✭°Damianya°✭ ʷʰᵃᵗ ⁱᶠ

return

Becky pov

I watched in mild disinterest at the battle scene playing out before me. As I handed Chase another spear, I saw Damian tracking Anya with his gaze.

It seemed like he's the obsessed one now.

The acceleration of his heartbeat, flush of his skin, every part of Desmond I could capture today, was unintentional as he kept stealing fleeting looks at Anya. "Ew, that description make me sound like one of his overly obsessed fangirls."

I cringed, but I plan to tell Anya word-for-word about today's events when we rekindle our friendship. The frayed ends of our friendship still dangling in the uncertain air, as if put on hold momentarily.

I turn to look at the girl besides me, still Anya but not perfectly her. She smiled happily as I hauled our stuff and headed for the top, unaware of my worries for her sallow skin and hollow face. 007 rustled in the bushes, and when we heard the lock popped out, we hurried ourselves up the stairwell.
It was the end of 007 and 018's torture and the start of a new era.

A time for new beginnings.

Damian pov

I thought there would be much more dramatic fighting. Yes, the serpents were nightmarish, but I have played enough video games that the final showdown included the main antagonist and a hidden boss.

She took the seat across from me, gazing out the train window. The train sped past mountains with grey clouds overhead, and soon we heard the unmistakable pitter patter of rain. It pelted down, streaking the window as the mountains rumbled with the crackling of thunder.

 Anya flinched, quickly smoothing her features as she stared down at the damp field of crops. The stormy conditions outside cause the train to overall dim, the train lights keeping the cabins from being submerged in full darkness.

I could still see Anya, but the different lighting highlighted her frail exterior. The conditions of the lab had worn her down, the emptinness in her cheeks, the emptiness in her gaze when she thinks no-one else is looking.

I felt my throat constrict.

The clouds parted, allowing the first rays of sunlight to illuminate the lands. One beam of sunlight hit Anya's eyes, and she squinted againt the harsh sun. But her face, it was glowing from the inside. Anya's happy. Suddenly, I could breathe again.

"People are observant in many ways other than one, Damian." Becky had said to me as we walked up the winding staircase, a sullen look resting on her face. 

And it seems like you're denser than I give you credit for."

Anya pov

'The final showdown included the main antagonist and a hidden boss.' If the green-haired boy is intelligent enough to realise this, would he understand the hallucination where Chase died?

"I can't, I can't do this anymore." I remember sobbing pathetically, weakly. I was being dragged to a blinding white room with a misty haze, undoubtedly a sleeping gas. "We're putting you through this because your refusal is denied. You will learn classical language, starting of today."

I anxiously fiddle with the crumpled slip of paper in my pocket.

"ᴄᴏɴɢʀᴀᴛꜱ ᴏɴ ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇxɪᴛ, ᴛᴇꜱᴛ ꜱᴜʙᴊᴇᴄᴛꜱ #007 ᴏꜰ ᴀɴ-1ᴀ ᴀɴᴅ #018 ᴏꜰ ᴀɴ-7ᴀ!" I shove down the bile, shocked at ﷼⫋؋Σ's premonition. How did he know where we'd end up, and how'd he know we were? He used to be a 'renowned' pyschologist, so he must be familar with how our minds think.

"ʟᴇᴛ'ꜱ ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ɢᴀᴍᴇ; ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ʜɪᴅᴇ ᴏʀ ʀᴜɴ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴇ'ʟʟ ꜱᴇᴇᴋ! ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴀ ʜᴀʀᴍʟᴇꜱꜱ ɢᴀᴍᴇ, ᴜɴʟᴇꜱꜱ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴄᴀᴘᴛᴜʀᴇᴅ."

﷼⫋؋Σ pov

"The energy radiating off the three were too intense...it— it felt as if...we're the ones being hunted." The snakes bowed before me meekly, but I wasn't in a bad mood. Another time would also be perfeclty fine, since I've got plenty of backups in my basement!

Chase pov

I entered a compartment on the quiet train, where a girl with purple hair sat rigidly against the stiff leather seats. When she saw me, she visibly relaxed. I frowned. 

You shouldn't feel at ease with an opponent, and how am I different? She should be tense and alert, or else Earl Arthur would've beaten her to the bone. Shaking my head, I took the seat furthest away.

I ponder who I am. Who i think i might've been, if I even was someone before the lab abducted me. I am #018, and I've been fighting for my life the past 11 years. Who could keep an identity this big a secret? I looked at the girl, prim and proper even though she had rescued me from the pits of hell. My saviour.

"Lilac hair." She looks up, confused. "Me?"

"Yes, you. Who was I before...all of this? Was I someone people knew, did I go to school, any basic information to... reclaim who i am."

"Many knew you, but more as Dante's family. I knew you, too. As well as Damian, his friends, and even Anya, who's 007." A song started playing.

...under someone's bed
You put me on and said I was your favourite

Becky hummed along, swaying to the music slightly as she took out a pen. She shuffled closer to me, smelling distinctly of chamomile and vanilla.

To kiss in cars and downtown bars
Was all we needed

She focused on a gash that ran up my forearm, an inconsequential although brutal slice cutting through 2 layers of flesh. There, Becky poised the tip of her pen and pressed down gently.

You drew stars around my scars
But now I'm bleedin'

My skin felt like fire, the recently healed stitches becoming slightly undone. No blood appeared, but as I gritted my teeth in concentration, muscles contracting with each star, I listened to the lyrics.

'Cause I knew you
Steppin' on the last train
Marked me like a bloodstain

I wonder why I haven't pulled away yet, away from her grasp. I think there's a silent comfort, something so sincere about the gesture, that makes me want to patiently watch her.

I knew you.

Becky finished her artwork, and as our gazes swiftly locked, I saw a flash. Becky Blackbell had stunning amber eyes. That's why the brooch seemed to familiar. She smiled, a cheeky grin that was full of mischief. Yet I saw that it was not without a twinge of regret.

labyrinth arc: complete

[A/N — Should I write some fluff now, there's been enough angst. Btw: I took a break because of school, and 1.3k on this story?! 🙏 Thank y'all <3]

 lyrics: Cardigan by taylor swift