Lasrever

//: Project:EVE : (OPEN)

Alex, Number 32

Picture

#32 - Puppeteer

"People always see what they want to see, right?"

∟ NAME: Alex Peterson

∟ FIELD NAME: Puppeteer

∟ RANK: 32

∟ CLASS: Safe

∟ GENDER: Female

∟ PHYSICAL PROFILE: Appearing to be somewhere in her late teens, Alex is fairly good-looking, but not physically intimidating in the slightest. Her light golden-brown hair usually hangs loose, although she'll tend to tie it up whenever she actually has to go out and do anything active. As for her clothes, she almost never bothers to dress up, preferring to stick with her collection of t-shirts which seems to contain at least one for every colour and design you could think of.

Usually maintaining a fairly contented expression or looking caught in a daydream, she very much gives the impression that she's off in her own world - an impression which is at least partly deliberate. She also carries around a notebook and pen constantly, although she firmly refuses to show what she writes to anyone.

∟ PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE: Alex can often come off as though she has no idea what's going on, usually having her nose in a book - or, more often, a comic - and saying nothing. Logically, most people seem to assume that she's shy, nervous, antisocial, or maybe just a little clueless. In reality, the girl is almost always listening, self-confident to the point of arrogance, and mentally sharp as can be - cunning and inventive when it comes to making the most of her abilities.

That being said, her silence isn't down to any deep personal reason any more than it's down to clueless stupidity. The truth is, the girl is just completely mute. Luckily, her abilities still leave her room to communicate - auditory hallucinations being as good as speaking where she's concerned - but it suits her more to have people think they don't need to pay attention to her presence.

∟ ABILITIES: Creation of vivid sensory hallucinations. All the senses - touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste - can potentially be manipulated by Alex's illusions, causing a person to believe things that are not real. Whether it's causing pain, absolutely terrifying someone, or just ruining their lunch if she feels petty, Alex can make someone see or feel almost whatever she chooses.

∟ WEAKNESSES:

• Alex's abilities are completely unable to do any physical harm to any person or creature, even if they can create the illusion of such. There's a limit to the size of any illusion she can create, too - she can't change everything that somebody's seeing.
• The more people she's trying to convince with a hallucination, the less detailed it can be and the more focus it takes - if she's affecting more than two people's sight or touch at once, or trying to create a particularly detailed illusion, she can't move or defend herself without breaking the effect.
• Different types of hallucination are harder to maintain. Sound, taste, and smell take very little effort, but anything that affects people's sense of sight or touch is much more difficult for Alex. If she's badly hurt or panicking, she's unlikely to be able to do much at all.
• While her abilities allow her to communicate when she's face-to-face with people, being unable to speak means she can't really communicate with radio or phones, so it's difficult for her to get a hold of people if they need to know something urgently.

First Impressions of a Normal Girl

'Siblings' or not... I don't think I know them at all.

#1 - ALPHA: The people are afraid of her, I think. It's probably a power thing, if she's really as strong as the rumours say. To tell the truth, I wouldn't know much about this one - I don't think I've ever had anything much to do with her, and if I did... well, some people get freaked out when I 'talk' to them at first. I'm not sure I'd want to freak her out, because I like being alive. For now, I guess I'm not sure what to think.

#2 - CENTIPEDE: I think she tries to look after the rest of us, normally, make sure we're all okay. Considering how messed up this place can be, not to mention some of the people we're stuck with, I appreciate it. That being said, she can be as nice as she likes, but when we're in a fight it's like she's a completely different person. But I try not to hold it against her. It's nice knowing at least one of the single digits is trying to look out for people.

#3 - VECTOR: She makes me look like an idiot. All of us, really. Yes, I know she can't help being smarter than everyone else, but it's still really irritating. I've had enough experience being treated like I'm stupid or don't understand things thanks to my whole speaking issue, so... having someone who's actually right when they think like that kinda strikes a nerve. I don't speak to her. I think someone like that wouldn't like me messing with her mind.

#4 - ADAM: I'm not sure what to think of him. I mean, he's a little selfish, but I don't think it's bad enough to be really annoying. I don't have much reason to dislike him, but he's creepy. You know, the giggling and the fact that he seems way too interested in those hydra things... he could be really nice, but it's hard for me to just ignore. That, and I wish he'd accept that not everyone cares about fashion. He's a little obsessive about it.

#5 - MONSTER: What he's like isn't really his fault, so I shouldn't judge him for it. I shouldn't, but I do - it's hard to ever be comfortable when I think he could fly into a frenzy any second. It's odd, to see someone so terrifyingly powerful and only be able to pity him. It hurts to hear him try and talk, sometimes, because... well, I know what it's like when you just can't get there. It makes me feel sick that they made him like that.

#6 - PSYKER: She's pretty angry, isn't she? Understandable, considering we're all locked away and everything, never mind the collars that a lot of us have to wear, but she's not achieving much by being so open about it. Pretending to go along with everything gives you a lot more freedom when you really have a chance to do something. Easier said than done for a single digit, but if you're going to rebel you should wait until it's smart.

#7 - REAPER: Like a lot of us, he could probably stand to be nicer. I think he cares at least a little, though, but he doesn't really know how to show it. At least he doesn't do the whole 'pointless rebellion' thing a lot of us have going on, but he doesn't seem to have a very good handle on how to deal with his feelings, and goes quiet a lot. Still, I think I'd like to have him on my side, because if you give him a job to do you can depend on him to do it.

#9 - ZOMBIE: He's really annoying. And kind of an idiot. Sure, he can be pretty fun when we're not in a fight or doing something important, but I think he's gonna get himself killed by being so cocky. Whether or not you think the people in charge have our best interests at heart, if they're telling him he can die then I don't think they're lying. I hope I don't ever have to rely on him.

#10 - GESTALT: I don't know what's wrong with him, and I don't want to find out. He scares me, because he's stronger than me. If he decided to do that... thing, whatever he does to others, I don't think I could do much about it. That's scary. I don't like it. At least he's more interested in the single digits - I don't think he cares as much about the rest of us. But that doesn't make me feel much safer.

#16 - WEAVER: At least she's friendly, although I worry that she might knock me over by accident with that whole 'massive robot body' thing she's got going on. Once you get past that, she's nowhere near as intimidating as you'd expect her to be, but I don't know where she gets all that energy from. Like, there's motivation, and then there's whatever she's got when it comes to her machine stuff - I admire her, but I get tired just thinking about how much work she does.

#17 - RIGOR: Can 'ego' be a superpower? Because if it could, then I'd say that was his. Not that he's the only one around here with a big head, but it doesn't get any less dumb the more people have the problem. Other than that, I don't really know much about the guy. He doesn't seem to be as full of himself when we're not fighting. Very controlled, very level-headed. Weirdly, I think I find that stranger than dealing with some of the more erratic ones.

#18 - ECHIDNA: She really bought into the whole 'family' thing, didn't she? Um, it's... well, it's meant nicely, anyway. Also a little creepy, but so long as it's not threatening towards me I could care less. I think she expects us to stick out our necks for everyone else, though, and there are people here that I wouldn't risk my life for. Specifically the ones that I think would murder me if I looked at them wrong. Not that I'm stupid enough to tell her that, obviously.

#22 - BLINK: Oh, hey, a normal person. Normal-ish, anyway, which is about all I can ask for around here. He's a lot more upfront about things than I am, and I kind of admire that he's brave enough to talk back to the higher numbers, but overall he's much less strange than I've come to expect from everyone. Sure, he's a little full of himself, and sometimes he'd benefit from keeping his mouth shut, but I like having him around. Stops me from thinking I'm completely surrounded by mad people.

#32 - PUPPETEER: Not spilling my secrets that easily.

#66 - EVE: The kid? Yeah, I know we're all near enough the same age, but whatever. I've heard of her, but never had anything to do with her. If you pushed, I'd say I'm curious about what she's doing here, and why they keep her so separate, but not curious enough to go asking too many questions on my own. Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong is an easy way to get it chopped off.

#74 - GHOST: I don't mind her pranks most of the time, but they can get pretty difficult to deal with if I'm not in the mood for it. I'm pretty difficult to actually make angry, though, so she's not too bad to deal with. She's a lot more relaxed than most people around here - even more relaxed than me, if I had to make a guess. At least what she does doesn't come off as malicious, but I worry that she'll annoy one of our more dangerous siblings one of these days. They don't strike me as the most understanding.

