When the Shane Gang referred to what happened with Twist, the word "lucky" definitely wasn't the first thing to come to mind. But that's what they had been- lucky.
Lucky that Kord, Trixie, and Pronto were able to fend off Blakk's workers and take down Diablos Nacho. Lucky that Eli had gotten the upper hand when fighting Twist. And lucky that Alana hadn't been completely flattened by the rockfall.
However, instead of being somber about their close call, the gang (mostly encouraged by Alana) decided to look on the bright side. It was a shame Twist had betrayed them, and despite the pain that each member of the Shane Gang couldn't help but feel when things got quiet, they would always wish things could have turned out differently. But Alana had experience with dwelling on the past, and she knew it wouldn't lead anywhere good.
As Alana sat in the training room, which was beneath the living room and completely encased by the mushroom-tree holding up the hideout, she couldn't help but think, training is a way better way to handle things.
When Will had disappeared, she had been at her lowest. Days were spent laying curling up in the bean bag chair, staring blankly at the living room. It wasn't literally empty by any means. Her slugs kept her company. But whenever she saw the portrait of Will and Eli hanging on the wall, Alana would stare up at his blue eyes and warm smile and understand a whole new meaning to the word empty.
A ten-year-old little girl living in a huge hideout with only the company of her slugs, wondering how it could feel like her life was over before it really started.
She'd been like that for a year. There was gold in the hideout she used for food, whenever she felt like eating, and some of Will's old friends that knew about her helped out. Grendel would drive by once a week with a packed meal, talk to Alana for an hour or so (he would do the talking. Alana would only give noncommittal responses), then leave for the Forge.
Then, one day when she was forced to travel to a store to get food, she had a wakeup call initiated by meeting an old friend. From then on, Alana did her best to carry on with her life and not let the story end there.
Now, instead of moping around and waiting for someone else to talk some sense into her, Alana was coping with her emotions with the help of the punching bag in the training room.
She was never much of a hand-to-hand fighter, although now that they knew Blakk had someone like Twist on his side, the gang decided they should try to brush up on their skills. Her slugs, rather uninterested in any training that didn't involve a blaster, lounged around the training room, playing around as Alana released her anger into the punching bag, her mind churning with the once-dormant memories Twist had brought up inside her.
Thump.
Alana stood hidden in the shadows of the mushroom-tree forest, watching as the small building was evacuated. Steely gray walls with scarlet details, boxing in terrible secrets.
Thump.
"Where's the kid that was delivering the dark water?"
"I think she's still inside!"
"I'm not going back in there!"
Thump.
Alana ducked through the crumbling building. Either Blakk had cut corners or Gav was more powerful than she thought- maybe a mix of both.
"Hello?" she cried, ducking as a ceiling panel clattered to the ground next to her. "Is there still someone in here?"
She whipped around as she heard a cough to her right, and when she saw the last worker, her heart leapt into her throat.
Thump.
"I didn't know you would be here!"
"It doesn't matter! You're just like him, thinking you know what's best, thinking you can change things! He was so arrogant!"
Thump.
"I know you're mad at me, but that doesn't matter! We need to get out of here, it isn't safe!"
"No. I'm not spending my life indebted to you. If you're really on the other side, I'm not even speaking to you again."
Thump.
Tears ran down Alana's face.
"Please don't do this."
"I don't even know if I want help."
"Don't say that!"
The floor shook beneath her feet. The building was collapsing around her.
"Just let me help you!"
"Leave."
Thump.
Alana lowered her fists, panting as she blinked and the training room came back to view. She wasn't standing in the crumbling depot, trying desperately to reason with her trouble friend. She wiped sweat on the back of her arm and sat down on one of the benches, unwrapping the cloth she'd tied around her knuckles.
She glanced at her right shoulder. Normally, she was wearing a blue shirt, metal plating, and her shoulder pad connected to her bandoleer. But now, she had a black tank top, exposing her entire arm, including the burn scar halfway between her elbow and the top of her shoulder. She didn't remember where she'd gotten that one. Then the final physical remainder of Twist's betrayal, a pink line at her elbow where a rock had cut deep. She'd always remember that one.
