Day Turns Sour
Day 2, Afternoon
Magic Rainbow, The Merlin Hawk, Wind WildAdela, Amber, Akime, Lazarus
Amber sighed, looking at her watch. It had been about an hour now since she saw Shard…. He must have left the ship already, right? Surely by now he’d be back in the Tower…?
Or maybe they hid away in Raven’s berth. She groaned. If Akime was here, she could have asked her to check but without the Mistress of Sight’s abilities she couldn’t be sure. She looked at her backpack with a miserable expression on her face. She’d almost gotten away too. If it wasn’t for Marielle suddenly snapping and demanding payback from the pirate queen, she probably would have made it to Angel’s Landing before anybody could notice.
Well, now that the whole ship was on its feet, chances of sneaking away were severely diminished. But she couldn’t stay here forever either. She’d already called the hotel to request a late check-in but they wouldn’t wait forever and with Ibuki not picking up his phone she wasn’t sure what to do. Part of her was silently cursing at Shard for having to poke his nose in everything and anything that happened around his precious little nest. The other part was cursing herself for being too cowardly to confront him.
When did the hatred turn to fear? In the first few years after she’d been killed she would have gladly given up on anything to get a rematch. Nowadays the memories sprouted mostly fear. Somehow with time his image had turned from that of an equal to that of a god. One that could lord over her future… and had.
She sighed again. She had been foolish. Getting herself caught in the games of god-like people. In a way Akime was no better than Shard. If she forgave one, she should forgive the other. But she wasn’t sure she could.
So! She jumped up, grabbed her bag and ran out the door. Time for a little theft!
Adéla sighed as she looked out over the skyline off the Raven’s port bow, absentmindedly flicking a knife open and closed, open and closed… She wasn’t sure what on earth could be causing Ludelle to be so hostile. It was something that gnawed at the back of her mind, and she’d had to leave the infirmary because of just how hostile the air around Ludelle had gotten.
Eventually pushing herself up and off the deck, she began to slowly walk back to the Tower - probably practice some more Aberrant magic. However something caught her eye and she turned, raising an eyebrow at the the girl running across the deck towards one of the skate gliders. Jogging over, she jumped down in front of her, “Well, hello there.”
Amber all but jumped out of her skin. She stepped back clumsily and almost tripped over her own feet. When she did regain her balance (by grabbing a nearby axe and knocking it clear off the wall) she straightened and flashed a grin that had surely gotten her out of more than one pinch. “Hello there. I was just wondering if there isn’t anybody willing to race me. Are you one of the pirates or one of the knights?” She asked, fidgeting with her fingers behind her back.
Adéla snickered and leaned against the freeboard, “Technically speaking, I’m with the Tower, but I honestly don’t see myself as the knightly type. Granted, I’m not much of a pirate either, though it never hurts to have a bottle of rum handy to smash over someone’s head.” She stood straight again, cocking her head to the side and quirking an eyebrow, “But now I have to ask, who are you with? And what exactly were you planning to race?” She flashed a devilish grin, “After all, I do love a good challenge.”
The other girl’s grin copied her own. “What or who, I don’t care, as long as it’s fast.” She turned and unhooked one of the gliders. “And while I’m always “for” a good skull-bashing, I think you should always made sure the bottle is either empty, or downright toxic – else it’s just a waste of perfectly good booze. As for my allegiance, for now let’s just say I’m on my own.” She turned and handed Adéla the borrowed skate glider.
“Well of course you make sure the bottle’s empty!” Adéla exclaimed with mock indignation, “Obviously you drink it before cracking skulls.” Taking the skate glider, she continued with a simple question, “Where to?” And, after a slight pause, “And may I ask, who am I racing?”
“Oh. Sorry about that.” She stopped and grinned and offered her hand for a handshake. “Name’s Amber. The destination is Arakawa Prince Hotel in Angel’s Landing. And we need to be there in...” She checked her watch. “Twenty minutes.” She slipped her goggles on and handed Adéla a pair. “Don’t fall.”
