Carina
Damn, I didn't miss Nia. I voice my opinion, too. I've always told Nia teasingly that I hate her, or that I highly dislike her. I do, sort of, like her. I mean, she's nice enough, and she did save my annoying older brother.
Scorpio shoots me a disgusted look at my proclamation and I merely stretch my lips into a grin, forcing my way to the front to peer between the bars into the darkness. I can see nothing, just some blonde hair. My heart jumps as I notice the blue and green highlights, faded but still visible. "Hey Nia, what's up?" I whisper, deciding to keep my voice down.
I get no answer. I glance behind me at Ari, gripping the bars. They seem ... meltable. Sneaking a look at Ari, I see that we've had the same thought. I remove my hands from the bars as Ari strokes his hand over them slowly, almost lovingly, melted metal steaming as it collapses into puddles.
"I'm going to see if it's Nia," Sagittaria pushes past me, her hand closed around Scorpio's wrist as she drags the unwilling brunette after her. His expression is a mix of frustration and concern. I can tell that first, he doesn't want to follow a Deadpool, especially the crazy arsonist, but he does want to see Nia.
"You're fine." It's a cold statement that yanks me out of the pit of misery in my mind. I raise my head, nails digging into my tearstained cheeks, finding it difficult to meet the piercing stare of my older brother.
"What if I'm not?" He knows I'm not. So why does he say this? I feel the stinging pain across my cheeks, the blood welling up in the scrapes my nails have caused.
"You're alive," is the simple three words that Scorpio speaks, tentatively reaching out a hand to comb through my tangled hair. "And I'll make sure you stay alive, sister mine. And I'll make sure you're more than fine."
"I should be there, not them," points out Gemi uncertainly, pointing to the fact that Nia's his twin sister, but I object.
"You are probably one of our most useless, so shut up," I say, repressing the smirk that threatens to rise to my lips. I've always laughed at the wrong times, smiled at the wrong things, but I guess I'm just like that. Also, I'm right. Gemi does have the useful ability of suffocating people, but he's probably too soft to use it. Useless having an ability that you don't use, right?
It's not more than two minutes until Sagitta pokes her head out, flicking a hand. "Come on. It's fine."
I'm the first one through, darting to the crumpled figure in a corner of the cell. Small and curled up. The unmistakable stench of blood rises up from the body — I'd almost thought corpse, since the smell is so strong. Scorpio is hunched over in a crouch next to her. My eyes adjust slightly to the dark, until a ball of fire flares above Leo's palm and he moves towards us, chewing his lip furiously. I'd turned my head automatically, not wanting to see who the body is. What's happened to it. But Scorpio sucks in a quick breath — Scorpio, who had carried me home after that. The slashing scars over my neck itch at the thought and I push the memories down, absently scratching at them. The long scars that would always catch your attention if you looked hard enough.
I force myself to look, my eye catching the beads of blood on Aquaria's lips, her teeth sunk into her lower lip as her eyes dart between Leo and the opposite wall. Absently, she swipes her tongue over her lips and licks the blood away.
It's Nia. Blonde hair is streaked with not only the formerly bright blue and green highlights, but soaked in dried blood. Her arms are covered in bruises, scratches, and scrapes. Blood is crusted around her side, where the stab is. The wound is gaping, as if a knife has been used. It's pierced right through, grazing her ribs so that I can see the gleam of bone. I hear Leo gag from behind me as my eyes move down to the slash just above her knee. She's filthy, bloodied, and a horrible sight to see.
"Oh," whispers Scorpio, snatching Nia's hand and holding it up to the dim light Leo has produced. Her left hand is also bloody, and there is a large cut around her pinky finger, and it's deep. Very deep. As if someone tried to cut her damn finger off.
"We need to get her out of here," I mumble. I need to get out of here. "I, uh, I'll be right back. Just need to get some air."
"Don't blame you," Leo says under his breath as I almost run out, where the corridor is at least lit a bit more. Leaning a hand against the cold wall, I try to regulate my breaths. Breathe in, breathe out. My fingers curl, nails scratching the wall painfully.
"If you get too worked up, imagine choking someone slowly to death," suggests a false cheerful voice as someone slams the bedroom door with a bang, rapid footsteps approaching me.
"What? Why are you here?" My forehead is pressed against the cold wall — I jump, facepalming into the wall again with a pained noise as Aquaria's voice interrupts my carefully cheerful thoughts. Carefully trying not to think of the thoughts that reach me in the darkness, grasping for control of my mind.
"Because I want to be. Nobody can stop me." That is a truth. Nothing will stop the Raven Bride if she decides to do something. Cold fingers tap my shoulder as she continues, "If it helps, curl your fingers around their imaginary neck."
"Sometimes, I want to choke someone to death that is right behind me," I stress. I sense the grin on my friend's face as she pats me on the shoulder again and runs out of the room.
"Oh, shut up!" she yells as she darts towards the living room, quick footsteps receding. "I thought it was perfect!"
"Ooooh. Are you an idiot I know, or an idiot I don't know, or an idiot I want to kill?"
I pause at the voice from the next cell, my head snapping over to search for the source. I see no one. Just darkness.