Then her gaze traveled to her left arm. A scar just above her wrist. Alana always made sure to wear gloves around the gang, because she didn't want them to get the wrong idea. She knew where her mind would go if she saw it without knowing the full story. The truth was almost as bad, though. What hurt more- an injury inflicted by yourself, or an injury inflicted by someone you once considered to be your best friend?
The second the rubble settled, Alana sprinted back toward the collapsed building. Out of the smoke and rubbled climbed Dana, her gray and scarlet uniform charred and stained red- with what, Alana didn't know.
"Oh guardian slugs, are you okay?" Alana cried out as she skidded to a halt, holding out her hand to her friend.
But instead of taking it, Dana snarled and, quick as lightning, unsheathed her dagger. Alana gasped and pulled back as Dana lunged forward without even looking up, the knife splitting open the skin on her exposed forearm.
"Why would you do that?!" Alana cried as she backed away, holding her bleeding arm close to her chest. Tears began to flow down her face.
Dana looked up at Alana, and although her bangs obscured her eyes, Alana saw that they were narrowed in fury, and red.
"Over there!" a worker shouted. Alana looked up wildly as the other Blakk Industries workers caught sight of her and began to make their way through the rubble. She didn't want to leave her friend, but she had no choice. Tears streaming down her face, she turned and ran away.
Alana cracked her knuckles nervously, pressing down the memories as she began practicing cartwheels, summersaults, backbends, running through imaginary duels in her head. Don't think about the past, just carry on.
~~~~~~~~
Dana looked around, her scarlet eyes narrowed as she tried to find the worker she was supposed to be training with.
He really was training, or at least trying to, but it was more like a game of cat and mouse than a duel. It wouldn't take much to find out who the cat was.
Her grip on her blaster tightened as she let her mind wander around the training room floor, searching for the ghoulslinger's ammo.
There.
She felt the little bundle of dark energy that made up his bandoleer, behind one of the foam barriers on her right. Without hesitation, she loaded and fired a Dark Urchin. The ghoul growled as it released a wave of pale green spikes that imbedded themselves into the foam. The uniformed worker shrieked and ran out from his cover, firing a Grimmstone.
Dana smirked as she dodged it, and then a Pyringo, and a Harmashelt. She moved like water, always expecting the next shot in time to dodge it. She could feel the dark energy as it approached her- try as he might, there was no point in trying to surprise her.
She fired an Amperling that electrocuted the worker, sending him to the ground. Dana rolled her eyes as she walked over.
"Nice try," she began, but was cut short when the worker leapt to his feet, kicking Dana's blaster out of her hands. She sighed as the red device clattered to the ground and lunged for the worker.
She punched him in the side of the face, sending him stumbling. He dropped down and swung his feet around, but Dana jumped over his legs and kicked the worker in the shoulder, shoving him to the ground. He scowled and threw a punch, but Dana caught his arm and flipped him over on his stomach, twisting his arm back behind him and pulling her dagger from her sheath. She whipped it to the worker's throat, then halted.
Do it, a voice in her head urged. Make an example of him, make a statement of the power you possess.
Dana's hand trembled and her hand tightened around the dagger's hilt. It would be so easy, but she knew she shouldn't.
She screwed her eyes shut and forced herself to lower her weapon. She sheathed it as she stood up, releasing the worker.
"Better luck next time," she said coldly as she straightened out her jacket and walked away from the worker, who was shaking in fear. She picked up her blaster and set it in its holster, leaving the training room without another word.
"I saw that."
Dana immediately straightened her back and tensed her shoulders as she turned around. Doctor Blakk stood in the dark gray hallway behind her.
"Saw what?" she asked, as if she didn't already know. She folded her hands behind her back, away from her weapons.
"You know that I of all people encourage your aggression," Blakk said. "But I prefer to keep my workers alive. They're much more useful that way."
"I didn't kill him, he's fine!" Dana said quickly.