“Don’t fall you say?” Adéla grinned, “I would give you the same advice actually. I may not look it but I’ve got a good half dozen decades using these things. You might find you’ve got your work cut out for you.” After a moment, she extended a hand as well, “Adéla Láska. I don’t need the goggles though.” A moment’s pause, and a pair of shielded lenses slid into place over her eyes and face, encapsulating them in a mask capable of relaying… essentially anything from wind speed and direction or the temperature to the number of shots left in a gun, straight to her brain.
A very useful mask.
“I’ll see you there, then.” She dropped off the side of the airship, seconds later shooting past it on the skate glider with the thrusters at full blast.
Amber wasn’t far behind, she noticed, catching up rather impressively. That just wouldn’t do, she couldn’t very well lose the race. She grinned, kicking the craft’s afterburner into action with a stray foot as she began to poke around in its onboard software, looking for the soft locks put in place to promote longevity.
Looping around several pieces of construction equipment she caught sight of Amber and winked at her, blowing a kiss as she disabled the soft locks, forcing even more power into the thrusters. Yelling with exhilaration as the wind whipped through her hair, she twisted and turned between the vast bulks of high rises, water towers and more construction cranes.
Amber’s jaw dropped as the other girl disappeared from sight, weaving her way through the city at a speed that shouldn’t be possible. Agrin set on her face a moment later as she decided to at least try and keep up as close as possible.
The wind was clawing at her cheeks and her hair was whipping at her skin but the feeling was unmatched. True freedom, the knowledge that one mistake could lead to your downfall, the trance you entered when your whole future depends on a single moment, on walking the thin line between skill and insanity.
She screamed with joy as she made a loop around a flagpole protruding off a building.
She grabbed the front of the board and slid across the table of some terrified customers of an caffee.
She tilted the sail and shot up, rising ten storeys over the hotel’s entrance before plunging head-first for the landing terrace. In the final second a pair of huge wings sprouted from her back to cushion her landing, disappearing in a puff of smoke a second later as her board landed hard to her side. She turned to stare at its cracked hull.
“Ops.” Amber grinned at the two porters who were staring at the women, trying to decide if they should invite them in or call the security. “Sorry we’re late.” She chirped happily, patting Adéla’s shoulder. “Good one, I really enjoyed that! Even though you cheated. I think you could’ve won even if you hadn’t.”
“Oh, I’m sure I could’ve.” Adéla gently leaned the skate glider against a wall, “I wanted to see just how far I could push that little thruster before redlining it, afterburner and everything.” She grinned, “I can say it did pretty well, all things considered. Now…” she paused, looking over at the porters, “Who were you here to meet?”
“Oh, I'm just checking myself in. Its under the name of Akime Harwen.” The two men in uniforms exchanged surprised glances and then nodded to the girls, moving to take the gliders in. Amber looked back to Adéla, smiling. “Thanks for the race. We should do it again sometime.”
“Oh, definitely. I haven’t had a good adrenaline rush like that in ages.” Adéla offered Amber a hand for a high five, “I’ll be right back, actually, nature calls.” Walking quickly towards the door, she squeezed between two people and disappeared into the building.
Amber laughed as she high-fived the other girl and hurried to the reception herself, leaving the skate glider to the staff to deal with. Much to her surprise, the neatly dressed receptionist informed her that someone named Cole was actually waiting for her in one of the seminar rooms. Perplexed Amber nodded and headed down one corridor, wondering what the heck might have happened for Cole to seek her out. Last she remembered she woke up and he was gone, and so was everyone else on Blackwing. She had no idea where they were or what they were doing but assumed that because nobody picked up their phone it might’ve been important.
On the other hand it wasn’t all that unusual for Cole to choose to deliver a message in person instead of over the phone. He was an animal at heart, after all.
“This is becoming too tedious.” A man complained from the corner of the seminar room.
“Have some patience, Gnot. All good things need time.” Another man responded. He was perched on the table boasting the best view of the half-open door.
“Not rape. Rape doesn’t take time.” Gnot grinned, making his brother roll his eyes in annoyance. How they came out of the same womb, he’ll never understand. At least Ramnir was always silent and when Lucas opened his mouth it was for a better reason.
“Are you sure this will work? I thought she could see our blood or something.”
“No, that’s the boss, the one we’re after. This one is harmless as far as we know. Still, that’s why you have your bat, don’t you?”
“Don’t piss your pants now, Lucy.” Gnot couldn’t help himself, bursting out in laughter as soon as he’d finished his sentence.