#114 - PINPOINT: She likes this place a little too much, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I have no plans on starting a revolution any time soon, but we're still prisoners, really. She could stand to care a little less for the staff, and a little more for the people who are meant to be watching her back in the field. Or at least not acting like they might have to be put down any second. It's kind of unfair to most of them, although there are a couple that totally deserve the paranoia.

#128 - CIPHER: I don't like him. My abilities are my voice, and he takes that away - I don't like it. It makes me feel worse than useless, like I'm defective somehow. Besides, he seems like he's a shell of a person anyway, and it's not right. Nothing about him is right. He could be perfectly nice for all I know, but so long as he can do that to me I just don't care. I don't want to be around him at all.

//: Project:EVE

Thought this looked interesting, so I threw together a sheet for you!

I'm assuming not everyone has to be single-digit, so I hope that's right.

Alex

"People always see what they want to see, right?"

∟ NAME: Alex Peterson

∟ FIELD NAME: Puppeteer

∟ RANK: 32

∟ CLASS: Safe

∟ GENDER: Female

∟ PHYSICAL PROFILE: Appearing to be somewhere in her late teens, Alex is fairly good-looking, but not physically intimidating in the slightest. Her light golden-brown hair usually hangs loose, although she'll tend to tie it up whenever she actually has to go out and do anything active. As for her clothes, she almost never bothers to dress up, preferring to stick with her collection of t-shirts which seems to contain at least one for every colour and design you could think of.

Usually maintaining a fairly contented expression or looking caught in a daydream, she very much gives the impression that she's off in her own world - an impression which is at least partly deliberate. She also carries around a notebook and pen constantly, although she firmly refuses to show what she writes to anyone.

∟ PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE: Alex can often come off as though she has no idea what's going on, usually having her nose in a book - or, more often, a comic - and saying nothing. Logically, most people seem to assume that she's shy, nervous, antisocial, or maybe just a little clueless. In reality, the girl is almost always listening, self-confident to the point of arrogance, and mentally sharp as can be - cunning and inventive when it comes to making the most of her abilities.

That being said, her silence isn't down to any deep personal reason any more than it's down to clueless stupidity. The truth is, the girl is just completely mute. Luckily, her abilities still leave her room to communicate - auditory hallucinations being as good as speaking where she's concerned - but it suits her more to have people think they don't need to pay attention to her presence.

∟ ABILITIES: Creation of vivid sensory hallucinations. All the senses - touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste - can potentially be manipulated by Alex's illusions, causing a person to believe things that are not real. Whether it's causing pain, absolutely terrifying someone, or just ruining their lunch if she feels petty, Alex can make someone see or feel almost whatever she chooses.

∟ WEAKNESSES: Alex's abilities are completely unable to do any physical harm to any person or creature, even if they can create the illusion of such. There's a limit to the size of any illusion she can create, too - she can't change everything that somebody's seeing.

The more people she's trying to convince with a hallucination, the less detailed it can be and the more focus it takes - if she's affecting more than two people's sight or touch at once, or trying to create a particularly detailed illusion, she can't move or defend herself without breaking the effect.

Different types of hallucination are harder to maintain. Sound, taste, and smell take very little effort, but anything that affects people's sense of sight or touch is much more difficult for Alex. If she's badly hurt or panicking, she's unlikely to be able to do much at all.

While her abilities allow her to communicate when she's face-to-face with people, being unable to speak means she can't really communicate with radio or phones, so it's difficult for her to get a hold of people if they need to know something urgently.

Anything you'd want to change, just let me know :D

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

What's up, Doc?

Zoe | Lawrence | Lizzy

---

𝕄𝕠𝕟: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥 𝟚𝟠, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟘𝟘

---

After leaving the cafe, Zoe had decided to wander the town alone for a while - there was somewhere she wanted to go for herself. The tavern had caught her eye when they'd been wandering around, but for whatever reason she hadn't felt like going in there at the time. Possibly because, all things considered, Zoe didn't want to drag anyone else into a fight. If she was being honest, the prospect of pissing someone off was half the reason she decided to go in, especially knowing this town weren't exactly keen on X's right now. It would be easy to get on somebody's nerves.

So she'd walked in with the arrogant, self-confident smile of someone that knew you didn't like them, and didn't really give a damn. Screw it, it wasn't like she went many places where people didn't give her a second glance, and this was no different. Entering the bar, she seated herself at one of the tables, leaning back in her chair and putting her feet up on it in a gesture that was at best blatantly distrespectful. Probably not the best way to get anyone wanting to serve her, but hey - not like she was here for the drinks.

Whoever hosted the tavern definitely had a taste for the nautical, with salvaged paintings and photos of ships and yachts hanging on the walls while a broken--and very poorly made--replica of an old-fashioned ship's wheel rested on a corner of the bar top. Most of the bar spigots were collecting dust from disuse and the one working tap served the kind of swill better used for washing hands than drinking. A heavyset woman with thick brown curls and dark skin eyed Zoe's neck as the girl approached, the white mark on her cheekbone practically shining against its olive backdrop.

"We don't serve your sort here. You lot either go crazy before or after the alcohol, but it's the same difference."

"And here I thought this was a free country." Perhaps ironic, coming from an imprisoned subnatural, but it wasn't like she was gonna concede the point. In fact, she just closed her eyes as though the woman wasn't worth wasting her time on. "Aren't we subs all in it together? I think it's better to give folks the benefit of the doubt. Even the ones who spend their time in shitty backwater towns running even shittier bars."

The expression on her face was taunting, her eyes opening to watch the woman's expression. Because the way Zoe saw it, what the hell was this lady gonna do about it? "But sure, don't serve me if it makes you feel better. I'm just resting my legs for a while."

"Your sort never have anything new. Bravado sometimes. Anger the next. And some days someone has to die to make you feel better." The woman's voice was bitter and she stepped away from the counter as she spoke. "This creaking shack isn't worth dying over, if you're here to start a fight." She turned towards the back entrance, walking towards the back of the bar swiftly. "You want to break it down? Suit yourself."

Zoe watched, a self-satisfied smile on her face as the woman exited through the back door. Real brave 'til she actually had to do something, huh? Although she was slightly disappointed the barmaid had backed down, Zoe was happy enough to sit back and relax for now.

“Room for two?”

Zoe had been the first of his teammates that Lawrence had caught sight of since leaving his room, and he had to admit there were worse options that he could have run into. Thankfully, instead of taking a turn where he might lose sight of her, she instead dipped into a... tavern? It seemed oddly appropriate, from what little he knew about her.

After catching the tail end of a short spat and letting Lizzy wander off to do her own thing, he took a seat next to the aberration, barely even acknowledging the retreating woman. He wasn't exactly here to be served anyway. While he hadn't quite caught on to the town's disdain to the easily pissed off x-mark students, he wasn't eactly surprised to see that Zoe had already started picking fights with the locals. It was a problem, but not exactly one he was looking to solve at the moment.

He just wanted to talk to somebody.

“Feels like it's been ten years since the last time we got to sit down together.”

"Lawrence?" Zoe's eyes widened as he sat down next to her. She'd known he was alive, despite everything, but... she couldn't help being surprised to see the guy around. If nothing else, she was glad to see him looking okay. Lizzy too, she supposed, although it made sense to see the two of them together.

"It has been a while. She smiled, but couldn't quite keep the concern out of her tone. "You been doing okay?"

That concern, admittedly, had caught him off guard. If she'd been so concerned why hadn't she tried to visit him in the week following his brush with death? Almost reflexively he tried to dismiss any worries she might have, but... He was trying to change, wasn't he? He couldn't really expect them to trust and accept him if he kept distancing himself as much as possible.

“I admit, I've been better. It's been a pretty stressful month, hasn't it?”

Idly, he slipped a hand between the buttons on his shirt, where the hole that almost killed him once was.

“Still, alive, which is something. Hard to complain when that's the case. How about you? Been holding up okay since the library?”

With a slightly bitter chuckle he closed his eyes and added;

“Guess that's a bit of a silly question with all that's happened since.”

"Wish I say so. I'm not as bad as I was, though. After Wisford, I--" Zoe glanced towards where his hand was, frowning. It wouldn't be fair to admit she wasn't okay, right? Not if she was already getting better on her own, without anyone's help. When she was trying to be reliable, to seem strong in the face of danger, be the one to help when others were weak. Lawrence was his own person, not just a dumping ground for her problems.

But then, hadn't that annoyed him before? Saying that it wasn't fair to burden him with her issues? He'd told her not to do what she was doing right now - so maybe it was a point of pride rather than selflessness. Maybe she just needed to think things through first, talk about something that wasn't death and destruction.