"I know you didn't. But I was watching your training and I saw the hesitation you had," Blakk explained. "That's what worries me. I'm not normally one to tell you to hold back, but I cannot have my workers in mortal peril if they duel you."
Then get better workers, Dana thought bitterly, but she pushed away the thought and nodded.
"I understand. I'll be sure to be careful," she said.
"Your aggression has been increasing lately," Blakk noted. "Has something changed with your... condition?"
"No," Dana said, tightening her fists behind her back. "It's the same."
"Then it's this Alana girl."
Dana's eyes narrowed. At the sound of her name, almost every muscle in her body tensed, and she wanted nothing more than to release her anger.
"I'm eager to finally meet her in the field," Dana said tightly. Blakk nodded.
"And, in due time, you will. But not yet. For now, Twist has returned and is free to discuss anything he may have learned with you," Blakk said, turning away. "Don't hold yourself back, Dana. Just save your fury for the Shane Gang."
"I will," she said. She stayed still until Blakk rounded a corner before turning to head down the hallway and find Twist.
It took her a while. He wasn't in the cafeteria, or any of the training rooms, or the ghouling department. Finally, Dana found him sitting alone in one of the worker lounges, leaning back in a chair and watching the news play on a television mounted to the wall.
Dana sat down in a chair across from him, grabbing the TV remote from the armrest of his chair and shutting off the television.
"Let me guess, you want to talk about a certain blue-haired girl," Twist said, sounding bored as he met Dana's gaze. Maybe it was just because he was another kid working for Blakk, but he never had any trouble meeting her scarlet eyes. Even here, he radiated confidence, although Dana often supposed it was an illusion.
"You guessed right," she said, leaning back in her chair. "Did you get anything?"
"She has nightmares, you know that?" Twist asked.
"She has ever since I met her," Dana said with a shrug. "She's had a lot happen to her, and she doesn't even know all of it. Blakk has a pretty good idea, but I don't think she knows. Something to do with her old home."
"Funny, it didn't sound like she was talking about an old home," Twist said, fiddling with the edge of his vest. "Sounded like she was trying to help someone who didn't want it."
Dana narrowed her scarlet eyes.
"Weird," she said coolly. "Got anything else other than night terrors?"
"Not really," Twist said. "Although I did mention you, and it made her slip up enough that she almost got crushed under a rockslide."
Dana remained silent.
"She was pretty insistent that she actually tried to save you," Twist said, raising an eyebrow. "And was shocked to hear that you're working for Blakk."
"She thinks that after the incident I went back to live with my family," Dana said, toying with the edges of her fingerless gloves. "She always wanted me to go back to them, give them another chance. She's naive."
"What exactly was the incident?" Twist asked, leaning forward. "All I know is that you used to be normal, and now you're..."
"Infused with dark energy," Dana finished, getting to her feet. "And I don't discuss it."
Twist sighed and shrugged. "Well, whatever it was, it sounds like she's sorry. Just thought you should know."
"I don't want to hear anything she has to say about it. No amount of apologizing will ever change what happened to me."
~~~~~~~~
Alana sighed and trudged upstairs into the living room, her arms aching from the couple hours she'd spent in the training area. She'd put on her gloves and had Ash and Mage back on her shoulders, and still wore her tank top. For a moment, she hesitated, but she realized she didn't care as she reached the living room. Let them see the burn scar. After Twist, she almost felt like she could trust the rest of the Shane Gang more now.
However, as she looked around the living room, she saw only Eli.
"Hey," he said from the couch, where he was sitting flipping through a book. Alana frowned and glanced at a window- it was dark out.
"How long was I down there?" she asked incredulously.
"A while," Eli admitted with a shrug. "We figured we'd just leave you be. Did you blow off some steam?"
"Yeah, actually," Alana said as she walked over and rested her arms on the back of the couch, looking over Eli's shoulder. "What're you reading?"
"Not reading as much as just looking," he said, holding the book up so Alana could see. Magnificent photos filled the pages, depicting emerald rainforests and blue skies, teal oceans and tan fields stretching into the horizon.