“What kind of boss leaves his slaves powerless anyway?” Lucas mumbled.
“A careless one.” Tarus shrugged, fighting the embarrassment he felt from his kin. The moron had been too loud, Cole realised when he removed the hand from his forehead only to realise Amber had already strolled into the room. She had stopped after only a few steps and was now staring perplexed between himself and Gnot, obviously puzzled by the resemblance he bore to said “Cole”. Luckily, Lucas hadn’t missed a heartbeat and before the girl could escape it connected with the back of her head with skull-shattering force. Torus cringed at the sound that preceded Amber’s collapse at his feet. Even Gnot stopped laughing.
“This should mess her up well enough, right?” Lucas asked, examining the blood that was now flowing freely between Amber’s locks.
“You’d hope.” Torus stepped on her back for good measure. He was always weary of souls that could change bodies at will. A small grunt came from the girl, indicating that Lucas had put in exactly the right amount of force. Lucas kicked the door shut and pulled a knife out of his belt. He was just about to use it when Gnot’s fist clenched around his hand, making him drop the weapon.
“You have to start off gentle. Builds up the terror and they scream louder later. Let her catch a breath.”
Lucas grumbled but sat down next to the girl, leaving the knife to the giant. Torus didn’t want to be a part of this, really, so he took the girl’s mobile from her pocket and went to join Ramnir in the corner. He didn’t enjoy torturing people and the only reason he’d accepted was because of the opportunity to help deliver that Akime to his lord. Behind him he could hear the sound of clothes ripping and a gasp and a mumble that suggested the girl might be coming to.
“What the hell…?” She rasped out, sounding like she was gagging on her own blood. Torus was just dialling the number when the sound of breaking bones and a scream filled the room.
“
The fuck did you do that for?!” Lucas shouted. Torus turned to see Gnot had stomped on the girl’s arm hard enough to break it. He was grinning, clearly relishing in the way her other hand was clawing at the carpet while his foot pinned her down. Her shirt was ripped open but her bra was intact. Honestly, he’ll never understand the brute’s tastes.
Turning away he pressed the phone to his ear and listened to the tone on the other side.
Behind him Lucas snapped at his accomplice, possibly getting back the knife.
“What the hell do you want?” Amber managed to sob out.
“Clearly, it’s your boss. But before that, we want to see how many cuts it takes for a geist’s body to release its soul.”
The knife found one of the multiple runes covering Amber’s back and she screamed louder than any undead creature had the right to.
Torus frowned, put a finger in his free ear and listened to the phone’s waiting signal.
Adéla hummed an off key tune that changed to frustrated mumbling as she washed her hands, fiddling with the faucet to try and get a consistent flow of water going. “Seriously, who thought these little motion sensors were a good idea?” She grumbled, “Impossible to wash your hands with a couple drops every other second.”
Then she heard a scream.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she whirled towards the door. That voice… it sounded familiar. She ran, jump kicking open the door and sprinting in the direction the noise had come from. Was it a trap, whatever it was? Almost certainly. Did she care? Whoever was causing that scream was going to be making some of their own soon, so no, she didn’t care.
She fumbled for her gun, only to realize she’d uncharacteristically left it back at the tower. A second scream prompted her to move faster, regardless of whether or not she had a weapon. In all honesty the gun would’ve been most useful for forcing someone to back down, and whoever was making…
That voice was Amber’s.
She barely knew her, but considering how the woman was the first person she’d met in months who had spoken to her as something other than in a professional sense, or hadn’t glared venom at her…
Her flesh began to deform as she neared the source of the sound; clothes morphing into a torn and ancient looking crimson robe as her arms changed colors; growing claws in place of fingernails; ripped bandages that looked tainted with some some otherworldly substance proceeded to envelop her arms as her face started to change as well; vile tentacles began to writhe and emerged from under her robe; and thick armor plated her shoulders, torso, arms, and neck.
By the time she arrived, she would do more than scare children on halloween, she’d looked at herself in the mirror before, and a chill of primal fear of old, unknown terrors would run down her spine at the
monstrous thing she could become.
She grinned savagely, and kicked open the door.
