citizens, and what exactly were they supposed to do against Factory...?
'And why aren't you scared...?'The world seemed to come to a stop for an instant, as if something became painfully clear. A terrifying clarity that brought an equally mortifying image of an infinite expanse--the same one she'd seen once before. Another few drops to add to the storm. It was only an instant, and one brought to an end by the feeling of a hand on hers, a gentle squeeze. Things came back to view, grey eyes immediately turning to the source.
Callan...was she going to be alright? She'd been a hero in their previous encounter, hadn't she? Had lost a teammate without even knowing and had to deal with the aftermath. She returned the squeeze with one of her own, her attention going to Emma, even if her words were meant for her roommate. "
Don't worry about me. I've got an arsenal to use." An arsenal of abilities. An army at her back.
"
We'll be okay..."
He'd seen it all before. Lived it, even. That didn't make the second time any easier though. Familiar sights awaited him as he stepped out of the transport: bodies crushed in a failed escape, smoke billowing softly through the breeze, a smell that was a mixture of things he had no desire to try and distinguish. All little things that took him back to a place he desperately didn't want to think about.
But now they were on the other end of the spectrum. They were the help, the heroes; but looking over their motley little crew, he wasn't entirely convinced. A bunch of scared children, who hadn't even lifted a finger to help and were already starting to panic - or at least, that's what he was feeling, and he'd known exactly what would be on the other side of the transport door.
He knew his place - gather the survivors and get out. Nothing as dangerous as what the rest of were assigned. They would be the ones dying for a university that didn't care about them. It was hard to keep himself from pulling out the anger and frustration he buried, but he managed.
"
Yeah...we'll...we'll be fine." he said, lost in his thoughts as he looked over the destruction. "
Hell, hopefully we'll be back before they start serving dinner!" he added as he snapped back to the group, the words still containing a hint of distance.
"Gonna be a really late dinner then," Ernie murmured vacantly,
"That drive back's a nightmare."Insignificant talk in the face of death and chaos. All the carnage Ernie was used to had always been tightly contained. Never a warzone like this. For all his mission experience, there was no way he could compare a few isolated skirmishes to the burnt wreckage of a town. He was afraid of how small and insignificant he felt in the midst of it. If he died, he'd just join the faceless dozens that littered this place. Would anyone remember him?
Ernie brought his hand to his face at some half attempt to scratch or cover his nose. He wanted insignificant details to tide over this dark feeling. It worked. His mind trailed blankly, noticing that the smell was probably the worst part out of all of this.
He looked to the group, trying to smile. It was fine if he couldn't, right? The others could do it for him. Despite his solemn expression, his tone was kept light.
"I... always bring some cards for the drive back," he spoke as he pulled his utility belt out of his backpack,
"If everything works out, we should play."Emma gave Ernie a nod.
โYeah. Yeah, we all will.โ now wasnโt the time for pettiness or hostility. She didnโt like Ernie, but she also didnโt want him to die either. Her hands clasped together behind her back, wrestling each other nervously.
She wondered if Padma and Alexis knew that they were dying when it happened. At least Emma was prepared, at least she was ready for the likelihood of the end. They probably had no idea they were going into such a dangerous situation. At least the people Emma died with would know her name, know who she was. She had only learned who Padma and Alexis were after watching them get eaten below the medical buildingโฆ
At least Emma knew where sheโd end up. She looked across the congregation, her gaze lingering for a moment on Marcus.
Doesnโt he deserve to know too? She sighed. A deep, long sigh. Her smile disappeared within it, a grimace taking its place.
She looked down at the cuff on her ankle. Would they care if she told them? No, she decided. If they cared about that secret they wouldnโt have let her gone after Hector again.
โHey, thereโs something I want to tell you guysโฆโ her voice was quiet, the words scratching at her throat. She knew part of the reason she was telling them was her own sake. Sheโd feel better if she wasnโt the only one them that knew.
โYouโฆ you should know what they do with the bodies when you die here. I found out. T-thereโs a room below the medical building with a subnatural inside it that eats corpses.โ Emma didnโt need to say the rest.