"I finished that book. The anger management one." A clumsy lie. Zoe laughed, but it was slightly hollow as she looked in the direction the barmaid had fled. "I'm not sure how much it helped, but at least you got me reading."

At the sound of Wisford Lawrence flinched in what seemed to have become a reflex, much to his annoyance- the arbiter didn't like the idea of being able to be read after so much time perfecting his calm. However, Zoe thankfully dodged the subject as quickly as she had brought it up, and he couldn't help but palm his face with his free hand in response to her change of subject.

“The book wasn't about anger management Zoe, it was about...”

What? Being good? Being content with your life? Finding peace? Eliminating bad experiences?

“I guess it doesn't really matter if it didn't help. What's your next target going to be for this newfound hobby I've forced on you?”

"Eh, same difference, right? Whatever it was about." Zoe shrugged, raising an eyebrow at the idea of it being classed as a new hobby. "I don't think I'm ever gonna be much of a bookworm, so don't get your hopes up on that front, but if you've got any recommendations, then shoot. Nothing too wordy, though."

“I think you should probably stick to your strengths then Zoe, like...”

Slowly he removed his hand from his face, drumming his fingers on the table in thought.

“Like...”

He was drawing a serious blank on this one. Was it because...?

“Like...”

Then finally he threw back his head and laughed, far more genuinely than a few moments ago.

“Wow, come to think of it I don't really know anything about you Zoe. Guess we haven't really had many chances for smalltalk this past month.”

"Hobbies? Never really had much spare time for them, other than training. But I'm guessing you mean stuff other than working out and punching people." Zoe frowned, trying to think things through. The two things she'd mentioned were kind of her main hobbies, but...

"I sew sometimes, I guess. It's practical." Did that count as a talent? For whatever reason, it felt strange to talk about. Zoe didn't tend to mention it to other people for whatever reason - maybe just because sewing wasn't exactly something that fit the whole tough-girl image. "And relaxing, once you get into it."

“Sewing?”

Now Lawrence was interested in the conversation for perhaps the first time. He certainly hadn't been expecting this revelation, although his voice betrayed no doubts about what Zoe had just told him. After all, she seemed much more liable to lie about not being able to sew rather than being able to.

“How good are you at it? I can only really do field stuff- you know, the medical kind- but it'd be a hell of a helpful thing to be able to get my clothes patched up. They tend to go to rags pretty quick with... Well, our line of work, and it's a pain in the ass to have to buy new ones so often. I tend to get attached to what I own.”

With a quick frown, he added;

“I don't mean I want to shove all my maintenance on you- what I mean is could you teach me sometime? I'm sure the concept is similar to what I know so I shouldn't be too terrible of a student.”

"Pretty good. Sucked at first, like most things, but I've mended a fair amount of clothes in my time. They hold up pretty well now. Always wanted to try and make my own, but fabric's expensive. I'm not sure I'm the greatest teacher, but if you can deal with me being snappy..." It did make more sense than just having to patch things up for him, anyway.

"Sure, why not? Don't think it should be that hard to teach if you already know something." Zoe looked at him, shrugging. "I'm happy to patch things up for you in the meantime, but try not to get everyone coming my way. There wouldn't be enough hours in the day to get it all done."

She was sure Lawrence would have figured that one out without her say-so, but it still seemed worth mentioning.

He cocked his head in response to that last bit before shrugging.

“I don't really spread other peoples' business without their permission, so no worries there.”

Before adding with a bit of a smile;

“But thanks, I appreciate it. There's not really been anybody to ask before- at least that wasn't worse at it than I am. I mean, I'm sure they're around, but I'm not exactly the most social person on the planet. Kind of a random thing to ask a stranger, you know?”

"Yeah, I can imagine. Everyone's probably got a bunch of skills we don't know about around here. If you're gonna deal with my bullshit, least I can do is sew up a few shirts, right?" Zoe laughed lightly, "Seriously, it's not been easy to deal with while you were holed up in your room."

That was an understatement. It almost felt like she was lying by not telling him what had happened since he went, but how was she supposed to begin there? There wasn't really any easy way to drop any of it into a conversation, even the parts she wasn't ashamed of. Her fists clenched briefly, worry crossing her face before she relaxed.

"No point being teammates if we can't at least help each other out, right? Not like the rest of the world's gonna bother." She grinned despite the slightly bitter-sounding remark. That part didn't bother her - she had no intention of helping the rest of the world either. Feeling was mutual.

“You could have always knocked you know. I... wouldn't have minded the visitor.”

It came out slightly more bitter than he intended, but not more than he felt. Still, it was ultimately his own fault for locking himself away, he couldn't expect anyone to be a mind reader- or at least most people when it came to USARILN East.

“But yeah, we're a team. Doesn't feel like we act like it all the time though- and I'm not sure if that's going to be good enough going forward. Since Wisford-” Another wince. “Well, let's say death seems even closer than it did before, and we can't help each other at all if we're not alive. I'm just not sure what to do in order to solidify us.”

"You're not wrong; we don't." Zoe felt like she spent half of her time covering for other people's mistakes, and the other half going too far and hurting them herself. "It's gonna come apart one way or another unless something changes. Hell, I'm... trying to be better, but I've still screwed up. When those rogues attacked--"

She paused, unsure whether she should talk about the events, before continuing. "I took off Callan's arm. Because time was running out, and no-one else was doing anything. I had to finish it myself, and it was the only way I could see to do that, because they weren't doing shit." Because she thought he was going to die, and she didn't want to watch that happen.

"And then in D.C. they go and kill who knows how many regulars, when they're just supposed to be evacuating. Every fight, something goes wrong, because they can't prioritise shit." Zoe looked tired, incredibly so. For what it was worth, she knew how to fight, knew she could protect them, but they made it really damn difficult to do it. No matter how strong her resolve, it wouldn't change the fact that they didn't belong on a battlefield like she did. "I don't trust them to keep each other alive. And that scares me."

Lawrence didn't really speak for some time after Zoe finished, instead slipping his hand into his shirt once more and staring at his fingers drumming aimlessly on the surface in front of him. So, how was he supposed to respond to all of that? Again, a week or two ago and he would have just brushed it off or tried to reassure her, but that felt... wrong somehow now. It was really too massive of a problem to just brush aside with some words, and it actually needed to be discussed if a solution was going to be found. Besides, he was just like her if not moreso; A battlefield is a place he was familiar with, these others...

In the end, honesty won out as the best policy.

“Well, it scares me too. Partly because my own life depends on it, partly because their lives do- and honestly I don't want any more civilians to be killed, especially not by us. I don't want someone to lose a person they love- I've been there. If we cause that to someone whose innocent it's pretty much unforgivable.”

Finally he looked over to her once more before continuing.

“But we can't exactly choose to keep them out of the next fight that happens, so we need to come up with something together- seems like we've managed to come up with fuck all of a solution on our own, you know?”

Unforgivable? Not in her eyes. "There's only so many civilian deaths they can cover up." It was callous that Zoe didn't really share Lawrence's concern for the regulars - all she cared about was how that action could affect their group. Either way, though, she didn't want them dying unnecessarily. What did the reasons matter, when the end results they wanted were the same? She sighed. "Everyone needs to know where they should be, what the priorities are."

It wasn't the same as having a representative, was it? "I'd say we need a leader, someone to make sure everyone knows all that, but--" She shrugged. "No-one here's leader material, really. And even if someone starts trying to take charge, they still need everyone else to listen. It's a bust." People needed to trust that they knew what they were doing, to respect them enough not to completely screw it up.

She shrugged, frowning. "And that's just thinking about when we're in combat, never mind outside it."

“That's the thing, it's easy to give orders, it's a lot more difficult to have someone listen to them. Sometimes this feels like babysitting- and I'm not particularly fond of children.”

It essentially was babysitting of course. Hadn't Rosa mentioned something to that effect a couple days ago? He still hadn't looked at his phone since tossing it away. A bit more immature than he was used to being, but then again he was trying to be different, wasn't he?

Life could be a pain in the ass sometimes whether it was outside of battle or not.

“I bet you could probably intimidate at least half of them into listening to you. I know I wouldn't want to be the one to tell you no halfway through getting our asses blown off.”

The last bit was added with a confident smirk that practically challenged her test it. It'd been awhile since he'd had the chance to actually dig at an aberration without worrying they'd immediately try to bite his head off- some in very literal fashion.

