"Kill her, this is no good," One of the guards muttered, and Elijah vaulted the railing with a grin, landing neatly and pivoting, hurling one of his allies over his shoulder and raising his weapon at the next.
"Hey- she won fair and square. Come now, rules are rules, aren't they? Let's get her to a healer."
"Friend of yours? Hoping for some ass?" The guard held at sword tip laughed, and another came from the side, swinging a length of pipe at Elijah's head- clang, J was there, parrying the blow and lashing out with his own, then flicking his wrist, stolen pistol in hand, letting four bullets fill the chest of the last guard, who staggered back and fell, choking.
"Did I stutter?" J grinned. "I'm not hoping for any special favors from this bleeding demon- but my gamble is five seconds from paying off and the strongest demon in this entire city is officially at my feet. Get. A. Healer."
-
Vilhelm sighed, splashing his face with water and staring at himself in the mirror of his run-down motel room, eyes unfocused.
"How are you doing?" The voice behind him asked with a light chuckle.
"Fine," The brunette affirmed, shuddering.
"I can see that. Momma would be proud of you, wouldn't she; all this leaving people to die slow, terrible deaths. All this bloodshed in the name of what's right, and all that jazz…"
"Shove it. Killing a thosand drug dealers and criminal scum that only know how to worsen the world around them doesn't make me a bad person. Mom'd be proud knowing there's a thousand less low-life killers in the world."
"Funny then that you never talk to your old friends about what you're doing now, then, isn't it? It's not classified, you working for Aerendyl; shouldn't this be a holy mission, of sorts?"
"I guess. It is, but I need to focus on myself, I don't have time to waste on bullshit like that."
"Wow, such harsh language for the people you once called friends!" The mascluline voice laughed loudly, now, and Vilhelm winced, looking down. "Maybe you're afraid they'd realize?"
"Realize what?"
"That your strength is borrowed, of course," The voice replied kindly, and Vilhelm winced again, closing his eyes for a long moment.
"I'm using you. Not the other way around."
"Really? From where I stand, you were a soldier of the light who only wanted to help people. The Vilhelm I met would have at least hesitated to kill so many…"
"I did what I had to do to cleanse that place- we can't return to a peaceful society while we're dealing with cultists!!"
"Yet you killed people who had nothing to do with them; drug peddlers, hedonists. Remember the hotel? They only produced drugs for a profit- they didn't preach unity and the collective, or any of that. Yet you didn't hesitate to kill all of them- except for one. At least you're honest."
"Can't be a liar."
"Just a murderer," The voice laughed, and Vilhelm snapped, spinning on a dime and lashing out with a hand at nothing.
"Silence!! I CONTROL YOU- NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" For a long moment, there was no reply… and then, a slow, dry chuckle.
"Of course… master. I have just been so lonely, I hope you won't begrudge me a bit of fun…"
"At my expense, no. Your fun can come the next time we have a job to do."
"Sure, sure, you control me… but I do have just one question, master." There was a smirk in the voice that he didn't like.
"What is it?"
"Do you remember what happened when Aerendyl hired you?"
"Course. I was excited, I came to Ravenhold proper, and then…"
"Then?"
"Marcus trained me!"
"Outside of that. Where did you stay, Vilhelm? What happened, after your lessons?"
"I…"
Marcus, and then…
The hotel. Several weeks, gone. Missing.
"That's what I thought, master. You don't remember where I came from- you just know I'm useful. That's all that matters, isn't it?"
"I swear to the gods, shut up," Vilhelm snarled. There was no answer.
-
Lynx winced as she woke up, head pounding, and shuddered outwardly, as she yawned, propping herself up on her elbows and looking around. She was back in her room under the arena; and J, Elijah, were there, along with a medic carefully tending to her, hands glowing with a light colored like mint.
"Hell… happened," she asked, and shuddered again, collapsing onto her back as a slew of tastes assaulted her senses… there was nothing to see, but she could almost visualize trails coming from the three men to her mouth. From Elijah, the acrid scent of exhaustion and nihilism. From J, the muted gold of a dying hope, of exhaustion taking root. From the healer, a sense of hopelessness, uselessness, futility… What the hell is going on, can I taste their souls…?
It can't be that simple, can it…?
When Lynx snapped her mouth shut, the feeling- the tastes- backed off some, and she frowned.
"Well," J smiled drily, beginning. "My gamble paid off."
"Yeah? What was that, you guessed I'd be the best fighter this place has ever seen?" Lynx raised an eyebrow, head swimming momentarily. "Ugh, my head is killing me…"
When she spoke, the scents didn't assault her quite the same; it was almost like she had to choose to inhale the scents.
