Adrenaline poured into her veins as she ducked into the nearest nook. The Reformer's voices grew closer. They stopped a meter away from her hiding place. Asa pressed against the cold, marble wall, heart hammering against her rib cage. After they continued on, she turned to run to the next alcove.
Renvir's voice stopped her. She looked back, and her heart stopped. With a swift motion, one of the Core Reformers stabbed her lover's chest with a three-pronged staff. Each branch lined up perfectly with his three hearts, piercing them instantly. Viscous, purple blood seeped down his scarred chest.
Rearing back his head, his mouth opened as though to protest. However, he made no noise. The Reformer jammed the staff in further, eliciting a gurgle. Renvir's eyes glazed over. Removing her eyes from the scene, Asa bolted to the next nook. The pulsing of her veins forced her onward.
She couldn't let them find her. If they did, Renvir's death would be for nothing.
It didn't take long before she reached the hatchery, locking the door behind her. She hurried over to the floor cabinet and fished out the bag of medicine and the sling-over egg carrier. When she went to open pod three-o-three, the incubator unit had already been turned off. Her stomach churned. How long had they been without heat?
She didn't need to type in the code as the glass slid open with a tap. Pushing aside her worries, she adjusted the wrap and picked up the egg. Its shell, though smooth, felt chilled to the touch.
Asa said a silent prayer to the Two that she wasn't too late. Folding the unhatched child into the wrap, she padding the unhatched them with the blanket. They settled over the lower part of her chest and lower abdomen.
After her back adjusted to the weight, she started for the exit. If the child had sat straight and not at an angle, the medic would've had to waddle. Still, the Celest egg wasn't an easy thing to carry.
"Two," she said, ducking into a nook, "Two more to go."
Her breathing deepened with the extra exertion. The Reformers' voices echoed. It sounded like they'd headed for the East exit. She waited for a moment. As their voices strayed further, she stuck her head out. Her heart skipped a beat.
"You think I'd forget about you?" Ludis' said. His eyebrows flicked upwards.
She turned to run, but the silhouette of a Celest at the end of the hall stopped her. Thankfully, they hadn't seen her. Asa faced her classmate. His golden eyes dropped to her exposed skin below her shoulder blade. Before she could move, he grabbed her wrist. His fangs lowered once more.
"You have one more chance," he said, pressing her against the cold, marble wall. The nook's sides enveloped both of their bodies in shadows. "Drop the egg, come with me, and I'll forget this mishap. Or keep it, and I'll let them know about this little game you're playing."
He placed one hand on the egg sling, fiddling with the knot, and the other reached for her pants' tie. Asa's body didn't warm to his touch like the other times. His scent made her gag. Dancing his fingers across her waistline, he flashed her a coy grin.
"Which will it be?"
The medic let out warning clicks when he began to untie the sling's knot. Her hand shot up, and nails dug into his fingers. Ludis hissed. She looked him straight in his gilded, desperate eyes.
"You will never have me."
Venom ran down his fangs, and he bit her neck. He didn't let go, using his newfound grip on her to his advantage, undoing the tie on her pants. Asa struggled underneath him. While she tried to stop him, she soon realized that holding the egg required two hands.
Her heart and mind raced, searching for a way out. A Celest was still out there. It would give away her position, but she had to take the risk. Without warning, she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Startled, Ludis released his bite. Anger boiled inside of her. She shoved him off of her and onto the ground. Quickly, she tightened the sling's knot. As Ludis stood up, a winged shadow engulfed him. The medic felt the heat of her scales rise and the warm blood leaking from her neck. Despite staying against the wall, the Celest saw her.
"What is this?" Zienna asked. Her voice hinted at curiosity. Her classmate rose to his feet, a grimace painting his face.
"Asa betrayed the Arisen's orders, your orders. She's stolen Renvir's egg."
The Head Core Reformer's eyes kept their usual, distant state. She crossed her arms, causing her silken night robe to ripple.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I tried to tell her not to, but she wouldn't listen!" Ludis said with a hissing undertone. Zienna, immune to his rage, kept her gaze on Asa. When her pants began to slip, the medic adjusted their tie. A flash of intrigue swept across the Celest's demeanor.
"Thank you, Ludis. I will take it from here."
Her classmate didn't budge. Refusing to leave, his hands clenched. He took a step toward the Head Reformer.
"Aren't you going to punish her?"
Zienna's icy stare bored into the male Wikev. As she spread her wings, Renvir's wings flashed before Asa's eyes, recalling how his aura glowed with his anger. If the Head Core Reformer had been from a fighting caste, perhaps she would have done similar. Though she did sport the same, intimidating stance.
"I will do what I must."
"But-"
"You dare question my authority?" Zienna said with a growl. Her claws glinted in the shards of moonlight, and curved foot talons raised, ready for a fight. Venom would matter little if he died before it could affect the Celest.
Ludis' scowl transformed into a restrained grimace. He hung his head, glancing back multiple times before leaving with his tail dragging between his legs. Relief came to the medic for a second until the Head Core Reformer's stare fell on her. The moment elongated with the quickening of her breaths.
Would she harm her? Would she harm the egg? Her stature appeared devoid of any emotion except an unsettling curiosity.
Zienna reached for the sling. Asa instinctively grabbed the unhatched child. Despite this, the Celest continued. Her navy claws pulled at a flap of the fabric, and a corner of the bunched blanket poked out. The Celest pushed it away with the other hand. The medic heard her breath hitch as the shell revealed itself.
Its distinct, violet markings held no secrets from the Head Reformer.
"It is Renvir's."
"Yes." The medic's word felt disjointed from the situation. She didn't need to confirm anything. Yet the softened look of the Celest prompted her to do so.
A frown tugged at Zienna's lips as she ran her fingers across the shell. Hesitantly, Asa reached down to feel as well. Cold, she was too late. She whimpered, wrapping her hands around the exposed egg.
The hall fell silent. The medic numbed the pulsating sadness and focused on her breathing. If she listened close enough, she could hear her heart and the Celest's. She counted the beats per minute to distract her.
Despite this, something didn't add up. Hers, naturally, sat at a solid sixty beats. Zienna's, though staggered, could be distinguished somewhere between forty and eighty. That's not what threw her off, however.
She caught a faint, off-rhythm sound. Before she could distinguish its origin, the egg shifted. Asa gasped. A subtle kicking sensation erupted as though it were inside her stomach. The scratching noise, however, told her she was feeling Renvir's child move by whatever magic tied them together.
The Head Core Reformer didn't smile. Instead, her expression solidified.
"You understand that if you do this, you will not be able to come back. You will not be able to be a medic at any other Core Centers. You will be judged for having an interspecies relationship, and, sometimes, that judgment will come at the price of a stable life." Zienna said.
She removed her hands from the egg and tucked them into her robe. It's then that the medic noticed how the Celest incongruently blended into her surroundings, hindered by the off-white of her garment and her yellow-tinted ebony hide.
"What are you willing to sacrifice to raise this child?"
Asa's stomach clenched and mouth dried. The answer lurked beneath her tongue, taking its time. Her entire life would, again, be turned upside down. She'd lose everything she knew. But hadn't she already?
"Whatever it takes."
Zienna stepped out from the entrance of the nook. Her left arms spread out, pointing toward the west exit.
"Then go."
Asa looked at her, unsure if she'd heard correctly. As if reading her thoughts, the Celest persisted.
"Do what I did not have the courage to."