"You're not dumb. Well," she grinned, "not that dumb, anyway. But no," The possibility of her as a leader hadn't even crossed Zoe's mind. "Having me as the leader is a no-go. Might work in the field, but combat's about the only place where I know what I'm doing."

And there was the matter of public image to think about. Anything that could get more aggression directed towards their little group wasn't a good thing, and even though she hadn't taken part in any mass murders - for all the public knew, she was a rabid dog that needed chained up. Considering that the rest of them had been heralded as heroes in comparison... it was a terrible idea.

More selfishly, she couldn't in good conscience destroy herself if there were people actually relying on her.

"Fact is, I'm screwing up more often than not." Zoe sighed. It was worrying, almost, that there were people coming to see her as dependable, because she was so far from it. "Plus, in case you've forgotten, I'm unstable. Bad idea all round."

“I'm not exactly disagreeing with you, but I also don't think you're screwing up any more than the rest of us. Give yourself the credit that's due at least.”

With that Lawrence propped his elbow onto the table and rested his head on it, fingers parting his unkempt hair.

“Though you're right in that you don't exactly scream 'PR Success Story' Marcus would, maybe, but you know...”

With that he removed his free hand from his shirt and gave it a wave.

“Blood on his hands too. I need to check in with him sometime about that, see how he's holding up. Really I need to lecture just about everybody here on top of that but it's a pain in the ass when they're either feeling like a 10 or a 0 and rarely in between.”

Zoe nodded. He did. And he wasn't the only one - at least her victims hadn't been relatively harmless regulars.

"There aren't many of us that don't. I think a lot of them are trying to forget about it." Zoe frowned, unsure how she felt about that. On the one hand, maybe it felt better to let yourself forget, but surely you could use it to fuel you, motivate you, make sure it never happened again. "I don't think they should. That's how you repeat mistakes."

Mistakes were dangerous. Mistakes got people killed. You couldn't just forget, and push everything to the side, you had to face your actions. Accepting them, or rejecting them - either seemed better to her than denial. "We're lucky they were able to cover up what happened this time - it happens again, that might not be possible."

“Well if I have to be the one to remind them- sad day for me I guess. Not exactly the kind of job I'm looking forward to- but if they're planning on forgetting it they have another thing coming-”

Lawrence was interrupted by a short buzz from Zoe's phone. Glancing at the text, she frowned. Emma? Yeah, a chat, it looked like... something about a beach party--

Fuck no.

Party was fine. Hanging around the others was... uncomfortable in some cases, but she could probably avoid those people easily enough unless they wanted to pick a fight. The beach part on the other hand? No. No way. Not happening. Beaches meant ocean, ocean meant water, water meant drowning and panic and helplessness and--

She'd zoned out a little, a worried expression on her face.

“- Zoe! We moving out or something? What the hell is wrong?”

At this point Lawrence was standing and trying to get a look at the woman's phone screen, far beyond thinking it was any sort of personal message. Lizzy, for her part, had returned and was sticking her head into the doorway of the tavern, flicking her gaze between both Lawrence and Zoe, hairs raised in aggitation.

"Huh?" Zoe snapped back to reality, looking at Lawrence with a frown. Had she been that caught up in her thoughts? Trying to dismiss the thoughts that had sprung to mind, she spoke a little too hastily and nervously for the seemingly mundane subject matter. "It's nothing, just an invitation to some kinda beach party. Class thing. Don't think I'll bother going."

Forcing a smile, she looked back down at her phone and started to type, deciding it would be easier to just say as much and keep anyone else from bothering her about it.

He frowned in response to that. That's what had gotten her so worked up? It could be possible that he had suddenly become terrible at reading people, but she had looked worried sick. Still did. And her reply wasn't exactly a convincing one.

“And... Why not? Parties in general aren't really my thing, but... Didn't we just say that we need to start coming up with ways to bond closer as a team? This seems like a pretty perfect opportunity for that Zoe.”

Zoe paused in her typing. Okay, he wasn't wrong, but that really didn't balance things out for her in the slightest. "I can go to the next one, can't I? Won't be the last time we all get together." It was a weak justification, she knew that, but part of her hoped it'd be enough.

"You can also go to this one, can't you Zoe? 'Don't think I'll bother going.' Isn't exactly a concrete reason for you to skip it.”

"I just-" Grasping for a better explanation that never came. Damn it, why did she suck so much at lying? Zoe's shoulders slumped slightly, and she looked almost embarrassed as she mumbled, "I'm scared of water."

“Oh.”

Lawrence left it at that for a few moments- partly out of thought, and partly trying not to snicker. For one, it'd be extremely rude after this revelation, and two he wanted to keep from getting a second hole melted into his chest. It shouldn't have really surprised him that even Zoe was afraid of something, but the reveal was not something he'd expected today.

“Is it because you can't swim? How long do we have until this beach thing? I could always try teaching you before it gets here- you're going to teach me to sew after all. Until you get the hang of it I kinda have the ability to take away fear you know.”

"No, I can't swim, but that's not why." Zoe frowned. "Bad memories, that's all, makes me feel helpless. You don't need to pay me back for the sewing lessons anyway, so don't worry about it." She wasn't sure how much being able to swim would help matters, either, so she just looked at Lawrence with a grimace.

"It's on Sunday, if you want to go for yourself."

It wasn't as if Lawrence didn't have his fair share of bad memories, so he decided to drop the swimming angle there. Still, he had no desire to go to this thing either, and they had just agreed that they needed to build up the team as best they could. He was not going to be budging.

“It's a beach Zoe. Like 80% of what people actually use is sand. Nobody would probably even notice if you didn't get into the water- just distract them by beating their heads in during volleyball or something.”

"But it's still... there." Zoe's discomfort was still obvious. Shit, she knew it wasn't rational, but the whole thing unnerved her. Saying that, the prospect of actually relaxing with everyone didn't seem that bad, and with everything they'd discussed... after a long moment's thought, she scowled. "Fine. Only because I want to make this team work one way or another."

There was one other thing which seemed important about this. "But let's be clear, anyone puts me in the water, I'll probably kill them. So just keep an eye out. That happens, or is about to happen, you have my permission to zap me back to calm." Lawrence had told her before he didn't like doing it without permission, so even if Zoe figured he'd have the sense anyway, it seemed better to say so. Hopefully it wouldn't be necessary.

Throwing his hands up like he was the one giving in during this exchange, Lawrence finalized it with a;

“Conditions accepted. Just call out my name dramatically if that starts to happen and I'm not paying attention. Although I kinda suspect you could kick anybody's ass who even tried.”

More seriously, he added;

“So what time is this happening so I can swing by and get you? Not that I don't trust you not to change your mind and skip out- but I totally don't trust you not to change your mind and skip out.”

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Scowling, partly because she would've at least considered doing exactly that, Zoe glanced back down at the screen. "We've to be at the beach at one o'clock on Sunday, then."

At least he agreed to the condition she'd asked for, even if he was being slightly annoying about the whole thing. Plus, the acknowledgement that she could kick most people's asses was a nice boost for the redhead's ego, intentional or not - an easy way to soothe some of the irritation she felt towards this whole scenario.

“Sounds like a plan to me then.”

With that he turned away, noticing Lizzy poking her head in for the first time, although the latter had since relaxed the hairs on her back and fixed Zoe with the same sort of glare she had given the aberration at their first meeting.

“Oh knock it off, I'll feed you in a bit.”

When he finished crossing the room he gave the dog a scratch behind her ears before turning to Zoe a final time.

“See you Sunday then, if not before.”

Zoe laughed lightly at the dog's approach. Supposed she couldn't keep Lizzy waiting, huh? If Lawrence was gonna be around more, she'd have to start carrying snacks again. Not that she was gonna find any around here, considering the state of the place. Raising a hand in goodbye, she nodded. "Sure thing. See you around, I guess."

And despite her irritation, despite the fact that she'd just agreed to spend a day by the ocean of all places, she smiled at the thought that crossed her mind as she watched the arbiter leave the bar. Not that she'd ever admit it to the asshole's face, but...

I'm glad you're okay, Doc.

Shattered Fates - A Dark Fantasy, Boss Battling Epic

Dwyn

It didn't take long for Dwyn to feel she would lose herself in the darkness. She couldn't see much at all, but something kept her moving nonetheless. It was more comforting to pretend there was no danger than to look upon the monsters that they faced; at least if something were to leap from the darkness, she wouldn't see it coming before her death. Better than watching whatever monstrosities awaited her as they tore her limb from limb.