"Wow," Alana breathed. "The surface never ceases to amaze me."
Eli nodded and looked down at the pages wistfully.
"I feel more homesick than usual," he said. "I dunno. Without Twist, everything just feels off."
Alana sighed and rubbed her eyes. She really had blown off steam- at the start of the day, she would have been filled with fury at the mention of the blond's name. But now, she was just tired and sad.
"I know how you feel. I really thought he'd be a good part of the team," Alana said. "But sometimes things just don't work out. At least now we know to be more careful with strangers, and Twist may not completely be hopeless-"
"How are you so positive?" Eli asked, a twinge of annoyance in his voice. Alana winced and leaned back, stepping away from the couch. "We take a chance on someone, give him our trust, welcome him into our family when he told us he didn't have any, and he stabs us in the back. And you're just fine?"
"I'm fine now, yeah," Alana said, trying to keep her voice lowered- the rest of the gang was probably asleep. "I thought you would be, too."
"Well, I'm not," Eli snapped, shutting his book and getting to his feet. He turned to face Alana. "You know trust is huge for me, Alana."
"I know," Alana said patiently. "But it's been days, so I thought by now you would've at least started to get over it."
"Sorry to disappoint, but I haven't," Eli said quietly, turning away. Alana frowned and reached over the couch to grab his shoulder.
"Have you done anything? To clear your head?" she asked. Eli shook his head. "Well that's why, E. You've just been sitting around letting this build up. I did my training, Kord worked on Mechas, Pronto fantasized on what he'll do next time he sees Twist, Trixie went out filming around Wild Spores. But you haven't done anything to get Twist off your mind."
Eli sighed and turned to face her. "You're right."
"I know I am," Alana said cheerfully, hopping over the back of the couch. "So, what do you think we can do to blow off some steam?"
"A duel, I guess?" Eli said. "I'm always up for a duel."
"Then a duel we shall have," Alana said, putting her hands on her hips. "Let me go change, then we're mounting up and riding out."
~~~~~~~~~
Eli was quiet as Alana led the way through Wild Spores. The Lumino ore on the cavern ceiling was out, and only a portion of the blue and purple ore on the ground was glowing. The mushrooms around them provided most of the eerie light.
"You think here is good?" Alana asked, looking around the forest. It was far away enough from the hideout that she wasn't worried about waking up the gang, but not so far in the middle of nowhere that she was worried about an ambush.
"Yeah," Eli said with a shrug. "I don't know if this will help, though."
"It will," Alana said confidently as she hopped off Midnight, patting the black and cyan wolf's side. Eli did the same, dismounting from Lucky.
"Okay, nothing out of the ordinary. Just duel till the other one can't," Alana said, grabbing her blaster and leaning it against her shoulder. "Go all out, let out your anger. I guarantee you'll feel better."
Eli nodded and wordlessly grabbed his blaster.
"Three, two, one, duel!" Alana called. Eli snapped into battle mode, his demeanor immediately evolving into aware and ready.
He fired his Rammstone, which crashed into the ground in front of Alana, sending her toppling back. She let herself roll, firing her Phosphoro in the air. The slug let off a burst of fireworks that illuminated the forest, and Eli raised his arm over his eyes to shield himself from the glow. Alana fired her Frostcrawler, Kelvin, at the ground. The slug created stair step pillars of ice, capped with snow to keep Alana from slipping as she jumped up them.
Eli regathered himself and fired his Lariat at Alana, who leapt out of the way before getting slimed and grabbed a vine from a mushroom-tree and swinging away from Eli.
"Two can play at that game!" Eli called, firing his Arachnet and swinging through the trees after Alana.
"Whoo!" Alana called as she let go of her vine and landed in the branches of a tree. "Treetop duel!"
She crouched down in her branch, watching as Eli swung closer to her, trying to anticipate where he would try to land. After getting the general idea, she fired Gav at a mushroom tree a couple dozen feet from her. The Grenuke detonated, knocking off the top half of the tree that Eli was about to land on. He yelled out in alarm and quickly let go of the Arachnet web early, freeing his hands to fire his Bubbaleone at the ground.
