"New mission," Lady Gisela announced, sweeping into the dining room with a long magenta cloak behind her and newly dyed maroon hair. It was dinnertime, the food as pitiful as ever. Savi clucked her tongue disapprovingly. The hair didn't suit her grandmother at all.
"Got something to say, Nemesis?" Gisela asked crisply, her head swinging round to look Savi in the eye.
Savi faked a gentle cough, but everyone could see she was smirking even beneath her hood. "The new hairdo is atrocious," she said in Nemesis's low, critical voice.
Gisela didn't respond for a few seconds before whipping around, facing Savi. "Don't question my taste."
"On the contrary, I question it very much," Savi said, smiling wickedly.
Cerulean grabbed her arm, wanting to say something, but she was Nemesis right now and Nemesis did not submit to anyone. She shrugged him away, her hand whacking away his and she shoved him back into his chair.
𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘕𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴, she communicated silently, and his eyes flashed with knowing before he faked resentment.
"Well, what is the new mission?" Savi asked.
Gisela gave her a sidelong glance, as if saying she was overstepping herself, but Nemesis didn't bow to anyone. Savi merely gave her grandmother a raised eyebrow which she hoped the older woman could see through her hood.
"I want you and Cerulean working alone. Fox, you will continue tailing Sophie and Keefe," she instructed.
Fox didn't say anything, but her eyes flashed with impatience. Savi understood. If Fox truly was Councilor Clarette, she couldn't afford such a restricting job that forced her to tail someone day and night.
"Might I request an exchange?" Fox asked evenly. "You know I have other duties to account for."
"And your replacement will cover them quite nicely," Gisela responded.
Those who didn't know, like Trix the Guster, frowned, not understanding, but Fox merely smiled.
"She's capable, Gisela, but she isn't me."
Gisela sighed. "Then go. Trix, you will take her place."
"In spying?" Trix asked, a little shrilly.
Savi could see his mistake. He'd questioned a superior's orders. But Gisela only smiled.
"Ask the Technopath for her latest gadget. We'll have you covered, don't worry."
"It's not me I'm worried about," Trix muttered, his eyes locking onto Savi's mint green ones. He knew her eyes were a disguise, possibly the rest of her too. She shouldn't have chosen green. Maybe aquamarine. But there was no going back now.
Her eyes met his, her gaze unwavering. She would've never found this sort of strength and confidence as Savi, but Nemesis was someone else, entirely different.
Savi felt her eyes darken but she didn't know why and she wasn't angry. Her eyelids were turning black as night. No one could see through the cloak, but what was happening?
She stood up abruptly and left for her rooms. Cerulean got up to follow but Gisela stopped him with a raised hand, looking interested.
Savi shut herself in her bedroom. She could hardly see now. Darkness closed in around her vision without her being unconscious. For a few moments, she was blind.
And then her eyes cleared again, fading back into the regular shade of beige, and she frowned, touching her eyes, but her hands were blue. She fumbled and let her hands drop to her sides. Please, beige, she thought, and her hands faded back.
Only now... Something was amiss. What was this, a new ability? She-
Her door banged open and her mind screamed hide. Her body cooperated, turning her completely transparent. Savi slowly shifted so it looked like her cloak was hanging on a hook.
Gisela came in, frowning. "She removed her cloak," she noted. "Wonder where she's gone."
Savi hid her thoughts and emotions, frightened.
"Cerulean will coax her out of her shell," Gisela muttered to herself. "Fox! Bring in Cerulean."
The dark-eyed Shade came in, Cerulean strangled in shadow tendrils. He was gasping for breath and the tendrils were tight. Savi could see his face paling and red marks where the shadow shifted.
If only she had something offensive. Like... Well, maybe her Mesmerizing. Her eyes sparked. If she could use unspoken commands...
But she hadn't really practiced. But Cerulean was going to die! From blood loss, from-
"I'm surprised she isn't doing anything," Gisela said, sounding more amused than anything.
Cerulean choked against his bounds, his face turning blueish. His struggling turned feebler yet more desperate at the same time.
Savi thought once, thought twice, then tried it. Gisela walked out of the room, her hands snapped at her sides. Fox released Cerulean and he collapsed to the ground, shivering weakly. Then the Shade exited as well, looking as trapped as Gisela. She closed the door behind her and Savi quickly moved to lock it.
She made herself visible again and heard Gisela banging against the door, shouting. She made her grandmother shut up and shove her master keys under the door. Savi took them, smiling slightly.
Then she turned to Cerulean. "You all right?" she asked. Her voice sounded careless, but it was forced. She was concerned, she... Well, she didn't want to admit that she was. For reasons that Cerulean didn't need to know.
He coughed again, his body shaking on the ground.
Well, she was going to take that as a not okay. Half his body was covered in red lines, some of which were bleeding. Those shadow tendrils had evidently sank deep.
"Come on," she whispered softly and helped him onto the sofa. To his credit, he was trying to cooperate, but his face wasn't pale just from the lack of air. There was some blood loss mixed in there too.
Savi grabbed all the first aid she had, which admittedly wasn't much, and applied some ointment to his wounds. The Neverseen hadn't given her any of the gentle ones, so he cried out and let out pained sounds that broke her heart, but there wasn't anything better she could do.
She had to put up the heartless persona again. "Well, you'll recover," she said, about to leave him there and enter her private bedroom when he called weakly after her.
"Please... Stay with me."
"They tortured you, didn't they?" she asked, her voice devoid of expression. He tried to speak and swallowed painfully, his eyes glazing over for a moment.
"Tele...pathic."
"Oh. Right."
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺? she asked telepathically. He didn't flinch when her voice filled his head, merely sighing.
𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎, he responded, his telepathic voice light and teasing, with none of the pain he actually felt.
Then another round of pain spasmed through him from his wounds and he gritted his teeth and tried not to make a sound.
Savi wasn't afraid of his screaming. But it was him being tortured by pain and her standing by doing nothing that she couldn't take.
She walked over to him hesitantly before wrapping her arms around him. He leaned on her and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"You'll get better," she promised. "It's part and parcel of life."
She entered his mind again and his response was waiting for her.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘚𝘢𝘷.
She flushed slightly. "It's nothing, I... Whatever."
But she didn't leave him. And she stayed with him throughout the night.
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟏𝟏𝟕𝟓
𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐱𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲. 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭... 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲? 𝐔𝐦. 𝐒𝐨. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨!! 𝐂𝐨𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭. 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡. 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫!!