But as the girl continued to walk, the only things that assaulted her were images. Images, and the oppressive, terrifying knowledge that she'd seen this before. That these monsters, or things such as them, were not new. And perhaps most frighteningly, that she'd seen this scenario before. She didn't want to remember, didn't want more evidence of her cowardice than what she had already.

Yet there was little she could do to halt the flood of images that assaulted her.

Easier to run

They were fighting for their lives. There were too many - too many monstrosities to count, and even their elite warriors were being slowly overwhelmed. She didn't know what to do, her spear and shield heavier than she'd ever felt them in her arms. Standing back, she could do little more than watch.

There were so many--

She wasn't on the front-lines, far from a senior fighter. It was her duty to raise the alarm, to signal for reinforcements. Her instincts were sharp enough to spot a gap in the fighting, a way to the watchtower where the horn could be blown. A death sentence once she drew the attention of their foes, but help would ensure their victory, for the life of a single squire.

It was her duty to cast aside her emotions, to act for the renewal of order. For a world of chaos could only be redeemed by the loss of worldly desires, by disregard for the lives of those broken and tainted by the blight. And with the blades of those willing to be nothing more than a weapon, wielded in the name of gods that had abandoned them. To be free of emotion was to be free of fear, of anger, of disgust.

A vow that Dwyn could never fulfil. A duty that she could not complete. An escape that she was all too willing to take.

And this world was not forgiving of deserters.

No, she was better than that, wasn't she? She wouldn't have been so pathetic, so selfish... Why not ask the others what they think, deserter?

Oh, yes, she was a deserter, a coward, a liability by every stretch of the word. How arrogant, to believe she was some sort of hero when she couldn't even face a single creature. How pathetic! Almost entertainingly so, and as if in response to the flood of memories, she felt her weapon becoming heavier, as though it was twisting, laughing at her. It felt real, hauntingly, frighteningly real.

Or perhaps she was just going quite mad. It was entirely possible, and should have scared her more than it did. The voice that came from above took a moment for her to notice, at first dismissed as a figment of her imagination. At least, until it continued to speak, and she looked up to see the small man. He held some sort of lantern, almost as large as he was. Those creatures-- Had they not held lights as well? It put her on edge, and she was silent as she listened to him speak. Was this creature a threat? Whatever he was, his words cut deep.

'A hero wouldn't run'. The statement cut all the deeper because it rang true. But what were the others?

"Heroes, or fools?" Dwyn mused, smiling bitterly. She wasn't sure if she could trust this man, but Dwyn did not want to face this place by herself. These monstrosities, these monsters... the thought of being alone to face them filled her with terror. She didn't want to die. Raising her head, she called out to the owner of the voice. "I have no interest in treasure, and even less in becoming a sacrifice of any kind."

A sigh. "So I see no reason that our goals should conflict. I know little of this place, but my weapon might provide some protection." If she could steel her courage enough to use it as required, that was. Dwyn had kept walking towards the man, hoping that he would not take her approach as any kind of threat. The soul of a god? She wasn't sure what that meant, what that could possibly mean.

But it sounded as though it could perhaps help her. Help all of them. From the man's words, describing them as a 'pack' those may not the only creatures that haunted these halls. Dwyn hoped that the others would hold their own for now, but if they were hopelessly outnumbered her conscience couldn't let her abandon them completely - or was it just the worry that the things might come for her next?

"So, all that being said..." She nodded after a long moment, deciding that any decision would be better than staying here to wait helplessly for her demise. "I believe we may be able to help each other."

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Marks and Monsters

Zoe | Kusari

---

𝕄𝕠𝕟: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟙, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟚𝟚𝟘𝟘

---

_{Collab with...@Lasrever @Piercing Light}

It was getting dark out by the time an exhausted Zoe made her way back to the mansion. The cuts on her knuckles had started to scab over, so after showering, drying, and a trip to the infirmary that had resulted in the bandages now wrapped around her hands, she decided she may as well explore the mansion itself. The luxury wasn't quite as jarring after their hotel in DC, but it still made her uncomfortable to see butlers and maids walking around as she made her way through the place. She didn't plan on asking them to do anything for her, anyway.

Luckily enough, it didn't take too long for her to stumble across the door to the cellar, which seemed far more interesting. And less likely to be haunted by servants, anyway. While she wasn't in the mood for a drink - she'd have gone somewhere else if she was - it wasn't like there'd be much harm in taking a look. Besides, she reasoned as the door closed behind her, she could at least take a bottle up to her room for convenience. Tired as she was, she barely even noticed that there was anyone else there, much less that the person who was there probably wouldn't be pleased to see her.

Oblivious to her classmate's presence, Zoe began to look over the selection of bottles with a yawn.

"Zoe? Yeah, that's you." Kusari grumbled from her place in the corner of the room. She wanted to be somewhere quiet, her nerves had been acting as if they were hooked to a car battery. The annoying part was she didn't know why. She stood up, picking up a juicebox she'd taken from the kitchen. Was she about to say something to Zoe? She supposed she was, they weren't going back to the school any time soon anyway. Kusari didn't feel like thinking before she spoke however.

"There's a lot I wanted to say to you, but I'm guessing you've heard enough from everyone else, haven't you?" She said, calmly drinking from the juicebox. Her eyes drifted towards the stacks of assorted wine. "I've never liked beating a dead horse."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Zoe couldn't help but start slightly in surprise at the sound of Kusari's voice, turning quickly to look at her supposedly immortal classmate. Her memory of the last time they'd spoken was a little blurry, but she was fairly certain that Kusari wasn't about to offer to start her fan-club. Or at the very least, she was still hung up on Wisford. It didn't look like Zoe wanted to have this discussion, but at least she wasn't as outright aggressive as she'd been at the girls' night.

"Talk if you want," Zoe had turned away from Kusari, picking out a bottle with an irritated sigh. "But try and get to your point some time today, raptor girl. I'm tired." Even if she knew that antagonising the arbiter probably wasn't the smartest move right now, Zoe didn't have the energy to be polite about it. The only reason she hadn't ignored Kusari entirely was because she respected the other girl's willingness to stand up to her.

Kusari sipped from her juice box again and looked down at her monstrous limbs. She was clanging her metal fingertips again. She wondered if she should try and cut them off. She'd only been able to restore a limb back to normal by keeping it and reattaching it, she hoped she hadn't lost her right leg and arm forever. She tossed the now empty juice box into a trashcan and let out a sigh.

"Again with that... At this point I'm more annoyed by your lack of proper anatomical knowledge." She was quiet for a short moment as she looked at the bottle in Zoe's hands. At this rate nearly all of them were going to develop a drinking problem.

"My point fire crotch, is that I'm not here to berate you for what you did to Callan, not anymore anyway. None of us have legitimate experience in combat, because of that stupid choices and mistakes are going to happen. Regardless, we can't..." Kusari let out a frustrated groan and ruffled her hair. "We need to get better, work together. Compared to the things we'll be facing holding a grudge for what you did feels like it would be petty. So, I'm going to overlook the fact that you mutilated the girl I've been going after, as long as it doesn't happen again. If we start fighting each other our life spans are going to plummet.

It took Zoe a moment to register everything that Kusari had said. Mostly because she definitely did not appreciate that nickname. "Okay, if you want to get along with me can we leave my crotch out of the discussion? Besides, how do you even--" Zoe paused, realising that Kusari probably didn't know anything about her crotch. With an uncomfortable cough, Zoe continued.

"Anyway." She placed the bottle back in the shelf after a brief glance over the label - she didn't really feel like getting drunk, and had mostly been trying to ignore Kusari. "Much as I'd like to promise nothing like it'll happen again, I don't really trust myself to keep to that one. So if I'm gonna be honest with you, I can say I'll try, but that's all you're getting. Doesn't matter what you feel about Callan or anybody else."

Perhaps this would have been easier with a little white lie. A bandaged hand gestured towards Kusari, Zoe's voice taking on a note that was almost taunting. Challenging, even. "Besides, what're you worried about? Thought you were meant to be immortal or something."

Suddenly Kusari was reminded why she was always so harsh towards people. She tried to be nice and she's mocked, taunted for it? And on top of that it seemed as if Zoe had no intention of promising to never attack her allies again. Kusari looked at Zoe's bandaged arm with a nonchalant expression. She wondered if Zoe could actually kill her. Oddly enough she wasn't frightened by the thought. Perhaps odd was the wrong word, it was disturbing actually.