"No," J snickered. "-I've seen the arena master fight, and he uses illusions. So many you'd never know where the real one is; they all look and smell and feel real, even though they can't damage you, they fool all your senses. The arch demon outside; they say she uses illusions, too. So by forcing you to overcome him, you'd either die, or awaken some trick to help you bypass illusions entirely. It worked, didn't it? How else did you know exactly where to throw the spear?"
"Mm… you're right," Lynx muttered, deflating. "I feel like I should be more angry, but…"
"You were going to die out there or in here." J laughed, for a moment; the sound tired, dry. "I'm a gambling man at heart but a slim chance of survival is better than none. Sorry, but, I can't say I regret what I did for a second. Plus, I got to see something cool."
"The fights? Jerk…"
"No- somebody who actually wants to live."
"Say," Elijah cut in, pausing. "What are the odds that, if you can get past the illusions, we can come with you?"
"What?" Lynx paused; there was something coming from him- like the smell of a fire sparking to life, deep in the mist. Warm, smoky… hopeful. Ugh… this is going to take some serious getting used to…
"I'm asking if we can come. Not saying you owe us," Elijah clarified, clearing his throat. "It's just that, getting out of here? It's never really been an option before. Once you're healed up… well hey, I mean, I always thought it sounded cool… the idea of opening a photography business, and capturing beautiful moments for people," He added, laughing awkwardly and looking away.
"I don't know what I'd do… but it would be a lot better than whatever I do down here," J chimed in, just as awkwardly, and Lynx sighed, nodding.
"Sure… just two people? That should be fine… but, what if I, fail to get you out?"
"Then," Elijah muttered, leaning forward. "I died with more hope than I've ever had in my entire life, with somebody who was willing to give me a chance by my side. Don't beat yourself up if I die."
"Do I need to say that I'm a gambler, again?" J grinned, laughing. "I'd take my chances. What could go wrong? I mean, would the arch demon even have power over me? What's she gonna show me, that I haven't already imagined down here? Plus, hey- maybe I just care about you?" He snorted, and so did Lynx, closing her eyes for a moment.
"So I'm technically in charge of this drug den now, huh…?"
"Eh." Elijah shook his head, speaking up. "No, the other fighters and guards immediately refused to take orders from an outsider who they say could never understand their way of life. Things are anarchy right now, but we've made it clear that we'll kill anybody who tries to hurt you. They could overpower us, sure, but how many would die in the process? We don't exactly get new people here often, you know, and people are pretty hesitant to have kids."
"Really? I'd love to pop thirty two and a half kids out into a drug den trapped between, what was it, an arch demon and an ancient dragon?"
"Something like that," J replied with a snort, shaking his head. "Well, we're going to stand guard. Make sure nobody bothers you while this healer does their work."
"This healer? What's their name," Lynx angled her head, looking down at the pale man tending to her knee and calf, at the moment.
"Don't have one," The healer replied softly, eyes dull.
"Then," Lynx began, wincing. "I'm going to call you healer boy. How about that?"
"I'm just a little guy," He replied drily, unfazed by the joke, and Lynx frowned, propping herself up on her elbows again and watching J head for the door. Stnading, Eli snapped his fingers, and a spark danced along his fingers, dancing; Lynx followed it with her eyes and watched the fire land in a cup of coffee beside her, the liquid starting to steam.
"Feel better," He grinned, headed to the door.
-
Lynx slept dreamlessly, again, and much time later, woke up sitting against the bed, stiff, as if she'd been leaning there for quite a long time, tail curled into her lap, tear tracks crusted onto her cheeks. Shifting, dizzy, she looked at the empty coffee mug beside her and sat up, wincing, standing, and stretching.
"Mm…" Swallowing the cotton in her mouth, she wandered to the bathroom and splashed some water into her mouth, spitting, and then again, swallowing.
After clearing her head, she turned around and shifted, walking to the door and opening it, looking left and right. True to their word, Elijah snored softly in a chair to the left of her door while J kept watch, clutching a rusted throwing knife in one hand and a battered baseball bat in the other.
"Morning," He muttered tiredly. "Feeling okay? I want to get some rest before we try and head out. I know you might wanna explore, but I wouldn't. Things are rocky down here."
"One day I'll kill that arch demon, and then I can explore all I want," Lynx nodded, frowning. "Why don't you come in here, and I'll let you rest on the bed. I need to stand a while anyway, my back hurts like a bitch."