“Hello, ladies.” She growled in the inhuman hiss that was now her voice. Her gaze alighted on Amber, and her face darkened.
Without warning, tentacles lashed out in all direction, whiplashing the men in the room as their heads cracked against the walls and the tentacles now wrapped around their necks coiled tightly. She spared Gnot however, holding him aloft with yet another tentacle as a second one pried the now bloody knife from his hand even as he spat and cursed and hurled obscenities at her.
She looked down at Amber, and her voice softened, “I… gah, I’m sorry. I should’ve been quicker. Do you think you’ll...?” She trailed off, helpless to do anything. All she could do was hurt, not heal.
Turning her attention back to Gnot, she looked down at the knife she held in her hand, and then back up and him, and threw it, embedding the blade deep in his genitalia, and then the wall behind him. His screams were sweet, sweet music, a grass flute over a background of a bubbling brook, her vision flashed, and she was back in the Stygian Blade, interrogating a young man who had gone just one little step too far. This time, she didn’t backtrack from the memory, but embraced it.
“You done fucked up, boy.” She hissed, her voice somehow even more inhuman, where before it had been laced with fury, now all Gnot could hear was cold, calculating contempt and digust, “I’ll get to your friends in a mome-” she was distracted as one of them began beating on the tentacle that held him with a metal bat, it didn’t hurt all that much, but now she was even angrier, and tightened down her grip on his neck before turning back to Gnot. “You see, if there’s one thing in this world I hate the most, it’s scum like you. You make me sick.”
The man in her grasp blanched, evidently trying to say something. She was of half a mind to let him say it too, just to have another reason to make him suffer.
Another tentacle shot out, grasping onto his right foot, “This little piggy went to the market.” She squeezed down, crushing his foot into a bloody pulp and moved higher up on his leg, relishing his howls and moans, “And this little piggy stayed home.” She crushed his shin, smothering his mouth with the end of the tentacle holding him by the neck to keep him from making too much noise, pleasant as it was, it was distracting. “This little piggy had consensual sex.” She tore off his leg below the knee, waving it tauntingly in front of his now tear streaked face, “And this little piggy had none.” She crushed his thigh, flinging the pulverized lower leg against the wall, “And
this little piggy found out just what happens to inhuman pieces of shit!” With a violent motion she twisted the remains of his right leg out of the socket, and then ripped them clean off.
His screams were like music to her ears as she brought him closer, pulling the knife from the wall with the same tentacle she had used to… amputate his leg. She held it up to him as she hummed a nursery rhyme. “P… please!” He begged, eyes showing a by now broken man. She was disappointed. The young twenty something year old had lasted longer, and to more, and had still had the gumption left to spit in her eye - she’d almost let him off lightly just for that.
Gnot was just pathetic.
Planting a light kiss on his cheek and tracing it down to his mouth, she slid a cold, alien tongue in as she followed up with a very slow, very deliberate cut along the same route with the knife, eventually cutting through completely and leaving the entire lower right side of his mouth exposed as the severed flesh flopped down. Licking the blood off the edge of the knife she smirked at him, planting another kiss on the other cheek that left a bloody imprint of her lips before doing the exact same as before and ripping out his teeth.
He blubbered nonsensical things, and she promptly cut his tongue out, tossing it off to the side as she examined the blade. “Very fine knife you chose to torture my friend with, by the way, seems to be some very nice carbon steel. Should hold an edge well.” She grinned, “Which is good, because we’ll need it.” She looked him dead in the eyes, seeing the abject terror in them and licking her own lips in anticipation.
She pressed it down on his breastbone, slowly drawing the knife down the length of his torso until she reached his pelvis, where she turned it sideways and continued to cut, rotating him until she’d made one full circle. Gnot had been reduced to incoherent babbling that she ignored, focusing only on her task. Moving up, she did the same at the point she had begun the incision. Pausing for a moment, she admired her work, cooing to the man, “Oh, don’t worry, it’ll be over eventually.” Gnot didn’t respond, but he was still awake, barely. Grasping part of the flesh she had cut, she dug her fingers in, slowly peeling away his skin until she had a large, bloody piece of it in her hand, leaving the fat and muscle underneath exposed.