"What are you doing?" Kusari asked her as if she'd just walked in on someone doing a strange interpretive dance in a clown outfit. "Is this how you treat someone trying to bury the hatchet? You pick it up and lodge it in their back?"

"Oh for fuck's--" Zoe sighed, irritation sparking but trying to keep her emotions under control. No, it was fine, it was fair for Kusari to be annoyed, it-- Wouldn't even matter if this one got hurt, would it? Zoe gritted her teeth. "I'm not trying to stab you in the back, Kusari. I just can't make that promise, like it or not. Would you rather I just lied to your face instead?"

"Oh don't get me wrong." Kusari said, looking Zoe in the eyes. "I much prefer the truth, no matter what." Her tone had turned deathly serious, as opposed to the calm passive one she had been using. "The thing is, just because you're telling the truth, that doesn't make the words coming out of your mouth any better. Honesty isn't much of a virtue when
the things you're saying make you look like an asshole." Kusari shook her head, as if disappointed.

"We're all a bit of a liability in some way, aren't we?" She let out low chuckle. "I saw us online, saw myself. Conveniently the footage with me in it had no sound. I guess threatening regulars isn't exactly PR friendly." Kusari let out another sigh. The massacre that happened when a crowd attacked the evacuation team was also nowhere to be seen online. Zhang must have a pretty good mop to clean up that mess. She thought.

"You don't need to tell me that," said Zoe, recalling her new nickname once more. Nice little permanent reminder that she was a terrible person, that was fun. No matter how many animi she helped to kill, it wasn't exactly going away. "But you know what? You have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not being an asshole, I'm knowing my limits. If it comes down to it, and the easiest way to finish things is for one of you to get hurt..."

She sighed, "I can't promise I won't give in. Especially after that evac shit, I'm not convinced any of you know what you're doing. It's not even the body count that annoys me, it's the fact that none of you can prioritise, and Wisford was the same." This was unfair. It wasn't Kusari's fault that Zoe kept thinking this way. Thinking about Wisford... How was she supposed to explain the smile that she fought to keep from her face?

"At least I achieved something with what I did. If you can't handle a group of regulars properly, then I'll probably have to cover for you guys for quite a while yet." Zoe looked oddly unnerved by the discussion, by thinking about DC. Because she wasn't sure if she was angry that they'd killed those people, or jealous that she didn't get to take part. "Learn how to finish your fights, and I'll stop having to do it for you."

Kusari just looked at Zoe for a few moments, Her eyes hardly blinking. She suddenly broke eye contact and looked off to the side, ruffling her hair. "Priorities... Learn how to finish a fight..." She repeated, then looking back to Zoe. "You're talking about me, right? Zoe, the only thing that stopped me from tearing apart those assholes in Wisford was a few minutes of time and distance. If I hadn't been picked as Lily's body bag I'd... ugh. Next time they should just bring a damn pig.

As for D.C. I want you to picture something. Imagine you're sitting in the back of a semi's container, Sophia and Lily are behind you. Outside are countless people that want you dead. Not captured, not simply beaten. Dead." Kusari's voice began to tremble, she let out a cough and forced it to stabilize.

"Five people opened that container, and there was bloodlust in their eyes. I know it, I've seen it enough times by now. Are you telling me you could have handled that easily Zoe? Five people ready to kill you and two other innocent kids? Don't give me some bullshit about scaring them off. I cracked one's head open after grabbing him with something that looks like it came from the bottom of the sea and they still came.

Her voice was trembling again, but instead of being able to calm it, her voice only raised in volume. "I beat the others until they stopped moving, and even after that they still wanted to kill me. I had to throw their fucking bodies at them like some savage monster just for them to finally go away! I... I... Dammit!" She swung her right hand into an empty barrel, shattering it. She fell to her knees trembling, her eyes watering. She thought she was alright with what she'd done. She'd gone over it again and again and she kept telling herself she should just brush it off. But she couldn't. She'd killed people, human beings. Strangers that she didn't know, people they she was supposed to be protecting. None of this was right.

"We were there to help, why, why, why. Why did they make me do that? That's not the type of person I'm supposed to be, that's not what I saw in my dream. Fuck.. fuck..." Her breathing had become unsteady. She didn't know where this was coming from, she thought she had it all figured out, but like always she was just going forward like a blind bull.

Zoe didn't go down to comfort the girl on the ground, but instead stood and looked down at Kusari with a sigh. Yes, she'd been talking about Kusari. Kusari, and every other one of them that didn't do shit to help. It wasn't as though there'd only been one person she needed to cover for.

"It isn't as though there's no way to knock someone down non-lethally, you know." Because really, with a regular she'd have a chance to take her time. What Zoe would have done would have undoubtedly cemented her as a monster where most of the class were concerned. "But yeah, there's every chance I would have..." Would have enjoyed it. A kind of hunger entered Zoe's expression, bloodlust that was never quite sated.

Must be different to deal with it without a stigma. Better, or worse? Zoe didn't remember well enough to compare. "They don't think of subs as people. We're all the same, no matter what you're trying to do. They were scared, and they couldn't do shit against the ones that fucked up the city. You were the nearest ones to blame." Zoe spoke distractedly, expression still hungry as her mind got caught up in images of exactly what she would have done in that scenario.

Kusari took deep breaths, calming her self. She looked up at Zoe ready to retort. She already knew why that crowd wanted her dead, but that didn't mean it made sense. She opened her mouth to speak but she stopped. That look on her face... She felt a chill that went not only through her spine but down to the tips of her toes. If she had been meeting this girl for the first time she would honestly believe she was about to be attacked. Kusari got to her feet and backed away from her.

"I've been wasting my breath." She said with a hushed realization. She took another step back. She didn't feel as if her life was in danger, but she suddenly didn't want to be anywhere near this girl. "That X on your throat is like a vice-grip, isn't it? You're more a slave to that mark than the cuff on your leg." Kusari didn't know everything about aberrations, but the longer she spent around them the darker her view of them became. She turned around and made her way for the stairs.

Kusari's statement was enough to snap Zoe out of her haze. Unfortunately, it was also enough to piss her off. The implication that she was nothing more than a slave to her mark, that she was something so pathetic when she spent so much time trying to fight it-- when she'd shed her own fucking blood to make sure that didn't happen? That was something she wouldn't just let slide, no matter how right it may have seemed to the others. It was wrong, it was so, so far from the truth. It was everything she'd been fighting not to be.

She turned to watch the arbiter's exit with quiet fury, fists clenched by her side. Screw it, if that was how Kusari wanted things then it was fine by her. "If I was a slave to my mark, Callan would be dead. Ernie would be dead. Allison, Gregory? I'd have killed both of them in DC. And you? If anyone here could kill you, it's me."

Zoe knew she should have stopped, should have let it go and moved on, apologised. But she didn't. Instead, she smiled, finally taking a step towards Kusari. "You know the best part? I'd look back on it and laugh." A bitter chuckle. "Trust me, you really don't know what you're talking about." Because no matter how much of a monster Zoe was right now, she knew she could be so much worse.

Kusari stopped in her tracks. For a split second she contemplated leaving now or saying something. It really only took half a second, she was too easily pushed.

"Do you want to be congratulated on holding back from murdering everyone? That you're just so good at killing things, even if your allies get hurt in the process? You know..." Kusari turned to face Zoe. "I've always wondered what type of person would choose the nightmare. I figured they may have made a mistake, or that it just looked different from mine, perhaps deceptive. Maybe that's true for some, but you... I don't know about you." Kusari walked back down the stairs and moved close to Zoe, very close. She grabbed her bandaged hand and placed it over her heart.

"Do you really want to kill me? You could do it you know, it's not like anyone would miss me, not really. I'd give it a week before they got over it." Kusari spoke in a quiet but ridged tone, her eyes glaring into Zoe's. "Come on, show me how you really feel. Do what you want to do."

Zoe's eyes widened, her breath catching. What? No, this was wrong, it was twisted, it was sick-- But the thrill that ran through her at the thought was electric. It would be so easy, so simple to tear her apart and break her down into nothing. Would it be suicide? Maybe, though she wasn't sure her stigma would count it as such. A way out, and the fulfilment of everything monstrous that she wanted, served up on a silver platter.

The sheer want was unbearable - Zoe wanted to hurt her more than anything, bloodlust etched on the redhead's face. Part of her couldn't help but wonder why. Why would Kusari make that offer? It didn't matter, because the chance was too good to ignore.