He landed on the transformed slug and bounced up in the air, landing in the branches of another mushroom-tree.
"Nice try!" he called out to Alana, who shrugged.
"It was worth a shot," she responded before firing her Rammstone, Sarge. Eli fired his Armashelt, then his Tazerling. Sarge knocked the Armashelt out of the air, but Joules electrocuted him, causing him to turn back to protoform. Alana gasped and leapt out of her mushroom-tree before Joules landed on it, sending neon bolts of lightning through the tree.
Alana fired her Arachnet, who spat out a web and pulled her back up to a tree canopy. She ducked as Eli fired a Grenuke her way, sliding down to the other side of the top of the mushroom top. She took a moment to catch her breath before she loaded her Negashade.
She jumped to another canopy, firing her Negashade as she did. It flew around the mushroom-trees, coating the area in thick black smoke. Alana paused and let her senses spread out, feeing around the area for the light energy that signaled Eli's ammo.
Sure enough, she felt a small bundle of energy a few trees over. Alana loaded Ash and pointed it at the direction she felt Eli in and fired. Ash transformed, flames trailing out from behind him. As the slug sped through the air, it blew away the smoke, clearing out a path to Eli, who spun around when he heard the Infurnus coming.
Ash belched out a ball of fire, and Eli yelled out in alarm as he jumped from his mushroom-tree. He fired his Jellyish at the ground, who spat out a glob of slime. Eli landed in it, groaning as he was soaked in green goop. Alana jumped down from the tree, landing in front of him.
"Quick thinking," she commented as she walked towards him, loading her Tazerling. Eli smirked and pulled his arm out of the goo, firing a Hop Rock. Alana gasped and jumped to the right, nearly slamming into a tree.
"Quicker than you think," he laughed as he climbed out of the slime, firing his Rammstone. Alana ducked out of the way, diving forward and firing her Aquabeek. It sprayed out a jet of water that blasted Eli back into the mushroom trees. Alana got to her feet and followed after him, looking around the jungle wildly.
She smirked- he was trying to be sneaky, but she could feel the slugs in his bandoleer and backpack as he crept up behind her. She spun around, her blaster raised and loaded with Ash, and turned to face Eli, who stood behind her with Burpy loaded in his blaster.
Both slingers burst out laughing at the sight of the other at blasterpoint, lowering their weapons.
"That was fun, wasn't it?" Alana panted as she holstered her blaster:
"Yeah," Eli said. He sat down on the ground, stretching out his arms before laying down. Alana sat down criss-cross next to him, tugging at some grass.
"You feel better now?" she asked.
"Mhm," Eli responded, looking up at the glowing mushrooms around him. "I'm sorry, I was acting kind of like a jerk earlier."
"Yes, you were," Alana said nonchalantly as she tied blades of grass into knots. "But it's okay. You were really upset, and you had a right to be. But you can't not do anything- take it from me. It'll just grow inside you and make things worse."
"It's sounds like you speak from experience," Eli noted.
Alana's heart sank a little. She wanted to talk about it. Talk about losing Will, the emptiness that followed, the hole left in both of their lives. Alana had spent the last five years looking wistfully at the hideout's portraits of Will, but she didn't know what Eli had been through. She didn't know if he was okay talking about him, and she didn't know how to ask.
"I've got wisdom beyond my years, Shane," she said, forcing a smile as she got to her feet and held out her hand. Eli took it, standing up and brushing grass off his clothes.
"Thanks for helping me out," he said. The two headed back to their Mechas, both considerably more tired than they had been when they arrived at the forest, one feeling much better than when he had arrived, and one feeling conflicted as she tried to decipher what Eli was and wasn't eager to discuss.
"No problem," Alana said with a shrug. "I miss him too, you know. Twist," she added quickly. "I didn't just forget about him right away. I just found a way to cope. At least we found a way for you to do that."