"Hm… sounds good," J muttered, slowly stepping inside, brushing past her. "Thanks. Can you keep an eye on Eli?"
"Course," Lynx nodded, and took J's chair- and baseball bat, which he'd left against the wall.
"Night."
"Get some rest, and soon we can head out." Anxiety twinged in her belly, remembering the warped Alice, but she swallowed it.
The illusions had no scent.
-
"Alright, come on, let's get ready to get this over with," Lynx muttered, looking around. Gone was her revealing, showy outfit meant for the arena; she wore bracers now with a plain, dark, reinforced top that felt stiff but loose enough. Dark cargo pants and strong boots, with her hair tied back in a tight knot all gave the impression of a woman who'd take no nonsense now as she surveyed the weapons available to her.
"We just need to get ready quickly," Elijah muttered. "We won't have much time before somebody notices we're here. Need to leave before things settle down for real."
"Mhm…" Lynx nodded, slinging a rusted knife to her leg, and re-holstering her pistol, now half empty, but reclaimed nonetheless. "You," She added, rapping her pocket, a dull thunk sounding out. "Wake up, wake up. Anything you wanna say?"
"Honk shoo, snore snore…" Came the voice in her pocket, and Lynx scowled.
"Yeah yeah, you and reveling in the not knowing… but I guess you did get me to safety, in a sense. No round two?"
"Snore snore…"
"What is in your pocket…?" J asked with wide eyes, angling his head, and Lynx shook her head dismissively.
"A really useless book, sometimes, and others it has useful things to say."
"The book. Talks?" J angled his head in the other direction, and Lynx snorted, reminded vaguely of a bird as she grabbed a metal bat, weighing it in her hands. Solid. Good enough, considering the swords here were so rusted through they wouldn't likely survive more than a single swing.
"It does. Anyway, it's an observer of sorts. Just ignore it."
"I will explain who and what I am before I leave," Her pocket offered gently, chuckling. "After all- it is true that I am only an observer, seeking that which I cannot yet claim to know or understand. It's a rare treat, you see?"
"Yeah, well clearly you're something special, but whatever. I guess I just thought you'd matter more when the glowing blue library handed you over?"
"Rude, much?" The book asked quizzically, a laugh in its voice. "I mean, seriously. I secured the basis of your relationship. I ensured Carla couldn't kill you- AND I got you out of the arch demoness' grip. You're a greedy cat, yes."
"Yeah, yeah…" Lynx shook her head, sighing. "Guess when I was handed a magical item, I expected it to be more… present? Not on again, off again."
"All my knowledge makes me a very sleepy boy," The book scoffed, and Lynx could practically hear the eye roll.
"Yeah, whatever," She muttered, snorting tiredly and shaking her head.
"Hey I hate to interrupt the sexual tension between book and human," Elijah began, and Lynx wrinkled her nose, caught off guard.
"Sexual- get your head out of your ass, it's a book." Lynx snorted, shaking her head.
"Yeah whatever- let's just get ready to get out of here, okay?" Elijah grimaced, holding a sickle over his shoulder and clearing his throat. "We're going to try and avoid direct contact, right? This old farming equipment won't get me far."
"Course," Lynx affirmed, nodding. "The illusions don't have smells, but they're still going to affect the two of you, so you two need to close your eyes and hold my tail. Do you think you can handle that? It could be miles of closing your eyes and trusting me- no matter what you hear, you can't reply. Can't give it any window to get into your head."
"I can," J nodded, but his face was pale.
"J, I can try and… come back for you, find a specialist to get around her. Are you sure?"
"I am," The teen nodded, swallowing- for he couldn't have been older than sixteen or eighteen, Lynx realized with a crestfallen sort of pit in her stomach as she looked more closely.
"Me too," Elijah agreed. "We've got this Lynx. Let's get the hell out of here, and not look back. I never thought this was possible."
"We might die," Lynx laughed, rolling her shoulders and throwing the door open.
"We'll do it on our feet then, yeah," Elijah chuckled.
"And with friends by our side…?" J added, cringing at his own words visibly. Lynx laughed. They marched. As they did, the blonde looked around slowly, thoughtful; all hallways and levels formed out of open space, but she didn't have the luxury of looking around. Still, her eyes lingered on a row of twinkling lights over her head, framing a vegetable garden, and in her mind's eye, she saw herself, Alice and Nara tending those plants…
In another life, there could be peace even here.
This isn't that life, Lynx. Focus.
The panic? It's coming. Later, though- for now, let's get you the hell out of here.