Almost without realising she was doing it, Zoe began to break down the arbiter's flesh, locking blue eyes with red and relishing the agony that she knew would come with it. She wished she could say what she was doing was horrifying, wished she could hate the experience--

Bullshit. She couldn't do anything but love it, and it showed on her face, in the tension of her muscles, the heaviness of her breathing. It was so much better, more real than hurting any slime or monster. Nothing like the empty shells at Ground Zero. None of the urgency of Wisford keeping her from doing what she wanted to. For those few seconds, it seemed that Zoe had lost herself, ready to give in and destroy her classmate completely.

"Please." She could forget everything, lose herself, see how much this girl could take. "Please, just--"

But just as she was about to reach that threshold, the black lines disappeared, the hand against Kusari's heart clenching into a fist as the rot stopped and Zoe's eyes squeezed shut. After a second, they opened and she looked at the rapidly-healing damage, slowly regaining control of her breath. The expression on her face was desperate, hungry, afraid-- torn between too many emotions to count. As Zoe finally spoke again, her voice was quiet. "Don't."

It was pretty obvious of course, but this was a terrible idea from Kusari. Her body felt as if it was being torn apart from the inside by scalding hot razor blades. It perhaps wouldn't have been quite as bad as is was if not for her magic. Her nerves should have died, nullifying some of the pain, but they kept stubbornly reforming. Kusari's body twitched uncontrollably, instead of screaming, she let out pained gasps and wheezed as she couldn't take a breath. Through her fading vision Kusari saw the look on Zoe's face. She really was taking a sick pleasure in what she was doing. She moved the claws on her right hand, she could barely move it, but if this continued for much longer she didn't know if she'd live through it.

But before she had to make that choice Zoe let her go. Kusari stumbled backwards, then falling to her knees. As her body healed it's self she took in deep breaths, waiting for her body to stop having minor spasms. Once the pain was gone she looked up at Zoe. The girl didn't seem to know what face to put on. Kusari let out a dry chuckle.

"So you really are being controlled by that mark." She said, standing to her feet. "But at least you know how to rebel. I guess that counts for something."

I'm trying not to be. The others were better than her. Stronger than her. If it had been anyone other than Kusari in this cellar, they would be dead. Zoe's words were shaky, her arrogance completely torn away for once. No, Kusari wasn't meant to be right, this wasn't how things were meant to go. Part of her wanted to run, part of her wanted to do it again. To keep going until Kusari was dead on the floor, watch every twitch, every gasp, every attempt to fight back.

It wouldn't be the first time, would it?

"I don't know." Zoe sounded frustrated as she looked at the floor, unable to meet the arbiter's eyes. "I don't know how to explain it, I don't know how to fight it, but that doesn't..." Yeah, it couldn't be faced head-on like every other problem in her life, but that wasn't an excuse for her actions. "It's not my stigma that makes my choices. I always know what I'm doing." Her stigma wasn't what made her a monster.

There it is. Kusari let out a sigh and her shoulder's relaxed. The look on Zoe's face was one she was hoping to see. It was a pitiable, remorseful, human face. "Aberrations really did get a bad deal huh? Everyone has that side in them deep down, at least I think so." She looked at the shattered remains of the barrel she'd smashed. "But it usually stays down..." She narrowed her eyes, thinking about the other aberrations she'd seen. They legitimately enjoyed giving in to their stigma, but why? What the hell was it about their marks that made them that way?

"Those marks, they're changing your minds somehow, trying to change you into creatures of base instinct." Kusari began pacing and rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "The things that make us human, our ability to show remorse, to do things contrary to our base desires because we know it's the right thing to do." She wanted to make sense of this in spite of knowing next to nothing. She couldn't understand why they had these marks, but she at least wanted to understand her allies, to stop them from destroying themselves and others.

"But we only do what's right because it feels good. To be seen as a good person, to feel pleasure from making a loved one happy. That's... human nature, isn't it?" Kusari stopped pacing.

"What if those marks are inverting that? I'd always figured they were just devils over your shoulders pushing you to do wrong. But they're really pushing you to do what feels right. Am I wrong?" She didn't know where she was going with this, she just wanted to know that everything would be alright in the future, that there was a way out for them.

"Yeah, it's a shitty deal. You're not on the mark though. Not exactly."

Kusari didn't really know what she was talking about, as far as Zoe saw it. But then, it was fair for her to see things that way without really understanding them. Zoe wasn't sure that anyone who wasn't an aberration would, when it really came down to it. Still, while normally the subject would make her go silent, she had just about murdered Kusari. Much as the idea made fear twist in her gut, she sighed.

"Do you want me to explain what it's like?" Zoe looked at Kusari, mentally trying and failing to prepare herself for the discussion. An offer she'd only made because-- because for all that she'd done before, this was the first time she'd tried to kill a classmate. "Because the only one I can explain is mine. They're all... personal, I think, in their own little fucked-up ways."

"If you can handle it yeah, I'd like to know." Kusari said.

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that, but... okay." Okay. Deep breaths. She'd never had to try and put it into words before.

"It's like... starving. There's a want-- a need that claws at me, and it makes my thoughts go bad. Imagining myself tearing people apart limb from limb while you're still alive and screaming. And I want to do it, more than anything. Especially to the people that I care about. It's always there, clawing and biting and wanting, until I hurt someone." Zoe was forcing herself to sound as detached as she could, but it wasn't quite working. "It's all about pain."

"Hurting someone, it's..." She paused, a light in her eyes as she imagined the sensation. "Think about the most exhilarating, adrenaline-filled, pleasurable thing you've ever felt and then ten times that. That's what it feels like. And it's good. All that want, all those thoughts, my fears, everything gets lost in the rush. Whenever I remember it, it forces me to smile, even when I want to fucking vomit."

There was bitterness as she laughed, gesturing to Kusari's claws. "If you attacked me with that thing, I'd probably enjoy it. Being hurt's good too." While it was happening, at least - it did little to actually sate her stigma unless she did it herself. But it was better to do that than let herself kill any of them. Zoe sighed, eyes firmly fixed on the floor. "Pretty disgusting, really."

Kusari's expression turned grim as she listened to Zoe try to explain her stigma. "Yeah, it is." She shook her head with a groan. "Unbelievable, you shouldn't be here. Forcing you all to fight is like enabling an addict. I doubt they've even tried to find a way to help besides drugging you up like Hazel." This was beyond frustrating, helping Zoe was something she couldn't do. "At this point the only thing I can think of that would help is killing Dreamcatcher. That thing started all of this after all. What kind of sick bastard would toy with people like this?"

"Not fighting doesn't help either. It's not just an addiction. I don't hurt anything for too long, and--" Zoe sighed, looking more exhausted than she'd almost ever been. There wasn't a way out, anyway. Not for her. This discussion wasn't much more than a reminder of things she'd already realised. "I snap. Somebody dies. Probably slowly. If I wasn't here, I'd have killed a lot more people."

"One little choice, and you're fucked in the head. I can't be sure, but I think most of the others have more control, or at least it's less dangerous when they lose it." Most. She could think of a couple who'd be worse to deal with than her, but overall death powers weren't the easiest thing to deal with safely. "That being said, I've come to terms with it. I'm happy to be a monster, it really doesn't bother me. So long as I can make sure you guys come out alive."

Zoe shrugged, seeming oddly calm. It had been the admission of her weakness that had been the problem - discussing it now didn't seem to get to the redhead. There wasn't really any reason for Kusari to feel the need to help her. "If the rest of you don't have to, then I've used this for something worth doing."

Liar. Kusari didn't believe Zoe was perfectly fine with how she was. Who was she trying to fool? She only accepted what she was because she had no other choice. "You aren't a monster Zoe." Kusari grumbled and rubbed her right arm."Monsters are irredeemable, they can't possibly understand the value of a life..." She thought back to the people she killed in D.C. She didn't regret what she'd done, they had decided to take the lives of people for an indefensible reason after all. Even still she understood the impact it could have. "You're still human for better or worse, just try and remember that. You could have killed me, but you didn't. Hold onto that part of yourself, because if you let it go you're damn sure to end up in a bodybag."

"I can think of worse places to be." Zoe muttered under her breath. Dead girl wouldn't be able to hurt the others. Speaking up once more, she looked at Kusari with a frown. "If anyone else had done what you did, they would be dead. You realise that, right?"

It was surprising, really, to have Kusari of all people reassure her. Really, Zoe probably should have known not to judge everyone from first impressions. "It's a nice sentiment, but I doubt most of the world would agree with you. Not even all of our classmates would." Callan sprung to mind. Sighing, she finally met the arbiter's eyes. "I think I'd like to believe you, though. And I'm trying not to be one - at least, not towards you guys." That could be enough. As far as the rest of the world went, well, who really gave a damn?