โIt's horrible. So letโs all promise each otherโฆ weโre going to live. No matter what. I donโt want that to happen to anyone here.โA subnatural...? Corpses? Callan's mind immediately went to Padma and Alexis. A different image came to mind then-- of an unpleasantly proportioned individual with sharp, glistening teeth crouched over the lifeless bodies of the tall redhead and tan skinned girl. Of course, this sudden revelation brought with it a number of questions, but now wasn't the time. She replaced the image with one more pleasant.
Sitting on a truck and playing cards with everyone, dirty clothes and a feeling of victory being the only evidence of their time here. Laughing at jokes that weren't that funny-- because why not? They'd won.
"
Wha-?" Marcus found the words inadvertently escaping his lips as he turned to look fully at Emma.
Eats corpses? The bodies didn't even get sent back to their families? Not even the injustice of an unmarked grave? Completely devoured? His mind whirred to come up with something to say in response to the sudden enlightenment. If they died, there would be nothing to remember them by - not even a gravestone.
"
Yeah...." Marcus said almost absentmindedly. "
Yeah, let's make sure that doesn't happen. Everyone come back in one piece!"
'They do...what with the corpses...?' The thought was more out of surprise than anything else, but it only took a moment to rationalize it. Of course. Why bother keeping a corpse of someone that wasn't likely to see their loved ones anyways? After all, what was
left of Padma's was hardly something that could be returned to the family, so in a purely logical view...but that didn't entirely lift the uneasy feeling that crept over Siena's mind, her eyes quickly darting to the others to gauge their reactions. As expected, they weren't good ones.
Perhaps the stories that Gerwulf told her had been harder to shake than she thought--or worse. Perhaps she was starting to think like the warworn individuals she took from.
"
Eugh...that's certainly a lot of incentive to make good on a promise to get back safe." The brunette willed herself to give a faint shudder and a grimace.
"
No kidding," Callan agreed.
Ernie frowned, dropping his bullet magazines into his pants pockets as he mulled over this new information.
"You 'found out'?" he repeated, mostly to himself.
He had no reason to be surprised, considering all the other nasty shit East had made itself infamous for. Corpse disposal was... annoying, especially when there were no family or friends to take care of the body afterwards. On the rare occasions where it was necessary, Liam had always been the one to take care of it. All Ernie had to do was scrub. He hated seeing those lifeless, foreign eyes anyway.
If Ernie were to die, there'd be no use for his body, no one to send it to. It made a weird sort of sense to toss it into a cannibal's feeding ground. Not that the practicality made it any less inhumane or disgusting. The mention of facilities under the school caught his attention, bringing an unwanted memory of Rain. Yet more shifty East things. A subnatural eating their own. Subnaturals... against subnaturals. Ernie was given a grisly reminder of the potential human threats in this mission. He would need to talk about that soon. His mind started ticking towards something. But right now there was a conversation to focus on.
Emma's 'promise' schtick was a bit cheesy but Ernie didn't have anything major against it. Promises were easy to forget once you were dead, especially if they were with Emma of all people. So he went along with it.
"Sounds good to me," he managed a small smile of confidence.
Emma nodded,
"Yeah, alright." she gazed across the battlefield. She was hesitant to go, but she knew that their USARILN handlers wouldnโt let them stay. Still, a part of her just wanted to sit down and refuse to fight Factory. What would they do if she stopped here, kill her? They could probably think of something worse than that. She decided that she might as well try to be a hero at least once, if that was her fate.
โI guess itโs time to go, then.โ she bit her lip, her gaze drawing itself towards Marcus.
Emma had never killed before- only a week ago, sheโd never seen anyone die. But, she decided, she would kill Factory or any other subnatural that got in her way. For her sake, and the sake of her friends. She had to live. She had to make sure that none of them would end up as food to sate Miranda's hunger. She wouldnโt hesitate if it came down to it.
They were only monsters, after all.
Callan tensed her shoulders. Time to go. Tearing her eyes away from the broken city, she looked between the faces of her friends again, inhaling slowly. This was so different from their first fight. Had she been less concerned because she hadn't known any of them very well or because she hadn't understood how dangerous the monsters were? After the fight and the Flag and Seek game, she thought she understood the potential dangers of monsters as well as subnaturals, but... what if she was underestimating things again?