Before she could continue, the sound of approaching footsteps met her ears, and with a primal scream she punched through his ribcage and pulverized his until now beating heart, raising the nearly lifeless thing that had been a man and smashing it into the floor, then the wall, then the other wall, and finally hurling the pulped remains into the ceiling before turning to face the door.
The couple that stood at the door seemed suddenly so out of place, like a piece of a different reality that had been tossed here by a violent storm. The woman’s eyes were wide but her mouth was drawn to a very tight line. A piece of flesh fell from the ceiling to her bare feet with a sickening wet sound.
Akime stepped over it and leaned over Amber, wrapping her arms around her protectively. Her jaw was clenched as she explored the damaged links between the girl’s body and soul. A few more and it would have completely departed. So that’s what all the missed calls were about. Stupid, stupid little men….
With shaking hands, Akime spread some of her essence over her friend in an attempt to hold the soul inside. Distressed eyes found Lazarus before steeling themselves and moving to Adéla.
“Let them go. They deserve a trial.” She tried to relay some authority through her voice though she wondered if the aberration would even care to listen to her.
Adéla looked towards Akime. She paused, not doing anything before hesitantly asking, “Will she be okay?”
“Yes.” The voice was the like the grave given form. The temperature in the room plummeted. The man who had followed Akime into the room stepped over to Amber and looked down at her. With a flick of his hand death energy began to cling to the link between her form and spirit. It anchored her soul in place. With another swift motion he numbed the pain receptors in her brain by temporarily forcing the life out of the sections responsible for the pain receptors in her damaged skin. “She will require medical attention, until then she will be fine.”
Lazarus stepped past her into the room proper. A black fire had crept up his hands starting at his finger tips and now bathed his hands and the upper parts of his arms. Through the fire glimpses of yellowed bone could be seen. His eyes filmed over with quicksilver and the beat of dark feathered wings could be heard just at the edge of normal perception. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he surveyed Adéla’s handywork. “Pain.” He paused, “Impressive.” With a twist of his hand he plucked a gossamer thread from the air and inspected it. “What a rotten soul, it didn’t even make it across the barrier, it just fell apart on this side. Fascinating.” Lazarus continued his inspection of the death and mayhem Adéla had caused.
Adéla nodded to Akime, letting the other men in her grasp drop to the ground in heaps, one of them -the one with the bat- was completely unresponsive as he hit the ground, in all likelihood dead as well. She sighed, closing her eyes as the tentacles, armor, robe, and claws all seemed to melt back into her skin before looking up at Akime, “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here in time.”
Akime’s mouth was dry and she was sure her hands were shaking. The shock of finding Amber like this was quickly eased as she held her in her arms, and then completely evaporated when Lazarus did his magic on her. She didn’t like necromancers but for the first time she was actually glad to have one around. She tried to remind herself that as she listened to Lazarus examine the scene as if it was an interesting painting. That still made her feel uneasy.
But her worry hadn’t eased. Who were these men? Why had they done what they did? Was the staff of the hotel aware?
And furthermore, what impact would that incident have on that young girl, Adéla?
“So you think butchering those men is proportional punishment? Just because they hurt someone who is already dead? And what about the staff? Would you have killed them too because they didn’t rush in to help?!”
“Bullshit… ” Amber muttered, shifting out of Akime’s arms and staggering upright.
“Amber---” Akime tried to grab her hand but Amber didn’t let her. She smiled at Adéla and thanked her before leaving the room in a rush. Akme stood to follow but hesitated and finally gave up with a sigh.
Adéla raised an eyebrow, looking at the door and back at Akime for a moment before her mouth opened in a small “Oh…” She looked at Akime and spoke slowly, “So let me get this straight, she died at some point and those runes are keeping her soul anchored to that body, and therefore she’s a geist?” She narrowed her eyes, “Last I checked…” she barely whispered, voice balancing on a knife’s edge, “Geists could still. Feel.
PAIN!” She took a breath, “What does it matter if she died at some point?! She’s still in there! You-...” she trailed off, “That man got
exactly what he deserved, now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go find her.” Hair on the back of her neck standing on end once more, she stalked off, pushing violently through the door to look for Amber.