Kusari shrugged her shoulders. "As long as you try, that's all I'm asking. And of course I know that would have killed anyone else." She wiggled her metallic fingers. "That was kind of the point. At least I didn't have to stab you to get you to stop..." She let out a grumble, remembering when Sander nearly drained her dry.

"As for what regulars think, forget them. Even if we didn't have superpowers they would still hate us. The magic just gives them an excuse to corral us." Kusari let out a yawn and rubbed the back of her neck. She could feel another anti-reg rant coming on. "I'm gonna head to bed, call me if you need something... Anything besides someone to melt anyway."

It was true - they'd already been singled out by the normal humans of the world. Nothing she hadn't already figured out. More interestingly, Zoe wasn't the only classmate Kusari had been attacked by before? Part of her wanted to ask, but there wasn't much reason to keep the girl here longer than she already had. The offer was something that Zoe couldn't help but be surprised by, although she wasn't sure what exactly she'd need Kusari's help with. Nonetheless, she appreciated it for what it was.

"Same goes for you, if you need me. And, uh--" Zoe paused looking at the other girl in silence for a long moment before speaking quietly. "...Thank you. For trying to understand."

Shattered Fates - A Dark Fantasy, Boss Battling Epic

Posted! If in doubt, the best strategy is to run like a little bitch.

Shattered Fates - A Dark Fantasy, Boss Battling Epic

Dwyn

It would have been easy for Dwyn to join the fight - to charge in from where she was hidden in the darkness behind and eliminate more than a few of her foes. But something stayed her hand, made her unable to force herself to take another step. She was frozen, her eyes bright with fear. What-- What were these things? They were people, or they had been once.

This was wrong, it was so, so wrong. It was twisted, unnatural, frightening. She felt sick.

I can't do this.

Why her? Why not someone stronger, someone more qualified, one of the many warriors that had surrounded her as she trained. She'd never had the discipline to control her emotions, to silence herself, to adhere to her vows. Always not quite keeping up. She knew what she was supposed to do, that it was her duty to put her life on the line for the sake of protecting the virtuous. To give up on emotions that hindered her, desires that would take her from that path.

But she had never known how. And looking at these monstrosities, Dwyn did not want to fight. Guilt, white-hot and painful, as she watched her comrades fight for their lives. Saw an opening, more than one. Her instincts for combat, her potential had always been good - more than it - but her mind was weak. Nowhere near the godly champion a world like this needed.

They could not see the fear in her face. They would not. She would not allow it, allow herself to be judged, mocked by these heretics. These disrespectful imbeciles. These people who were so foolish, so reckless, and so much braver than her.

Dwyn did not admit her fear to herself, did not allow it to show through her careful mask of indifference. She told herself that it was a matter of practical concern, as she turned to cautiously head down the corridor whose doorway she'd hidden herself in, halberd ready in front of her to hold off anything that might come for them as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. After all, they would need someone to scout ahead, wouldn't they?

We have to know what's happening here, and I doubt they'd see the value in being sensible about it.

It would be a good enough explanation for the others. But it did nothing to lighten the burden of her guilt.

Shattered Fates - A Dark Fantasy, Boss Battling Epic

@RyuShura So, if Dwyn decides to be an unhelpful coward and examine the passage around her/explore slightly instead of joining the fight, will she find anything interesting?

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Speaking of upgrades:

Upgrade 6

Zoe’s infected victims will now spread their infection to other organic objects in physical contact with them when they are outside of her range. Each consecutive infection will lessen the effects of her power, taking roughly 3 infections before her power loses its effects completely.

Black veins appear on Zoe’s infected victims.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Zoe Fletcher

Evisceration

---

𝕄𝕠𝕟: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟙, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟙𝟞𝟘𝟘

---

The journey had been uneventful for Zoe, at least compared to what had come before. Seeing the others, the ones who'd left behind such devastation, she'd expected to feel angry. Furious, even. And she did, but she couldn't find the energy to confront them. The energy for anything except silence. Everything had been overridden by a feeling of pure resignation. It hadn't lasted long, but for a moment, just a moment, she'd accepted her failure. Accepted that this had been poisoned like everything else.

That scared her more than any monster. Because there wasn't a way out this time, not like before. Maybe if she'd realised what she was with the others, she could have left before anything was ruined. But she couldn't choose to die, and that was her only option. By the nature of what, of who she was, she did nothing but hurt. Nothing but bring pain.

So here she was, the day after things went to hell, alone in a forest on the estate of the woman who ruled their lives. Surrounded by monsters just like herself, knowing that things were beginning to twist. Knowing that no matter how she tried, how she apologised for her nature, she'd always end up at the middle. A sea of blood. Tainted, a diseased, dying limb whose infection would only spread.

There would be no treatment. There was no saving something that was already so tainted and broken. The others, far behind her in the mansion, couldn't be dragged down to her fate. She glanced at her hand, feeling the weight of the weapon she held. A knife, simple and sturdy, borrowed from the kitchens. Not the kind meant for a warrior, but it would suit her purpose. She'd made the motion many times, and barely flinched as the blade sliced along her knuckles, reopening scars that had long since healed.

"You don't want us to get hurt too, do you? This is for your own good."

A routine of years past, a scared little girl learning to make pain as natural as breathing. People who were supposed to look after her, to love her, stood by as unfeeling as the blade. Strength all she was worth, pain the only truth of life, failures clear in her mind - perhaps to another person, it would have been something they longed to forget.

But what before had been forced upon her could just as easily be used to forge her into something new.

Cut out the rot, bleed away the poison. Tear it all out.

Because she couldn't let herself give up so easily. If what she was would bring that kind of pain, if the rot was spreading, then there was only one option. Her knuckles collided with the bark of the nearest tree, blood spattering across the surface as her hands exploded with pain. Tears sprung to her eyes, but she gritted her teeth and kept going. It hurt, it really hurt, but that agony was what she needed to remake herself.

Her composure, her fear, the pain of what she'd done. She'd let it rule her. She'd let it control her, lost her edge in her panic. She'd been afraid of herself, of losing people, and it had made her weak. She'd panicked. It would be the last time. She would make sure it was the last time.

And as if in response to her renewed strength, she found herself somewhere familiar.

---

She wondered what this place was. The experience was so surreal, but it didn't feel like something she'd dreamed up on her own. Her dreams were more visceral, more real. Nowhere near as peaceful as this place seemed to be. Peaceful, but with a promise behind it that was anything but. A promise that would let her bring more death, more destruction at a moment's notice.

She wondered how far it'd go. How many more times she'd end up here, how much stronger she would become. She supposed it didn't matter how much thought she gave the idea. It would happen regardless, and all she could do was try to make the power hers.

Things didn't seem to have changed much compared to the last time - the waves still crashed, sparks colliding to and fro with no seeming direction or purpose. A scene that she didn't understand, distances she couldn't quite measure. But it was there, and it was real, and that was enough. To know they were there. Around her. Somewhere. Even if it was uncertain, well... everything always was.

She never knew what any of this meant, and maybe she never would. But one thing was clear, and one thing was understood, as the silk thread reached down to touch her protected existence at the centre of it all. Another sparkling, tainted drop of power to give her the strength she needed. It would make her stronger. So she took it gladly. It didn't scare her.

I know what I have to do.

---

Whatever she may have been, whatever lay in store for her, Zoe was certain of one thing. Until she finally lay down, until the darkness took her like she'd been longing for it to do, she wouldn't let herself do this again. If she were destined to be a monster, a murderer named for a harbinger of death and darkness, then she'd be one of her own making.

As pain lanced down her arm, she could do nothing but smile. At the faces of all the people she'd hurt, at the murderous power that only grew, the inevitable death and destruction that loomed on the horizon. The fact that she always seemed to make it out alive, no matter how she tried to get herself killed. So many wrongs she'd done, so many people hurt that she'd promised to protect. So many failures, so many betrayals. So many times hurting the ones she cared for.

Never again.

Defiant. Determined. Zoe wouldn't lie down and watch herself repeat the same mistakes, not like before. The pain she felt was familiar, the blood that spattered across the surface of the bark a reminder of days long past. She'd been remade once, broken once, but she was broken already. There were things that couldn't be fixed, lines that couldn't be uncrossed. But until the day she could finally end it, finally be cut out and save them all the trouble... she'd remake herself as best she could.

So Zoe would smile as she faced the future, the master of her own fate.