They'd promised they'd all come back. Somehow that didn't bring her quite as much comfort as she'd hoped it would.
"
Fuck, you guys," Callan said suddenly, bouncing one leg in agitation, "
Be careful out there! Seriously." She pulled Siena into a hug first, perhaps a tad more roughly than she'd intended. She hugged all of them individually-- quickly, but with meaning and absent of bias. She didn't want anything to happen to
any of them. It was maddening to know she couldn't go with them now.
It was easy to listen to the promises, somehow familiar. Sharper images than just hazy memories, more anchored into her than the events she'd separated from reality. There was a sense of dread building in the back of her head, telling her that there shouldn't have been anything familiar about watching people she'd grown fond of go to what was potentially their deaths. About being oddly calm about the situation beneath the film of uneasiness that blanketed her.
It was the sudden hug that threatened to break that calm. Sudden, a bit rough--
why did that send a surge of trepidation through her? How terrifyingly familiar it was...no. Such things weren't real...right?--and over just as suddenly as it started. The surprise quickly faded into a weak smile as her eyes settled on her roommate. Waiting around...that was probably a nightmare in its own right, wasn't it? She sent her gaze to the ones she knew wouldn't be coming with her.
"
W-Well, we'd better go," Siena claimed while sending a sidelong glance towards Emma. "
...especially us, I guess."
Emma accepted Callanโs hug with a telling eagerness. Truth be told Emma had been somewhat worried that perhaps Callan hadnโt liked her. It had seemed that whenever Emma had talked to her there was some degree of awkwardness, but nowโฆ well, it was nice to know that Callan had said her farewells to her with the same enthusiasm as she had the others.
Emma gave a wide smile to the group as Siena suggested that it was time to leave. The smile was a lie, but it was a pretty lie.
โRight.โ she said with a surprising ardor, nodding towards the brunette girl. Emma hadnโt known her all that well, but it was nice to know that between her and Hazel she had people she could
probably count on with her.
With that she finally turned to Marcus. She wasnโt eager to leave him, especially since he had the easier assignment of the two. They were all so separated, there was far too much to worry about that Emma couldnโt changeโฆ but she would at least have the opportunity to make things safer for everyone by fighting the Factoryโs horde.
โWell, I guessโฆ I guess this is it for now.โ a dull ache filled her chest. She approached him, her hand extending towards his own, unsure of whether to pull him in for a hug or a kiss. Here, at what seemed like the end of the world, a battlefield where one or both of them could very likely die, she was somehow still nervous about PDA. After all, theyโd hardly been dating for a week, and there were people watching. So, she decided, she would defer to his lead.
Marcus gave Callan his best grin as she hugged him, giving her a quick pat on the back. "
Be careful yourself, got it? he said quickly.
He looked to Emma as she approached, grabbing her hand as she extended it and giving a reassuring squeeze. "
For now, at least."
She'd be back. And he'd be there for her when she made it back. That's how it had to happen.
He pulled her in for a hug of his own, possibly the final farewell before they all went to meet their deaths. A possibility that Marcus was still trying desperately to deny existed. "
Stay safe out there, Em." he said softly. "
You better be coming back to me, alright?" he added, looking down to her and smiling.
Emma held him tight. It was a moment that felt nicer than it should haveโฆ another moment that she didnโt want to let go, another moment where she felt that distant pang of guilt.
โYeah. You too.โ her voice was marked with a soft wistfulness. She looked up at him, a moment of hesitation coming over her. It passed, and in its following she planted a soft kiss on his lips. It might be the last kiss she would have, she decided, so she might as well take it.
Another moment of hesitation and she pulled away. If she didnโt sheโd be tempted to stay with him. Finally she looked towards Siena,
โAlright! Well, youโre right, we should get moving before Kardos decides heโs had enough of us lollygagging.โ her voice carried a false enthusiasm with it. She favored the others with a nod,
โWeโre all going to be playing cards on the way back.โ the statement sounded more like an order than a suggestion.