Lazarus looked over his shoulder distractedly. “She’s not going to make it far without medical attention, as soon as the limiting magic I used on her central nervous system wears off she is probably going to collapse. It won’t kill her but it’s going to hurt like hell.” Turning back to the men still lying down on the ground he shook his head. “There isn’t enough left of this soul to get a good idea of who he was or what he was after beyond simple rape.”
Wincing Lazarus realized how callous that sounded. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to sound like I was marginalizing the girls experience. Short of ripping out one of their souls I won’t be able to tell what they were after.” He walked over to Hazumi and offered his hand. “That was her. Wasn’t it? I knew she seemed familiar.”
Akime took his hand and squeezed it absently, her gaze still fixed on and beyond that door. She knew she had to find Amber and redo all the anchors but she also knew the girl needed to be alone right now. Alone or with a friend. What had happened to her really was terrifying but so was what the little knight had done to the men in turn. Was the destruction of a soul the appropriate violation of a body? She no longer thought so. Not before an interrogation anyway. Besides, how was she supposed to prevent something like that from happening again if she didn’t know who did it in the first place?
She squeezed Lazarus’ hand again and took a look around the room. At least he understood that physical pain wasn’t the worst thing that could be inflicted upon a person. “Her name is Amber now.” She finally addressed his question. “And sometimes I wonder if it was right to bring her back. If I was sure that whatever lies beyond would be better for her, I’d let her go.” She admitted, giving him a pained look before moving on to one of the unconscious men. He would talk. She’d make him talk. And if he didn’t, she’d simply track his essence back the way it came. After all, there was no better bloodhound than her. She took a sample of his essence and turned back to Lazarus, seemingly more stable. “In a few moments I’ll try to find Amber and make sure she doesn’t depart for good. However I also need to know if the hotel staff had anything to do with this and arrange for those two to be sent to Southgate. …could you call the police for me?”
Lazarus nodded and stepped backwards to the door. “I will be outside, I will also alert the Shard. He will want to know that there was an attack.” With that he stepped out into the hallway to make the calls.
“Amber!” Adéla called, her hands, arms, everything still stained with blood as she wandered around looking for the girl, “Where are you? Are you… do you think you’ll be okay?”
The girl was well ahead, her steps angry and determined, scattering the hotel staff like simple autumn leaves. They shuffled away as if they’d seen a ghost. And in a way, they had. Except this one had the power, and the intention to hurt them.
When Adela caught up with her, she was in the process of beating an old housekeeper’s face in. She paused and turned long enough to affirm to Adéla before dropping the old woman and moving on. “I’ll just beat the shit out of that receptionist, then surely I’ll be better. After all,” she laughed bitterly. “the pain is gone and I’m already dead so that makes everything alright.” Her wounds were still leaking blood but there was something old and stale about it. It left a specific aroma in the air, of wild flowers and rot.
Shaking her head, Adéla walked in front of her, blocking her from moving on. “I lost control in there, I got angry, and while I’m not going to be losing sleep over killing whatever his name was, I should’ve kept myself in check.” She placed a hand on Amber’s shoulder, “Unless you can prove the staff were in on it, I can’t in good conscience let you keep beating their faces in like that. Punch me if you have to, I’ve dealt with far…
far worse.”
Her mind flashed momentarily to that street, the taste of uncooked rats and foul water… she closed her eyes for a moment, opening them to look at the girl in front of her again. “Of course if the receptionist is guilty, lead the way and I’ll hold him still for you. But…” she trailed off, unsure of what to say, “You may have died at some point, but so what? You’re still you, still the same person regardless of whether or not your heart beats.”
Slowly, very slowly, she moved to hug Amber. She… wasn’t good at this, not at all. Her skills were in breaking things, killing people, hurting them - not healing them, not helping them. “I’m sorry I can’t do more.” She sighed, “But… for what it’s worth, I didn’t know you were, technically speaking undead, and y’know what? I don’t care.”
Amber was reluctant to stop but still she heard Adela out and it was actually surprisingly… kind of comforting. The most shocking part was when she was hugged, however… Because despite being mostly out of it during the fight, she had seen what Adela had become. And now she couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.
“Okay.” She decided. “Come with me and we can decide if that little bitch needs a spanking or not.” She smiled weakly and strode on, the receptionist in sight.
