Chapter 25 – A kidnapping.
So many lies. Unique couldn't handle them all. They bottled up inside her, and made her confused. She was created, twice. The whole idea was foreign to her, and she didn't know how to wrap her mind around it.
Reluctantly, she placed the pictures beside her. In a way, she wanted to take them with her and keep them, but she decided to take only one for good luck. She needed it to be able to face Annelka again. She removed the picture from the frame, and then folded it carefully before placing it in her jeans pocket.
She left her father's house with mixed feelings. There wasn't much knowledge about Sion's whereabouts here and she did need to talk to someone. Hopefully, Envy's powers had worn off from Annelka by now.
Transporting was easier now, but the gnawing feeling that she'd forgotten something kept circling in her mind. She showed up outside Annelka's house, and inhaled deeply before she gathered the courage to go in.
The inside was a mess. The rug had been torn, and Unique feared for Annelka. She sped up and ran from room to room, trying to spot the gypsy woman. The kitchen was the worst. Knives were spread out on the floor, and Unique reminded herself to be careful. She wasn't going to get sneaked up on by an old woman. She walked into every room until she finally arrived outside the living room again. She peeked inside the room, to find Annelka sprawled out on the floor.
"Annelka!" Unique yelped and rushed to her side. She leaned down and listened after a heartbeat. When she heard it, she let out a sigh of relief.
"U-Unique?" Annelka opened her eyes and looked around to find her.
"Yeah. I'm here," Unique answered and took Annelka's hand. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm—“
A slow clap interrupted the woman, and Unique jerked around to see Sion lean against the doorframe.
"Sion!" she exclaimed. She wanted to run to him, but Annelka held her back.
"Don't go to him," the woman whispered.
Unique frowned. Why couldn't she go to Sion? She averted her eyes between the two of them, waiting for one of them to speak up.
Finally, Sion broke the silence by giving an innocent smile. "Why don't you come here, Unique? Haven't you missed me?"
Unique hesitated—something was off about his voice. She looked him over, and saw that his clothes were different from the one in her vision. They were cleaner. Her eyes met his, and she surveyed the way his cocked eyebrow curved. God, she'd missed his face.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
Unique gawked, she didn't know how to respond. Instead, she simply stared at him, watching as he slowly walked over to her.
"I'm kinda hurt, Unique. I thought you'd be more thrilled to see me." He pouted.
Sion squatted down next to her, and reached out to slide a finger across her cheek. "Haven't you missed me just a bit?"
Unique moved her head slightly—she was scared.
"Get... Away..." Annelka muttered.
Confused, Unique looked over the woman, aiming to reassure her that everything would be okay. She opened her mouth, when a hand snaked around her face, and covered her mouth and nose. She squirmed to get free, but a strong arm snaked around her waist and held her still.
"Hold tight. We're going on a little ride, love," Sion whispered in her ear.
Unique could protest, and she couldn't fight him off. Her eyes clenched shut as the sensation of transportation came over her. For some reason, she knew where they were going.
Envy's chortle caused Unique to open her eyes, and just as she had guessed, Sion had taken her to Envy's cave. She looked at her friend and apparent ex husband with sadness. It wasn't fair—she knew that, but there wasn't much that she could do else. Envy's grip on him was strong enough to make him betray Unique.
"Welcome, darling!" Envy exclaimed. "Fancy running into you here."
Unique bit down on her tongue to refrain from snapping at Sion's sister.
"Now, now. Don't look so bitter—it really doesn't suit you." Envy's cackling laughter filled the cave again, and the sound sent a shiver down Unique's spine.
"Tie her up," Envy said.
Sion obeyed, and it wasn't long before she was back to her earlier imprisonment. This time, it was so much worse than last though. She couldn't watch as Sion went against her, and she had to focus on keeping the tears back.
Unique focused on a spot above Envy's head and only vaguely listened in on the rambling from Envy.
"... poor little experiment." Envy laughed. When Unique finally looked over to her, the envious Goddess faked surprise. "What? You didn't know that you were nothing but a pathetic creation. A defect some might say."
"I knew..." Unique said. It wasn't technically a lie—she just didn't explain for how long she'd known. Is she kept being impassive and non-responsive, Envy might grow bored of her games.
Surprise overtook Sion's sister—this time for real.
"You knew? You knew how your father pleaded and begged Lif to give him a chance at parenting? How she refused because you weren't worth anything?"
The words stung deep inside, but Unique ignored it, and remained silent.
"Did they tell you that you're made from the dead flesh of the Goddess of death? That the very base of you is something rotten and decayed from the face of Mortitia?" Envy laughed. "You're nothing but recycled skin, Unique."
Gross. Unique cringed inside. When Envy put it like that, the nature of her creation seemed even more disgusting.
"And most of all, did they tell you how the love of your life couldn't stand the thought of you. He went to Retro to have his time rewinded, and his memories washed away."
The last part made Unique gasp, and her eyes moved to Sion. He didn't react, he was just staring empty out in space.
"Ah. You must have figured out your past, I see." Envy walked over to Sion. Her hand pinched his cheeks. "My dear baby brother, couldn't stand the thought of you. He wanted to forget every single moment he spent with you."
"Is that true?" Unique whispered. Her eyes didn't leave Sion's face, but he didn't answer.
"See, he can't even stand to have eye-contact with you now. It took a while, but his infatuation with you is entirely gone."
Unique couldn't stop the tear that escaped. One single tear slid down to the crook of her nose.
"I don't believe you." Unique struggled to locate her voice box, and the words came out barely audible.
"Of course you don't. Everybody just has to love you, right?" Envy placed herself on the ground in front of Unique. "Daddy's little precious toy, that's all you've ever been. Spoiled, and with everyone at the tip of your fingers."
Unique didn't want to listen any longer. She closed her eyes, hoping she'd be another place when she opened them again. If she just waited long enough, it might happen.
"Don't worry though. It'll all be better soon," Envy promised. "All the pain will be away soon."
Unique opened her eyes to see her rising from the spot.
"Sion, would you mind helping me?" she asked. He responded to her voice and nodded.
"Please go over and sit beside Unique. She needs your comfort right now," Envy said.
"I..." Sion tried.
"What?"
"I don't... want... to..." he said, forcing the words out.
Envy looked back at Unique. "Woops. Guess he resent you more than I thought."
Unique didn't know how many times a heart could break, but hearing those words from his mouth tore through her. She wanted to die. To be far away from here, and never come back. She wished she hadn't been born.
No, she wished that she'd never been created because that's what she were—a failed experiment.
A/N: Three uploads in the span of a few hours. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you all, so much. Please don't stop now, as there's still some parts to be written, and I now only have five days (Actually four since I'm leaving on the 24th)