"Yes we did," Eli yawned. "I just hope it isn't necessary again any time soon."
~~~~~~~~
Sam sighed as she flipped through her medical textbook, trying desperately to memorize the steps to be taken for victims of Geoshard crystals.
Locate point of origin, find out if any crystallization is internal. If it is, partial surgery is needed to expose the crystal for a Slyren to effectively remove it-
She stopped reading as she heard footsteps approaching her room. Her heart leaping into her throat, she quickly shut the textbook and tossed it to the ground, kicking it so it slid under her bed. Then she grabbed her holotablet and pulled up the financial files her mother had sent her earlier that day, desperately trying to make her brain shift gears from healing to calculating.
Weeks had been spent wondering if this was really all she was going to do with her life. Continuously work in the cover of night at her passion, and follow her parents with fake obedience during the day. It was exhausting to pretend so much, and her mind was in a never-ending cycle of trying to memorize and apply new information.
A large amount of her anxiety, she supposed, was caused by her parents. The constant condescending tones and critical analysis of every movement were maddening. They had no respect for her, and that was further reiterated as the door to Sam's room swung open without warning. Locked doors were forbidden in the Gray household- that is, with the exceptions of Mr. and Mrs. Gray's studies.
Mrs. Gray walked into Sam's room, her hair pulled back in a severely tight bun, and dressed (as always) in a skirt, dress shirt, and blazer.
"Your father wanted me to check in with you," she said monotonously. "To see that everything is being handled correctly."
Sam bit the inside of her lip as her mother invited herself in, striding across the room and standing behind her daughter's desk chair.
"Right," Sam said, trying to focus her mind completely on the finances she had been working on that afternoon, but quickly ditched to focus on her work for Bonnie Springs. "I actually had some questions."
She pulled up one of the files on the holotablet, designated specifically for the Gray family's personal finances instead of the business's.
"We're funneling more money than usual into our personal account," Sam said, pointing out the numbers to her mother. "Only for them to be moved again into an account that I can't reach. It's labeled as classified."
Sam's mother nodded and sighed.
"I see. Well, there's no reason at all for you to be worried," she said nonchalantly. "Your father and I have been funneling that money into our account, and then moving it somewhere more secure after that. Nobody's hacked the system."
Sam swallowed, and she turned to look up at her mother.
"That's not what I'm worried about," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "We have excellent security. I know that. Nobody's getting in that we don't want to get in. But I'm worried about why you and Dad are putting money into a secure account. What are you doing?"
Her mother stayed silent, looking at the holoscreen hesitantly. Sam shook her head.
"I can't be a proper part of this company if you don't keep me in the loop about things," she argued. "And how am I supposed to properly manage finances if I don't know where thousands of gold are being spent on or used for? This needs to be all in. If you and Dad want me in this business, then I need to really be in this business."
Sam's mother sighed and tugged at the sleeves of her black blazer.
"Fine. We're working on doing more business with Doctor Blakk," she said. Sam's face pales as she continued. "We're continuing our joint business venture with Blakk Industries, and we will be supplying Doctor Blakk and his associates with equipment effective this upcoming week."
Sam's hands curled into fists, and she set them in her lap in the hopes her mother wouldn't see.
"Why couldn't you just tell me that before?" she asked. She was terrified that her parents were suspecting she was guilty, doubting her loyalty.
"Well, it seems that the younger generation of Slugterrans are especially against Doctor Blakk and his work," Mrs. Gray said coolly. "Mainly because of that Shane brat running around like he owns these caverns. I wasn't sure if you would be mature enough to look pst whatever propaganda that Shane Gang has been put out and see our deals with Blakk Industries as the intelligent business moves that they are."
It took everything in Sam for her to not lash out at her mother. Not mature enough? She was mature enough to be doing more in the past few months than her mother had done in the past few years, and mature enough to be able to realize that her family was making a horrible mistake, and mature enough to vow to put a stop to it.
