Everglow: The Trials Of Agaron

32 - Black Night

"Now, you're all mine."

She flicked her wrist and the tendril inside Ko's mouth began to retreat. She wretched as the feeling of cool ink inside her throat began to slowly retract. The tentacle whipped out of her mouth, leaving room for Lust to lean closer and hold her cheeks gently. Her cold hands almost felt like they were draining the life from her slowly. 

"P-please. . ." she begged. Her eyes were wide with fear and streaks of tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Oh my, begging for it now are we?" Lust chuckled raunchily. 

"No! Please, sto-"

She was cut off as Lust kissed her, forcing her mouth onto hers. Just when she thought the tentacle down her throat was horrid enough, the feeling of Lust's disgusting tongue began to creep its way down her mouth.

--\/--

A quiet whimper woke Quin from her sleep. It was faint, but just loud enough so that she wasn't able to ignore it. With a tired moan she rolled over on the bed and tried to find that comfy spot again. But the noise wasn't going away any time soon. Frustrated, she sat up and rubber her weary eyes. After blinking for a few seconds to loosen her eyelids, she looked around the room to try and find what it was that was emitting the sound.

It had stooped just as soon as it started. She shrugged her shoulders and was just about to lay back down on the pillow when she suddenly felt something hit her leg. She rolled over to see Ko twitching and whimpering quietly on her side of the bed.

She was still asleep but moving like something was hurting her. She began muttering phrases like 'please stop' and whimpering in what she could only describe as terror. Immediately Quin shuffled a little closer and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Ko? Ko hey," she whisper while gently shaking her.

The zapher's eyes snapped open and she let out a sharp breath. Her vision was slightly blurry but soon cleared and she was able to see the friendly face of Quin, her glowing green and purple worry filled eyes staring right into hers.

"Hey, you ok? You were shaking around like the devil there," she consoled. 

Ko rubbed her eyes and looked around as she came back to her senses. Quin could see her breath was heavy and beads of sweat were running down her cheeks.

"Ko?" She repeated.

"Y-yea, yea. I-I'm fine."

"You sure? You don't look fine. You were talking in your sleep buddy,"

"I-I was?"

Quin nodded solemnly. 

Ko sat upright and rubbed her shoulder gently. "I-It's nothing. Just a bad dream, that's all."

Quin raised her brow. "You said a similar thing when you freaked out back on the ship when we were coming here. Ko, what's going on? Are you seeing more of those visions?"

"N-no, no," she shook her. "I already said, I'm fine."

A frown spread across the carcan's face. 

"Ko. Stop lying to me. Something's on your mind. You can tell me. Look, why don't we grab a drink hey? It's too bloody hot here anyway," she said. Ko nodded sheepishly and they both hopped out of bed. 

Ko's balance was a bit a skewed at first but she quickly regained herself. She looked down to see Fischer fast asleep on the mattress. Her heart sank a little bit as she wondered what he may be dreaming about. 

"Hey, c'mon" Quin whispered as they left the room. The door slid shut behind them and they made their way down the dark hallway into the main living area. Quin noticed Spatch was no longer on the couch. She figured he must've left to go bicker with Tonner. It meant they had the room to themselves at least. 

She flicked the light switch and the ceiling slowly flickered on and off before a bright white light lit the whole room up. 

Ko squinted slightly as her eyes adjusted to the brightness. "You want some water? Aside from that all there is is booze," Quin asked.

Ko nodded as she sat down on the stool near the table. She watched as Quin poured them both a glass and brought them over.

"Thanks," she whispered as she gave her one. Her voice was hoarse and raspy. The carcan sat down next to her and took a long swig of water.

"So. What's going on?" She asked. 

"I-I don't want to talk about it," Ko croaked. 

Quin folded her arms and tilted her head to the side. "You never do, do you?"

Ko took another sip.

"Look. I. . . I know what you're going through right now is tough. Really tough. And judging by how well you two get along I'm sure Fischer's given you this spiel before. But you need to know that you can talk to me Ko. I'm here for you. It's the whole damn reason I'm even here in the first place alright? You don't have to hide things from me. Keeping it all bottled up will only make it sting worse. We're all worried about you ok? I'm worried about you. Fischer's really worried about you."

Her eyes lit up slightly at those last few words.

"H-he. . . is?"

Quin nodded. "He talked to me a little earlier. Couldn't get to sleep. He's really worried about you. He cares for you a lot Ko. You mean so much more to him than you think."

Her thoughts drifted back to when Lust showed her the inky figures of him and Quin kissing. 

"So? What's got you up?"

Ko let out a sorrow filled sigh and looked up at her with hurt eyes. "P-please. . . d-don't tell Fischer about this?" She whimpered.

"You have my word."

She took a deep breath in. "I. . . had this dream. Where. . . where you and him were. . . were together. . . and you kissed him right in front of me. . ."

Quin's horns drooped slightly. "Oh sweety, you don't have to worry about that. I love Fischer, but not like that. He's a great friend but that's just it, friends. Hell even if I did love him I wouldn't be so cruel as to kiss him in front of you," she consoled as she patted her on the back. 

"He's all yours," she chuckled. 

When Ko's mood didn't lift she knew that was only half of the story however. 

"I get the feeling there's more to it than that?" 

"I've never felt like this before. . . I don't know what to d-do. . . It's my fault you guys are all stuck out here, You should be back home with Trikka and Kori. It's my fault he's gone," her voice grew increasingly high pitched as she fought back the tears that were building up in her eyes. 

"You know, I had this exact same conversation with Fischer. I won't say too much, I don't think he would want me to. But I've seen the way you two act and talk around each other. I know you have feelings for him. And the position you two are in right now is definitely not an easy one. But I'll say this. Ko, he is extremely lucky to have someone as sweet and kind hearted as you by his side. We all are. Please don't for a second think that you're not good enough for him. You both care about each other far more than you realise. Don't let this opportunity slip through your hands."

She nodded silently.

"Alright. Anything else you want to get off your chest?"

Thoughts of Lust's horrid grin began to swirl around inside her head. 

"N-no. T-that's all. Thanks."

"You're a beautiful girl Ko. Go show him that."

Suddenly the door to the room slid open and the face of Spatch popped round the corner.

"Hey guys, good, you're up. Go grab Fischer. We're about to head out."