moonlight | legacies

eighteen

It took her a moment, but Elara eventually regained her strength, wrapping her fingers around the dart in her neck and pulling it out. She scrambled over to Hope, turning her onto her back and grabbing her by the shoulders.

She shook her roommate... friend... whatever, trying to speed up the process. Hope was the tri-brid. A measly tranquilizer dart couldn't hold her down for long.

"Hope, come on. Wake up!"

Hope's eyes slowly opened, a groan escaping her lips.

"You don't have to be so loud," Hope grumbled, sitting up.

"Yeah, well, Seylah's gone, and my ears are ringing."

Elara didn't need to say anything else. She took Hope's hand in hers and pulled her to her feet. The two sprinted back upstairs to their motel room, and when they arrived, Elara shoved open the door.

She skidded to a stop as a fishy smell reached her nostrils. Her nose scrunched in disgust. Her eyes darted to the source, and her eyes widened. A fish-man-monster.

Great.

Hope lunged past her, throwing her hand forwards. "Ictus." The monster flew backwards into the bathroom, the door slamming shut. "Also: ick!"

"See?" Landon cried. "Danger magnet."

"What the hell was that?" Hope asked, looking between Alaric and Landon.

Alaric's shock wore off as he answered. "Uh, I'm guessing a Mer-Man." The door shook as the creature tried to break through. "A very pissed Mer-Man."

"Yeah, well, I'm going to commit Mer-Dur when it pokes its fishy head out," Elara snarled, her hands curling into fists. Honestly, she was glad a monster appeared. At least then she didn't have to deal with her complicated feelings.

"Why are the monsters still coming for them?" Hope questioned. "We don't even have what they want."

Elara pushed past Landon, grabbing his bag off of the bed. The ringing had subsided, but there was another sound in her head. It was like someone-- something-- was calling her. She stuck her hand in it, rifling through it until her fingers found what she was looking for.

When she pulled her hand out, she was holding an urn. Her brows raised, and the others turned to Landon with concerned looks. "The knife was one of three keys," she started to explain. "What do you want to bet this is another one?"

Alaric rocked back and forth on his feet. "Son of a bitch."

Landon's eyes widened. "That is Seylah's. I picked it up, but I didn't steal it. I-I... Not on purpose, anyway. I don't know how it got in there just like I don't know what happened with the knife--"

"We get it!" Elara interrupted. "You stole it and didn't remember stealing it." She shoved the thing into Landon's hands. "Nice work, Klepto."

Then, the door shuddered and cracked as the Mer-Man fought against it.

"Oh, we got to move," Alaric said, panic in his voice. Landon moved to shove the urn back into his backpack, but Hope stopped him.

"No, no, no, wait. Leave it, leave it," she instructed quickly, reaching into her back pocket. Elara's brows furrowed in confusion.

Alaric voiced his confusion. "What? Are you out of your mind?"

"No," Hope answered. "I'm just sick of playing the same game. So let the monster have it. He'll take it to Malivore. We follow him, we know where it is."

"Smart," Elara remarked. Her supporting Hope seemed to surprise her, but she didn't have long to remain surprised. "It'll put us one step closer to figuring everything out."