"Is there an option in which I'm not an idiot?" That's the first thing I choose to say.
"Nope, unless you're Miasma, which I highly doubt, since you sound very much like an idiot." The voice is light and far too joking for the somber surroundings.
"Oh, let me guess." I sigh, giving up on trying to see beyond the bars as I finally get the image of Nia's body out of my head. "You're Antares, the bubblegum–headed fool?"
"Just because I got myself captured doesn't mean I'm a fool," Antares objects with a huff. "Since you're probably one of the idiots I got myself captured for, at least do some fancy magic and get me out."
"I can't do that," I answer truthfully, turning on my heel to head back into Nia's cell. Antares's disappointed snort of "Of course you can't," follows me in.
Scorpio
This hasn't been the worst I've seen. The worst I've seen was a six–year–old Carina close to death. Well, I don't know how close she was, and I'd like not to think about it.
"Avoidance never heals, but I'm sure it feels good, and that's all I care about."
One of the things she was right about. A very rare occurrence, her being right. Especially now. I carefully pick up Nia. She's limp in my arms, but I do know that she's alive. That's all I care about. She's got to be alive.
"There's someone else," voices Vienna in slight surprise, "and she's conscious."
"Oh. You're alive," the hoarse voice sounds a bit subdued and disappointed.
"And you sound happy about it," Vienna says pointedly. "Expected us to die?"
"Yeah, because I was hoping that if I survived I wouldn't have to deal with you," Miasma's snippy tone is evident in this answer. "Sadly, my wish was not granted. Guess you can't have everything in life."
—
We end up in three straggling groups, moving through the hallway. Caprice, Gemi, and Carina end up with Miasma, Nia slung across Caprice's back even though I had insisted on carrying her. I just — I'd felt almost guilty, as if it was my fault, which I know it wasn't ...
But there is no arguing with a Deadpool. Not after she's set her mind to it. And Caprice had faced me exactly as Aquaria would, had she known she was right and that there was no way I could stop her. Not that I didn't try stopping her. I'd been her voice of reason. A voice, I soon discovered, that was ignored each time. Until we'd switched roles the night I'd nearly died. The night I'd fallen.
Leo and Leilani are discussing something in hushed voices behind me, with Taurus glaring at Leo's back and mumbling threats under his breath. Antares is covering a disgruntled Pisces's ears, which leads me to conclude that Leo and Leilani are most certainly shooting dirty jokes at each other.
And who am I stuck with? Useless idiots, that's who. Vienna is moderately useful, Sagittaria's sulking, Ari's at least corrupted magic even if he is an idiot, and Aquaria, who isn't even worth thinking about.
It's no surprise that I'm the one to find the small tunnel, carved into the wall at an angle so that it would be rather easy to bypass and ignore. I shove Ari, "Hey. Stop pining over your girlfriend and let's take this tunnel."
"I don't think this is a good idea — uhhhh — also — what?" Ari mumbles under his breath, tearing his eyes away from his feet, which don't seem to be worth the studious attention they're receiving.
"We're not actually together," Sagittaria snipes, throwing a hard stare at Ari before twisting her fingers together and averting her eyes.
I roll my eyes, choosing not to answer that I was only guessing at the contents of his empty brain and hadn't considered Sagittaria as worth a thought.
Deadpools just aren't worth it. And I'd know.
"Okay — okay, fine. Let's do it then, I guess," Ari mumbles, his cheeks reddening. I notice the confused glance at Sagittaria but deem it below me to care.
The corridor is even more dark and damp, if that's possible. I can't help shivering in the cold as the stench of something dead rolls over me. A large cell stretches next to one wall — disturbingly large. I step in a suspicious puddle that's sticky and somewhat dried. Aquaria's bright hair flashes as she stops. Grudgingly, I have to stop too. She casually strips off her sweater and ties it around her head, hiding her hair. I've never really noticed before that her gloves reach to her elbow. They're so conspicuous now that she doesn't cover them.
"Why'd you do that?" wonders Ari. Vienna snorts, but her attention is fixated on the cell, a frown hovering at her lips.
"My hair is cyan," Aquaria deadpans, her fingers tugging at her gloves. "If there's anything with half an eye, it'll see me."
"Why is your hair cyan?" Ari's definitely sounding nervous, as it's obvious in the way he asks. Because it's more than likely that there is something there.
"None of your damn business—" Aquaria freezes at the same time that Vienna mouths a few curses and Sagitta presses a hand against her lips. A shiver passes through the room, but there's nothing. Nothing but the hanging notion that there's something not right.
"And why is it none of our business?" I ask this almost automatically, not even paying attention the words my lips shape. I'm used to contradicting every of her words.
Aquaria's lip curls back as she hisses at me. I've no idea why demons do that, and I don't want to know. "Go screw yourself," she spits at me, enunciating each word with disgust. Apparently, I've said something bad. I don't even care. The more I've offended her, the better.
My response is the same as it was each morning, back at Lonely Star. Every morning, before noon, we'd have to see each other, since the Hell Zoners are all the same age and take classes together. And each morning, she'd glare at me like I had ruined my day by existing, which suited me just fine. And she'd say those exact words. I shoot her a halfhearted smirk now. "Screw me yourself, honey."