With a final wave goodbye she turned away, scanning for the remainder of her team, pausing to let Siena say her goodbyes as well.
Ah, well. Siena couldn't say she was entirely surprised. Taking a quick survey of the surroundings, Siena put her observations to the bottom of her priorities list--she could ruminate on that later, assuming she survived. The fact that she considered the latter point without a significant hike in her typical anxiety levels was what made something in her chest squirm with discomfort. Shouldn't she have been scared? Or, she supposed, moreso than she could distinguish then. The makeshift phantom of a smile faded as she gave a brief nod to the others by way of a farewell before moving to follow after Emma.
She didn't really like to drag them out, really.
Callan averted her eyes as soon as she saw Emma's face move towards his. She stared at the ground until it was over, feeling a tinge of heat in her cheeks. She shouldn't be focusing on things like that right now. As quickly as it came, it was gone. Drowned out by the sounds of gunfire and destruction. The audible embodiment of all her concerns. Callan nodded at Emma's statement, but didn't quite meet her eyes.
"
See you guys later," she half smiled, before making her way towards the helicopter where Sander was already waiting. Her first few steps were done backwards as she waved, sparing everyone one last glance before turning around.
That was nice. Ernie smiled involuntarily but was unable to make any sort of reassurring comment when Cal hugged him. He couldn't keep his focus on the moment. There was a detail, something he'd missed because he'd been too wrapped up in his own shit. His mind raced to find out what it was.
Subnaturals against subnaturals. Subnatural... groups. Kardos had mentioned a group behind this, didn't he? Ernie strained against the fogginess of years-old memories, trying feebly to sift through backlogs of overheard whispers and drunken conspiracies. Underworld talk, unimpeded by a dark-haired kid because he didn't matter enough to keep a hushed voice around. Talks of subnatural groups, theories and discussions. Groups like the Senators and the Amigos and...
His eyes widened. Fracture. That was it, wasn't it? Ernie grimaced at the weakness of his memory.
He wanted to reach for more details. They were big, he knew that at least. Lots of money, lots of connections. Lots of Aberrations too. All in all, enough power to make even the big boss of the Senators nervous. But what did they do? That was what so much of the conspiracy talk was about. No one, not even the big bosses had a single fucking clue. Well, there were plenty of rumors floating around, but nothing concrete that could be tied back to Fracture. But all that anyone knew was that when Fracture activity started up again, incidents similar to this mission happened. Never any direct correlation between the incidents and the group though. That's what made them so scary. What made them so dangerous.
Ernie wanted to break something in frustration. All he had was baseless, hole-filled conjecture. He didn't even know if this was a major named group or just some psychopathic assholes who thought it was fun to destroy a whole town. But either way, he needed to give a warning.
"Marcus," Ernie clapped a hand onto the Arbiter's shoulder. Any semblance of the casual guy before had disappeared. The Aberration's face was a grim frown,
"I need to talk to you."Marcus's attention was diverted as he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head slightly to look at the perpetrator. He'd expected it to be Ernie, giving him some 'wink wink nudge nudge' joke or trying to pull him in for another dumb hug; some sort of jokey thing like that. He was almost startled when he instead found a grave look staring back at him.
"
Hmm?" His brain started trying to figure out what would be so important that Ernie would need to tell him now. It couldn't be the Sander thing, could it? Surely they weren't going to be worrying about little squabbles in the face of a danger like this.
"
What's up?"
"I've got a bad feeling about this subnatural... group," Ernie began tentatively,
"If it's who I'm thinking of, then we might be in serious trouble.""
You know them?" was Marcus's slightly shocked reply. He'd certainly not thought of Ernie as the type of guy to know a whole lot of the subnatural groups. He'd read about a couple of them on Death and Taxes, and they didn't seem like the type of people to allow very many first-hand encounters. "
Who exactly do you think it is?"
"Uh, sort of? Not really. Not at all," Ernie cringed as he said it. Would his threadbare knowledge even help them?
He wasn't sure if anyone would even recognise Fracture's name outside of the subnatural underworld. But there was no harm in telling Marcus, right? Their name wasn't the important thing here.
