The Price of Feathers

Follow the elevator music

Amara looked at a room filled with her teammates and friends. Each of them had a different expression, but they were all confused. She would have to explain to them what happened and the truth about their time in this place. Most of them knew only what Artemis allowed them to remember, but some knew more. Silver knew that this wasn't his first go about this place, but that's about it. He couldn't remember a second of his previous life. He didn't need to because he remembered waking up and feeling a strong desire to protect his friends. He may not remember their past interactions but the emotions, their bonds, persisted and based on the way in which they tend to bond with one another so quickly.

Amara looked towards her roommate and bit her lip and then clenched her jaw to bring her back to the present moment. She had to remain indifferent and stoic in order to deliver a very difficult truth to her teammate. At least Raven wasn't alone this time. Dagne was stroking her hair while looking at her every few seconds to study her face and reaction. The South African orphan was still clinging to Silver's torso with no sign that she was going to let go anytime soon. She didn't want to let go of the one true source of evidence that proved that she was here and not there in that fucked up colosseum where nothing and nobody made sense.

"I must say the dramatic tension is really helping your cause, Cyph," Leech quipped but Aphrodite pinched her boyfriend's nipple to shut him up. Silver giggled and Dagne rolled her eyes at their immature antics. Viper tried to high five Aphrodite, but the succubus gave him a single look and left the water snake hanging. He shrugged his shoulder and turned towards his friend, Skin and received the high five he wanted. This time it was Aphrodite's turn to roll her eyes and lean back against the wall of the sunroom. Everyone's head snapped towards their team leader when she snapped her fingers four times. It was her signal that she trained them to listen out for in the field if she ever had an instruction but couldn't verbalise it. The fact that she was using it now meant that whatever she gathered them to discuss was of the utmost importance. Life and death kind of shit.

"Come with me," Amara said, walking out of the room without sparing Raven another look. She didn't want to look at here because if she did, she'd tell Artemis to fuck off and let the rest of them fend for themselves. They walked from the sunroom to the training hall and she stood at the door, letting everyone enter the giant hall before her. Silver and Dagne worked together She waited until she saw Viper and Skin and she raised a hand to stop them.

"You two need to keep busy. We can't have the whole team disappearing at once," she said.

The pink haired man looked back at his shifter teammate and then back towards his leader. Without another word, he nodded his head. Skin did the same. Both men turned around and walked off in different directions. Amara turned around and entered the hall. She guided her teammates to the far end of the room and then put her hand up again to silence them. They all obeyed her with absolute silence. None of them were willing or inclined to disobey Amara right now or every really but right, they were all too curious to do or say anything that might jeopardise the moment of truth being dangled in front of their faces.

They stood waiting on her next instruction, and she stepped forwards to reveal a trap door that led to a dimly lit corridor with elevator music playing. Silver's head perked up when he heard it. He knew about the corridor, and he'd been there when Amara opened it but never in the room and never while she was physically entering the hallway. This was by far the most exciting this to happen to him this year and he would have been giddy if not for fact that one of his best friends was currently clinging to his arm for dear life due to undergoing what he can only imagine was an extremely traumatic experience or illusion or whatever Cypher showed her.

"What, Sil, I would have thought you'd be asking about those cookies by now," Amara joked with a dry chuckle. Dagne and Leech looked at him while Aphrodite gave Amara an impressed look. Who knew the Dark leader could make a joke. This was the first time she'd seen her be anything other than stern and formidable.

Raven was not responsive. Usually, she'd revel in the rare moments of banter she and Amara shared but not now. Right now, she was just focused on clinging to the one solid anchor to reality that she could touch and that was Silver. They did not walk the full length of the corridor but in stead stopped halfway through.

"What's with you and hidden doorways," Dagne asked, her voice think with both her Russian accent and her frustration. She didn't care for the dramatics. She was only interested in finding out what was going on and what the cause for Raven's visceral reaction to her chat with Cypher. She was about 13 minutes form slapping the shit out of her own team leader and that was saying something consider how much she revered Cypher. She was wrapped up her own thoughts. So much so that she didn't notice that Cypher had crossed the corridor and knocked on the door, instructing Godric to find her sister when he opened. Angelica, of course, didn't go anywhere without her trusty fairy accompanying her like stink on a skunk. Unwanted yet always present. Godric followed his leader and teammate once Angelica entered the corridor. All three of them joined the dark in the hidden room. Amara shut the door one she was sure everyone was inside.

"We haven't used this room in a while, sissy," Angelica chuckled and pat her sisters cheek, much to the protest of her younger twin sister. She of course didn't stop and instead pinched her cheek for good measure laughing the entire time. Tinkerbell moved to slap the Dark leader's other cheek, but Angelic glared her down with bright white eyes that glowed more intensely the harder she starred. Once she was done glaring a whole into her teammate, she fixed her face and turned to look at the rest of the Dark clan. That was when she saw Raven wrapped up in the blue-eyed boy's arms. This time she had to fight the burning white glow in her eyes and the equally white-hot fury building up in her.

She was boiling inside at the sight of another person holding Raven so intimately until the timid boy adjusted his body slightly and she noticed the tear streaks and blood shot eyes of her former love, although that flame had never been extinguished on her side. She charged towards Raven. She was ready to fight anyone who stopped her because she knew that Raven had never been one to cry for nothing. She clearly hadn't witnessed the emotional roller-coaster that the dragoness had been on because she cried more than she laughed since she joined the dark. Nevertheless, Angelica was ready to rip Silver arms off her girl and see what happened to her. Instead, Dagne stood forward to block her way.

"If you do not wish to become green and red confetti today, dragonblood, I sincerely suggest you get the fuck out of my way," she warned in a deadly voice.

"Not a chance, идиот," she said, squaring her shoulders and glaring up at the leader of the Light side.

"Enough of this. Do you want to know the truth or not?" Amara asked the group, and everyone shut up and took a step back to face her properly. The entire room was lined with think black material that bulged in triangles from the walls. Angelica didn't move a muscle and neither did Dagne.

Amara stepped between then and turned towards Dagne first.

"Step down," she instructed her teammate with a soft yet firm voice. Dagne's hardened resolve remained for a few seconds before it dropped and she stepped back, her eyes dropped away from Angelica. Once Dagne was back in line, she turned towards her twin sister and titled her head a few centimetres. She didn't speak out loud because she didn't want Raven to hear. Little did she know but Raven's mind was still tethered to hers.

"I know you want to comfort her. I let you get close to her last time and look what happened. I think we should just leave her be for a while," she told her sister through their mind link. Angelic rolled her eyes and shifted her feet as if she was going to step forwards but Amara spoke again. "Both of us," she added through their mind link with more force. This made her sister look into her eyes and something in Angelica's purple eyes shifted. She looked over her sister's shoulder at Raven once more and then turned looked back at her sister. She nodded her head and turned to join her own teammates.

Amara released her sigh in her own head. Her lips remained in their designated straight line while she regarded the group, Light and Dark, as a whole.

Here goes nothing.