mention of self harm
Carina
Pisces looks at me as Taurus slips through the puddle. "You're last," he says with a shrug.
"Then how will I maintain the puddle?" I argue, frowning. Even now that my attention is diverted, the puddle is becoming smaller. I hate to admit it, but I also don't really want to teleport through the puddle. Even though yes, I trust Pisces.
"We'll go together," he improvises and closes his hand around my elbow. I've always wondered why he's shy, especially around me. Maybe it's because he thinks I can read his mind, or something. Even still, his touch is feather light and comforting.
The water soaks through my shoe. It's cold, is the last thing I notice before I feel myself pulled through the air and I land heavily on my backside.
"Crap," I wheeze, the breath knocked out of me. Scorpio roughly snatches my wrist and pulls me up into a sitting position. He doesn't look remotely concerned at all. How rude, I wonder and start devising a way to get him back, before his eyes soften and he wraps me into a light hug, a gesture of affection I hadn't expected. He's usually more distant now.
Looking around, I notice that we're in a familiar forest of bonelike trees. A forest that is completely empty and devoid of any life, as far as I can tell.
"Blood," points out Gemi, kneeling next to a sizeable reddish brown splotch. Leilani kneels next to him, her hair lightly brushing over his face. He blushes slightly, tracing the splotch with a finger, as if to distract himself. Old trick. I know that. Carina knows everything.
"It's old," calls Caprice. "I've seen that." She has a thick braided gray rope in her hand that seems to extend into the trees. Pursing her lips contemplatively, she turns it over before pulling on it with a hard yank. She nearly overbalances and falls, steadying herself against a tree, as the forest in front of us melts away quickly like ice cream in front of a ravenous Leo, or sanity in the Hell Zone. Instead of the forest, there's a lake stretching for a good distance. I can barely see the strip of shoreline on the other side, distant and pale yellowish white.
"That was an illusion," comments Ari, his tone impressed. Hesitantly, we clear the tree cover and walk over to the lake, Caprice still gripping the rope, unwilling to release it.
She experimentally tugs it again and suddenly, a relatively small boat floats into view. It has two sails. There are few ripples on the lake, implying little wind.
"We're supposed to cross the lake in a sailboat, apparently" states Leo matter–of–factly. "What? Is there something in the lake?"
Something emerges from the lake quickly before disappearing, small wavelets rippling in a circle from where it had emerged. Too big to be a fish.
"Yes, I think that would be fair to say," I assume, stepping forward and placing a foot on the prow of the boat. It's about twenty feet long, I'd say.
"We'll need three trips or so," Vienna steps forward, "given that anyone knows how to sail a boat."
There are no shallows. The lake simply starts, as if water was placed in a huge box. This only makes it more terrifying. "What if the boat flips?" Sagittaria ventures.
"I'd only worry about that if there was wind," I answer, pushing the boat with my foot so that it turns sideways, in order for me to climb in. "Wait a minute, though? There might be clues or something inside? Someone hold the sidestays for me while I hop in."
"Cari? This isn't a good idea," comments Pisces, stepping forward to tightly hold the sidestay. I slide into the boat carefully. The cockpit is surprisingly large. I'd say it could fit six people. It looks abandoned, but I can also see a scrap of paper hung over the tiller. Tangled in a line of rope is a small package.
Sitting down, I unfold the paper. It's blotched by water, ink running down the page, but I think it may be a map. Scrawled, stained trees surround what I assume to be the lake. And on the lake is a scribbled skull of very poor artistic quality. As if to reinforce the point stated, there's a blot of blood on top of the skull. I move my hand, but one of the cleats for the main sheet has been torn off the railing, leaving a sharp nail sticking up. A drop of my blood falls into the water as the nail scrapes my finger. Something dark clenches in my chest. As the blood dilutes, I wonder if I can see the water darken. My stomach twists. Something isn't right.
"Carina? Are you okay?" Scorpio asks as I stay silent, tracing my fingers over the soggy map.
I should've read it. I should've known. It was all my fault. I thought I could read emotions, but then ... my face throbs, the left side stinging. Gingerly, I prod it with my index finger and wince. It's going to be an impressive bruise. The door of our room clicks open and Scorpio enters, not bothering to knock. "Cari? You haven't come down, are you okay — oh shit." He abruptly stops, sitting next to me on the floor, but in silence. He's waiting for me to say something. Anything. I have nothing to say. It's my fault, anyway. I provoked him, didn't I?
"We'll be okay, you know that?" my older brother whispers, sliding an arm around my shoulders. "Show me your arm?"
I stiffen. My arm still throbs with pain, but I've come to rather embrace the pain. The bright red color of blood fascinates me, too. The color of life. The color of death. A bright color to paint with. It only comes at a small cost. I don't care all too much about my skin. Those talks of self care never impressed me. I don't think I ever thought myself worth caring for.