"Some guys called Fracture or whatever. Bad guys who do big, bad things. Look, that's not what you need to worry about here. Kardos said there could be other subnaturals in the area. If it really is those guys, then that's bad news. The girls are gonna be in the middle of it all so I doubt that there's gonna be anyone with weird enough priorities to jump into the middle of a horde of monsters just to get at some USARILN cleanup kids. They probably won't run into anyone bad. But we're gonna be on the outskirts of the whole thing and..."He was rambling now. Shit, where was he going with this? There were too many details, too many dangers to look out for. Ernie pointed vaguely at the pistol on Marcus' belt.
"Listen. Subnaturals--mages-- outside of USARILN are dangerous. There aren't any rules for them to play by," Ernie stared solemnly,
"If you see a subnatural, anyone outside of USARILN, you either run or shoot to kill. Nothing in-between. If they haven't noticed you, then run for it. You can't hesitate. Especially if it's an Aberration. Especially if they're an adult. Do you get me?"No hesitationIt was easy when he knew that it was just another Dreamcatcher creature, but if they were fighting subnaturals, then they were fighting people. For all the hesitancy that he had about Aberrations like Ernie or Sander, he still felt that they were just people. Now, he was being told to kill people like that without a second thought; people that had only made the mistake of choosing a different dream than he had.
But if what Ernie was saying were true, he might not get a second chance if he erred on the side of diplomacy. Worse, he might actively endanger other people. Was he willing to kill somebody - another human being - without hearing their side of the story, just to make sure everyone around him was safe?
He would, but the swiftness of his decision probably wasn't a good thing.
"
Got it. Shoot to kill. No chances." he said, tapping his holster.
Ernie continued staring at Marcus, testing the validity of his promise, before breathing a sigh of relief. He believed Marcus could do what needed to be done. Hopefully Zoe would be proven wrong about their classmates. He managed a proper smile this time.
"Thanks, man," Ernie pat the Arbiter's shoulder, friendlier this time,
"Sorry about me freaking out. Just remembered a lotta things.""
No problem, man. he replied. "
Just keep your head on your shoulders, and we'll be fine. I can kick your ass in poker on the way home!" This bit was met with a confident smile, and a light fist-nudge. Despite his outward facade, Ernie's words were still playing on repeat in his mind.
"Hah! In your dreams, buddy," Ernie grinned back. Better details now. Unimportant, happier ones, thanks to Marcus. He looked around, realising that the majority of their class was moving out. He hadn't noticed.
"Guess we'll be leaving too, huh. Do you want a fist-bump or manly bro-hug for the road?""
Pssssh," Marcus said with a wave of his hand. "
If you're gonna try and get me to bro out, I'm gonna go the whole way. C'mere, chest bump me, brah!" he said, patting his chest and adding a very 'frat house' style of talking to the end of his request.
"
Nah, I'm kidding. Be safe out there, man." he said, voice back to normal and moving in for the fist-bump.
Ernie completed the bump with his own fist, laughing.
"You too, Marc."They'd be fine. All of them.
---
Siena had remained largely quiet while following after Emma to meet up with the others, her mind turning over thought after thought--none of them particularly pleasant. The prime culprit was the unsettling calm that had settled over the brunette since exiting the vehicle. The Arbiter was aware that she should have felt more concern. More
fear for what they were marching into, but...nothing more than some faint echo of what she wanted to feel had come when she beckoned. It was concerning, and it was getting harder to conceal as tensions mounted higher than she could pretend to reach.
Perhaps part of her hadn't returned the last time...?
No...nonsense. That wasn't a
permanent thing for her, was it? Still, the girl couldn't put aside the nagging sensation that something was wrong. Her pace slowed...maybe she should have said something to the others while they were still there. Mentioned that she probably
wouldn't be in any shape to partake in whatever celebrations or grief they would end up facing after the fact, but it was too difficult to even imagine. How would she even start with words like that? And would Marcus and Callan even understand? The thought of both her roommates requesting a different suite and leaving her alone was almost unbearable.
Her feet stopped.