"I understand," Sam said sweetly, standing up to face her mother. "I promise, I'm mature enough to see past anything the Shane puts out. I just want to make sure what we do..."
She had to force the next words out of her mouth, and she hated that she heard herself say them.
"Is best for us."
Mrs. Gray nodded, apparently with her mind at ease.
"Very well. I'm certainly glad to hear it. We have a meeting scheduled with Doctor Blakk tomorrow morning to discuss further arrangements," she said as she headed for the door. "You may attend, if you want."
"Absolutely," Sam said with a nod. "I'll finish looking through the rest of the records and then go to bed."
Mrs. Gray nodded and, without another word, left, shutting the door behind her.
The second the handle clicked into place, Sam let tears spring into her eyes. She sat back down, leaning back in her chair and running her hands through her long, curly brown hair. Now her parents were making more deals with Blakk. Her stomach hurt. Her head hurt. Every part of her was exhausted and overexerted.
Sam leaned forward, setting her elbows on her desk and rest her face in her hands. For a minute, she allowed herself to cry, to let out some of the immense stress she was under. Tears streamed down her face, and cries shook her shoulders.
Then, at the count of sixty, she sat up with a sniffle. She wiped away her tears and rolled her desk chair over to her bed, reaching down and grabbing her medical textbook. She didn't have time to sit and cry, not when she felt certain that she would have to pay a visit to the Shane Gang in the coming days.
~~~~~~~~
Eli and Alana both made beelines for their beds the second they walked into the hideout, both of them exhausted from the duel. Alana hurriedly changed into a tank top and shorts before collapsing in her bed, but the moment her head hit her pillow, she had a feeling this would be one of those nights where try as she may, she wouldn't get to sleep. Not when thoughts of old friends and fallen heroes were still so fresh in her mind.
Normally, she tried to deal with things like this on her own. She wanted to learn how to deal with her issues so she could face them head on. But even the most stubborn people had days where they were too tired to keep up the act, and this was one of Alana's.
She got out of bed and inspected her bedroom, looking for one slug in particular.
There he was, sitting on top of the lamp that sat on her bedside table. Her royal blue and yellow Slyren, Sonic, snored softly, curled up in a tight ball.
Alana reached out tentatively, poking his side. His eyes flew open immediately and he got up- definitely a light sleeper for a Slyren.
"Hey, buddy," Alana said softly. "You know I don't like to do this, but I need some help getting to sleep tonight. Can you do that?"
Sonic nodded eagerly, hopping down from the lamp and onto Alana's pillow. She got back in bed, throwing her blankets over herself and turning so she faced the slug.
"Thank you," she said with a smile. Sonic chirped and nodded before opening his mouth and quietly emitting a song.
The melody seeped into Alana's bones, relaxing every muscle in her body. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Every memory of the day slipped away, all her worry sinking down deep inside her, until the only thing on her mind was the hypnotizing, beautiful hum of the Slyren. Within a minute she was completely asleep.
Sleeps under a Slyren's song were deep, but other than that, it varied from person to person. Some people found themselves dreaming more with their minds relaxed and open to new possibilities. Others, like Alana, had completely dreamless sleeps. It all depended on the exact tune of the Slyren. Alana, luckily, had found one that put night terrors to rest.
The sleep under Sonic's song was incredible.
That is, while it lasted.
Far too soon, Alana found herself groggily waking up to someone shaking her shoulders.
"Hey, Alana, come on, wake up!"
Alana blinked blurriness from her vision, and a certain red-haired slinger came into focus.
"Come on, she's gone now, but somebody just broke in!"
~~~~~~~~
Hey guys!! How was everyone's Christmas? Mine was pretty good, although today it's back to reality with ACT prep. I will be so happy when junior year is over.
In case you missed it, I have a Slugterra Oneshots book now, and the first oneshot is up! I'll get a decent cover up soon, but I've been busy and the Wattpad Covers app isn't working for me at all, so it might be a bit.
I know a lot didn't happen in this chapter, but I wanted to take time to wrap things up from the Twist arc and take a breather before diving back into things.
Cyan out!