"Scorps. It's fine."
He squeezes my wrist lightly. "No, Carina Darktale. It's not fine. You're not worthless, Carina. I care about you. And I know that I'm not the only one."
A shiver ripples down my spine. Stop. I stand up, holding the map and grabbing the package on second thought. "All I know is that there's something not good here," I say, trying to regain control of my voice. "And I don't want to be in the water marked with a skull."
My hair skimming the water, laughing as I hook my feet onto the straps and lean back as the boat keels dangerously. My only escape.
I climb back out of the boat, my legs shaky. "Let's keep this by the shore," I suggest, snatching the rope from Caprice, which is tied around the boat's mast, and tie it around a nearby tree securely before wandering over to Scorpio. He lightly runs his fingers through my hair.
"You looked like you'd seen a ghost, sister mine." My gaze drops to the thin, silvery lines crossing my arm before raising back to his face, but I still don't speak.
"There's ..." Taurus's voice is calm. "There's a big shadow under the water."
Some instinct screams at me to run. Something tells me I've awakened something with my blood. I act on it. "Guys ..." I start, raising my voice before I notice something odd. "RUN!"
Caprice
Carina screams at us to run, her voice rising in pitch. The roughly circular shadow growing, darkening the water and embracing the small boat, strikes a deep horror in my heart. I twist and sprint back towards the forest, veering around the trees as I hear a splashing from behind us. I'm blindly running, only seeing the trees when I'm about to crash into them and turning away from them.
"Hey, hey, HEY!" a voice grows in volume and suddenly I'm stopped and being held at arm's length by a redhead. She looks like Aviva, but older. Her voice is laced with mischief and a hint of concern. "You can't just blunder through the woods, you know! You might be caught," she adds ominously before laughing. "Oh! I know you. You're the pineapple cult girl, right?"
"Caprice," I say stiffly. "You are Spectra Veil?"
"Wow. Your astute observations stun me," she says sarcastically, leading me through the forest at a calmer pace. Between trees, I can see Leo, Leilani, and Taurus, slowing down. "How did you come by the Skull Lagoon?"
"What?" I echo, staring at her with wide eyes. Her hair is a similar color to Sagittaria's, I notice, but it looks more golden.
"Don't you know?" she chuckles, pulling me along faster. "They say there's a malevolent, destructive spirit in there, and it wakes when you feed it blood. But I don't suppose you gave it a blood sacrifice, of course."
—
Spectra brings us through a side entrance carved into the side of a rolling hill. The cold staircase plunges down steeply, and we file down. Almost nervously, she says, "Hydrus has an alarm. He's not here today, of course, but he could teleport back. I don't care what you're doing, be careful. We have a few storage rooms if you're staying the day here. They're right down this hall and — oooh!" she breaks off at a flash of white at the end of the hallway, her eyes shining with malicious glee.
Streaking forward and leaving us, she enters a code into a thick, reinforced steel door, dragging it open with some effort and propping it open by removing a shoe and wedging it underneath before kicking off her second shoe. A few seconds after she ducks inside, she returns victorious with a squirming, cursing white–haired boy in her arms. Laughing, Spectra chastises, "Be more subtle about it, Haunt, will you?"
I remember the crash and frown suddenly. "Isn't Aviva supposed to be back yet?" I ask.
Haunt swallows. "I lost control and crashed it. Couldn't find her in the wreckage. She should be back soon." His face falls. Spectra's expression shifts.
"I'm sure," she says stiffly, her expression darkening and a shade of guilt passing over her eyes, "that my sister will be fine." She squeezes Haunt and he flails; he's about 5', probably shorter, and 98 pounds. Spectra is about 5'11" and over 130 pounds.
"Put me down!" he whines as Spectra chuckles and adopts a baby voice.
"It's good for you to be away from the computer and socialize. Look! People!"
"This is forced socialization," he grumbles, wriggling. Spectra finally drops him with a satisfied smirk as he tilts his head up to look at her, angrily, before whipping a kitchen knife from his pocket and stabbing it in the direction of his arm.
"No!" Spectra mock–scolds. "That's a bad Haunt! OH CRAP —" the knife nearly impales her arm and she sprints in the opposite direction, him chasing after.
—
After we'd ransacked the kitchen for food and water, we split into two groups. I decide to randomize the groups. Groaning at the results each time — both Ari and Leilani on my team, Scorpio and Aquaria in the same team together with Leo and Vienna — I secretly rerun it and decide to split us into three teams. "My team, we're breaking into Hydrus's room. Carina, Scorpio, Taurus, you're coming with me. Vienna's team is going to find more information. Pisces, Ari, Gemi, you guys are with her." I pause to take a breath before continuing, "Sagitta, you're taking Leo, Leilani, and Aquaria to be lookouts, watch what's happening, and not be idiots. Okay, got it? Let's go."