"
...Emma?" There were a thousand reasons why Siena knew this wasn't wise. She wasn't even entirely certain she was
comfortable around the older girl, but...there wasn't anyone else she would trust. Nobody else that she assumed wouldn't change their approach. "
Um...do you think I could tell you something before we get to the others...?"
Emma was distracted. If not for her own trepidation at the battle ahead she mightโve given Siena her usual interrogation, but now hardly seemed the time for a game of twenty questions. That was until Siena spoke up first. Emma raised an eyebrow at the girl, stopping alongside her.
โHmmmm? Yeah, of course. Whatโs on your mind?โDeep breaths. She'd never told anyone about it, not directly, at least. Even Maya and Gerwulf had to find out after the fact.
Deep breaths.
"
I...er..." Siena felt hesitation grip her and dig its claws deep, trying to anchor her into her usual defenses. Don't tell anyone. Her problems, her problems,
her problems. But they wouldn't just be hers forever, would they? Another careful, shaky breath. "
After this fight, I um..." And here was the difficult part. How far did she dare go? No...only the surface, but how would she explain it? "
...the names I'm thinking of using are going to take parts of me away. I...I think that's the easiest way to explain it." Instinctively, the girl reached for the stray locks of hair on her left, pulling at them until they snapped. "
I think it...it might be easier if I'm not around you guys on the ride back."
Emma frowned.
โListen, Sienaโฆ Iโmโฆ Iโm not going to tell you not to do what youโre considering. What youโre sayingโฆ it doesnโt sound pleasant, but itโs going to be dangerous out there, and itโs your choice to decide how much of you power you want to useโฆโ Emma sighed.
โJust be careful. Cal and Marcus care about you. I care about you. Iโm not sure what exactly you mean when you say they โtake parts of you awayโ butโฆ if thatโs going to happen, make sure you come back, alright?โ"
I know." She resisted the urge to admit that it didn't matter
what names she took. That she'd rather take names that took away than ones that gave. Instead, she gave a weak smile. "
It's usually not permanent, I just..." Hesitation. Another breath, in and out. "
If I'm being honest, I don't think I can borrow any names that won't leave some sort of mark this time. Not if we want to stay safe." Her volume had tapered off by the end, but Siena caught herself quickly. Held her tongue on the fact that she was struggling to feel fear and guilt. "
I just don't want to say or do anything I'll regret on the way back. I don't mean to put you on the spot, I just...I thought if it came down to it, you could cover for me."
'Because you know she can?' Quiet. "
I-I mean, since you'll have the excuse of being there."
Emma nodded,
โYeah, Siena, Iโll cover for you, justโฆโ Emma gave a slight laugh.
โSorry, I already told you to stay safe. I donโt want to sound like a broken record, but donโt do anything crazy.โAnother sigh. More hesitation.
โThe truth is, Iโve been lying about my power too.โ Emma shifted uncomfortably,
โThereโs a reason why I chose to call them by the names I didโฆ my power has another limit that I havenโt told anyone about. Love, Happiness, Devotion, Determination, Charityโฆ each one is tied to a different emotion, and I can only use them if Iโm feeling it.โ Emma bit her lip. If Siena was going to tell her this, it was only fair that Emma told the truth too, right
Something akin to surprise bloomed like a firework in the back of Siena's head. Was that it, then? Something uncomfortable nagged in Siena's chest. That kind of overt display, even if it was necessary for survival, would have driven her mad. Would have shown that she had even less control than she presented to the others. That the bright-eyed bumbling was only a costume at best, a complete farce at her worst. If her own abilities had a similar limit, a similar tell...Siena tried not to think about it. And yet...
"
I understand why you wouldn't want anyone to know. I wouldn't be comfortable with my emotions out for everyone else to see either." Siena said, some semblance of a reassuring smile creeping over the usual mask. "
Your secret is safe with me."
โRight.โ that was only one of numerous reasons, but Emma decided that she was done pursuing this conversation unless Siena pushed for more.
โAnd your secrets safe with me.โ Emmaโs own smile grew over her face.
โWell, unless weโve got other deep-dark secrets to share we better go find our team.โ a forced giggle followed.
Dervish
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