Not an hour after the incident Akime had returned Amber to the safety of the Tower... or at least to the safety of Blackwing. Cole and Ibuki had prepared the room for the upcoming ritual but only one of them had remained in the room - per Amber’s request. She’d also asked for the lights to be dimmed and for Ibuki to stand in the corner - and those were the only few words they’d exchanged on the way here.
Akime dipped the calligraphy brush in the bowl and brought it to Amber’s skin, painting over the stitches, sealing her wounds. Gheists didn’t work the same way as humans and although not fatal or even that painful, the wounds would take longer to heal. The link between Amber’s body and soul had been broken in places like a puppet’s strings being cut and it would take time for them to grow closer again. Akime had offered to find the girl another body but she’d refused and so now the Mistress of Sight had to do her best to repair her. She dunked the brush in the bowl again and drew another sign, this time in an unmarked place. Amber was squeezing the blanket under her but that could be attributed to Lazarus’ magic wearing off as much as to Akime’s actions. The procedure was gross and it stank but Akime had found out long ago that by mixing the blood of a body and the essence of a soul with her own blood made for a pretty reliable anchor. She wasn’t sure why exactly that was and had never found information on anything like it but at some point she’d stopped caring about the technicalities. The important thing was that her marks remained under the skin for years to come.
“I’m sorry about what happened to you.” She started while she was working. Amber didn’t respond and Akime was happy she couldn’t see her eyes. “I really am.”
“I bet you are.” Amber rasped out. “After all it’s all your fault anyway.”
Akime didn’t respond for a long moment. “Those men will get what they deserve.” She whispered as if afraid to speak too loud.
“
No they won’t!” Amber whirled around to stare at the older woman, making her flinch and spill some of the blood in the bowl. “They deserve a painful and slow death and that’s not what you’re giving them!”
Akime felt her own anger rise. “No, Amber, you know that’s not true. We’ve talked about it before, pain can’t solve everything. I’ve made sure your perceptions are as close to those of a living person as I can get them to be but we both know you don’t feel the same way that we do. You can’t just kill people because they’ve hurt you or scared you.”
“Oh no?! And you’ve surely never done it before, when you were the one who was hurt!”
Akime’s eyes went wide with disbelief that she’d go that far. She knew very well that that was exactly
why she was saying what she was. Her hand came up to slap the insolent girl…
But Ibuki was there to stop her. He stepped between the two girls pushing them gently but firmly apart.
“That’s enough, you two. The past is the past, bury it and move on.”
The two women looked away from each other, clearly clenching their teeth before any more accusations flowed out. The rest of the ritual was completed without further interruptions.
The air was warm and full of the sound of cicadas. A gentle breeze passed through the grass and ruffled Cole’s feathers – the only sounds in this part of the world. The trip here would be long if it wasn’t for the Tower’s newly discovered secrets and Urthar’s generosity – as it was they had reached here while the men were still breathing.
Akime lifted one of their bodies off the griffin’s back, and let it slump to the ground, holding its head up by the thick leather leash she had put around its neck. It was just loose enough to allow her hand to go through and get a good grip. She needed it for the man’s chest was still fresh with blood and he was missing a shirt.
She turned around swiftly, feeling the world around her waver.
The hilltop was beautiful and covered in summer flowers.
And she hurled the man over her shoulder. One moment he was speeding towards the grass…
…the next he landed, hard, but in another realm.
Akime repeated the process with the second unconscious man and then slumped on the ground herself. Opening two portals consecutively was taxing and she had to sit down and take a breath. Cole’s head came from behind her, nuzzling her arm as he sat around her, letting her back rest against his warm body. She stroked him absently, looking out into the meadow.
The messages she had cut into the men’s flesh was simple. “I thought we had a truce” on one, though her hand had “slipped” a few times around the words, making them somewhat hard to read among the bloody mess. On the other, the message read “Don’t ever forget”. Now that one might tick the Summer Queen off. After all, it was a warning and as such it contained a very bright, very vivid, and very, very detailed account of what had happened to her servant called “Gnot”. Everything was there, even the sensation of the pain he had felt, neatly tied up with the last remaining essence of the other dead man. It would unravel as soon as the Queen touched it and put her in a very, very hot spot for the next few seconds.
Akime sighed, huddling up in the soft feathers and brought her legs close to her chest.
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