I'm surprised that my teams have as little tension as possible. Well, except for Pisces and Vienna, but I'm sure they'll just avoid each other. Anyway, it's too late to switch them around. They have two human shields, it should be fine.
We mount another staircase. I wrap the sturdy wooden door in vines, crushing it to powder. The hallway is wider, and I feel a breeze as if we're close to the surface. There are three doors in this hallway before it abruptly turns. Taurus peeks through each peephole and shakes his head silently. We turn the bend. There's only two doors in this hallway, which dead–ends. One is wooden and flimsy. Well, it's probably tough enough, but against my vines? No way. The other is solid steel. Carina nods shortly. This one is probably it. Asked me if I believed you ... I believe you.
I twitch my head sharply, as if trying to get rid of a fly. Don't think about it.
I keep thinking about those softly spoken words, though. I concentrate, the vines manifesting around my arms, charring the door where they thump against it. Scorpio places his palms against the door, a black stain spreading across it as he presses bubbles of corrupted water against it. The door breaks down, and we end up in a small bedroom. There's a messy bed, a long desk, at least three floor lamps, hanging cabinets lining each wall instead of a dresser. There's a huge shaggy rug, too, and a bedside table. It's steel, nailed down to the floor with no visible drawer.
Carefully kneeling next to it, I remove a piece of the carpet and wrap my hand in it, running it over the table. Carina washes over it with water, and Taurus tries to break it with vines.
"It's not working," I murmur in frustration. It refuses to give.
A wave of corrupted water washes over it, beginning to eat away at the steel as my vines dig in. With a shattering noise that I fear is too loud, it breaks in half. Inside is a drawer, yes. All that is inside this drawer is a slip of paper.
Still with a carpeted hand, I take the slip of paper and unfold it, frowning at the scribbled words, centered on the wrinkled, lined notebook paper.
You'll have to look harder, Archer. I'm not that stupid.
"Archer?" I echo, staring at the slightly messy script. Carina nudges me away from the slip that I hold in my hand, while Scorpio merely looks over my head.
Then the ear–piercing alarm goes off, wailing loudly. It pierces into my ears, though not as loudly as the Corrupted's scream. Footsteps pat into the room almost inaudibly.
A blonde girl dressed in green and white stands in the doorway. She's vaguely familiar. I can hear Nia's voice. I know her.
Unknown
A gasp of pain is all that Paranoia gets as blood seeps across the concrete floor. A furious light comes to Nia's eyes, but the stubborn thing still doesn't move. A deep slash is carved through her leg, bleeding profusely, and she's very pale. Her stomach is also bleeding. Paranoia would regret to break Nia so early, of course. But perhaps it's necessary.
Miasma's eyes blaze as she curls her hand into a fist, her and Antares's eyes meeting before a huge fire erupts in their cell. Right next to Paranoia and Nia, as Paranoia's knife lightly grazes the brat's skin.
Jumping back, Paranoia collides with the wall. Her reflexes, though, are perfect, and she draws out a dagger and hurls it at the chained Miasma. It pierces through her leg and the raven-haired woman twitches, lips parting in a ragged gasp of pain.
"We need the poison," is Paradise's simple statement. "Once you cut off a finger, you cannot cut it off again."
Paranoia locks the door with a nod. "That will be easier. Yes."
"You left your dagger with them?" asks Paradise as Paranoia's voice turns maliciously venomous.
"I doubt they'll be able to use it. The hilt is coated with poison, you see." She shakes free her gloved hands from her cloak as they ascend the stairway. "Thanks to Solaris, of course. As you said, Paradise. He's incredibly valuable."
Back in the cell, Nia's fingers are slippery with blood. "I think I have to do this," she says uncertainly, her voice shaking as she wraps her hand in her shirt and pulls out the hilt. Something smells off about the dagger. She lays it aside as Miasma utters a cry of pain, her teeth clenched.
Antares's eyes are concerned as he leans towards them. It's Nia, Sagittaria's apprentice, who notices the guilt and fear that dominates his gaze.
"She'll be fine," Nia speaks softly, glancing back at the bloodstained cell. "I swear on the Ascended." Swearing by the Ascended is common enough. The Ascended are deities of a sort, but nobody really knows what sort of deities.
"You do know," Antares's voice sounds as if he's choking something back, "that the Ascended are Corrupted? Wow, I didn't take you as a worshipper of the Corrupted." As Nia's eyes widen in shock, he cracks a weak smirk.
Yes! I published chapter 41 yesterday. And here's another one! I'm honestly so proud of myself. I have SO MANY other things I should be doing, but I did this! Still happy about it. I'm sure I forgot something, as usual. *sighs* but on the bright side, I have more tea, a teacup, and a kitchen again.