A long hiss escapes her lips as she death glares the wall, cursing to herself. Really, what else did she expect? We've gone through this routine each morning, and she thinks I'd say something different, when this puts her off so much? I snort to myself and glance away.
And I see the shadow as the room ends. But before that, I see that the bars of the cell have been twisted at the end, snapped in the center and mangled. Obviously, enough for something to get out, given the low rumbling I hear. The shadow is serpentlike, split into two at the top, a tail trailing over the floor that is split into two points. If I'm correct — that's two–headed.
The fog hits me from the back. It actually hits me, as if it's corporeal. It smells of a sharp tang that isn't blood, but somewhat like citrus, but it stings my nostrils. Figures swirl in the mist, hard to make out at first but growing clearer quickly, as if they stand just in front of me, as if they're real. They were real. This time, I don't suppress the shiver.
"Oh, just say it already." Looking into her eyes, I can see something shifty in them. As if she's trying to push something back into her mind.
"She isn't telling you everything. There are secrets you don't know." The voice is smooth. I don't recognize it, but I don't like it. Then again, I trusted my best friend ...
I let someone get in when I'd decided that I wouldn't let anyone get in, because it was better that way. I won't do it again. I swear. I trusted family, I trusted, I trusted —
Some noise rises in my throat and I try to cut it off, blinking my eyes furiously. I try to look away as the broken feeling returns to me, like a memory.
No, I can't think about this now. The hydra coils and comes into view, and I push away the fog, trying to make the memories shatter and disappear. It's a snakelike creature with two heads and two tails, and it is not small. It's slate grey with dark blue speckling. One of the heads dart forward, hissing, as its body sways slightly from side to side. It stills for only a few seconds before it darts forward, one head aiming for Sagittaria, the other for Vienna. The cavern floor rumbles as the hydra is nearly impaled by a spike of rock. Flames dance around Sagittaria's fingers as she dodges. A sparking noise leads me to see Aquaria, electricity flickering intensely over her skin. She seems unbothered by it as she dives in Sagittaria's place, slamming her palms against its neck. It releases a shrill shriek of surprise, the head thrashing for a moment as my archenemy makes as much skin contact with the hydra as possible without being injured. Vienna nearly impales it again as Ari engulfs the other head in dark fire and a lightning bolt slams through the ceiling to just barely miss its tail.
I reach into its mind. It's sentient. I can barely feel anything — it's like gripping fog. And I twist. Not with my hands, but with my mind. I make it see red, I make things prowl in the corner of its vision, let fear and fury battle. And I watch, as if from a distance, as the heads, joined with one thought, turn on each other.
Unknown
Paranoia almost seems exasperated. "False alarms," she mumbles, "tell me something new." Admittedly, the last sighting was most certainly a false alarm, but it was a century ago, and far before Paranoia and Paradise had taken control. Really, they'd only taken over recently, and the previous leader had been so easy to kill. But Paranoia would not let herself be usurped.
Solaris had been thrown in the dungeons by the previous leader, and had a grudge against him. And so he had not really believed that she'd be seen again alive, the vaguely familiar figure. He had never seen her before that day, but he'd been able to guess who she was by the way she held herself. It had surprised him, but what had surprised him even more was the day she reappeared wearing the previous ruler's bloodstained cloak.
"It has been a while," he suggests. "Perhaps you should go look. And where is Paradise?"
"Off chasing after whoever created the Thirteen, I imagine," Paranoia answers, a hint of hostility in her voice. They don't get along, but they work together. In times of victory, Paranoia and Paradise are far more easy with each other, but in times like this, they get at each other's throats a lot. "It does not matter. I will deal with it."
Paranoia knows she is younger than whoever that is. That's a given. But she's stronger, even without Paradise. She's tried to find out why, but she knows she could obliterate whoever it is. And so she sweeps from the room, leaving Solaris to glare at the screen and consider smashing it in with a hammer, but that is a fantasy only briefly entertained. He stares with slight distaste at his hellhound.
"Thesana!" he calls for his assistant as the alarm finally fades away. Solaris stares at the nearest screen, which depicts a hydra. He can see one of the creations he's most proud of, and the fog it produces. But it isn't under threat. Is it?
"THESANA!" Solaris demands again as the quarter siren scrambles in. Some pure Corrupted are weaker than some half Corrupted. She's one of those that are weaker than those with less Corrupted in their bloodline, but she's certainly useful.
"Solaris? Paradise is asking if you can give her some more of that poison when she returns, the brat is particularly unwilling to speak. Or maybe it's because she's unconscious."
"That can go to hell," Solaris responds coolly, pointing a finger at the screen. "Get something down to the hydra cell, Thesana. I want to know what is fighting it, and why they aren't dead yet."
Alright, well, I didn't hit the two-week mark yet. If you have a problem with my updating, I will direct you to yell at Gatekeep. Part of the reason I'll do that is just because I want to, and also because it's partially her fault. Anyway -- hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll now vanish into the abyss from where I came.