"I told you to stop moving."
"It hurts."
"Does it now..."
Ivy glared fiercely with her other eye, attempting to push Yrix away. She hated how numb her wound felt the moment she realized what lay beneath her flesh. Prodding around only reminded her of that fact.
"Why bother?" Ivy sighed.
She had been sitting in the exact same position for over a day. As promised, Yrix kept the schedule light, offering cookies and what Lila referred to as "tacos on Tuesday" to lighten the mood. Ivy, however, refused to eat or show her face.
Yrix squinted, calculating her next words. "Sonera is scheduled for surgery soon. It will be a taxing operation."
Ivy shuddered, trying not to look concerned. But her effort was noticed, causing Yrix to pinch her cheek.
"You only pretend not to care."
The heiress kept her mouth shut. However, her mind drifted towards Sonera, aching at the thought of her becoming something equally as lifeless. Yrix, as usual, would respond as if it were still a conversation.
"She wants to give up all four of her limbs. I detect not a speck of doubt in her resolve."
"Don't let her." Ivy snapped, staring at Yrix with both eyes. "Warn her not to. She has no idea what she's walking into."
"Then show her yourself." The Arch-Flayer scoffed. "You live as an example."
The heiress huffed loudly. She knew exactly what Yrix was attempting to do. That sly alien would make any bluff if it meant returning Ivy to her family.
Still, it was somewhat relieving to know that she even desired such an outcome in the first place. One would expect Yrix to vie for Ivy's isolation and insanity. But instead, she seemed genuinely concerned with the heiress's health.
"I can't." Ivy shook her head. "You assume they'd understand. They won't. I'll lose my family."
"Lunae is Infestare." Yrix shrugged. "You already knew that. What did it change?"
"I know not the full extent of her heritage."
"Neither do your friends. And they still won't know after you've shown them the eye."
Ivy gritted her teeth. "You think I can just...LIE this away?!"
Yrix stood up, crossing her arms. She seemed visibly irritated for reasons Ivy couldn't fully pin down.
"I'm not like you!" Ivy continued. "I can't hide what I am! It only worked before because I didn't know myself! I've changed! The illusion is gone!"
"You're not the first to lose the comfort of their own body," Yrix spoke more softly. "Young one."
"You don't get it." Ivy wheezed, tripping over her own tounge. "I can't even breathe the same way anymore! My body is forgetting what it's like to be real. The truth is choking the life out of me!"
"You haven't accepted it."
"How can I? You don't know what it's like, not to know who you are! To have lived as a shadow!"
"Ivy-."
"I see myself now! Every second of every day! What lies behind this...fleshy mask!"
Ivy clawed at her own face, attempting to show Yrix the extent of her condition. The Arch-Flayer was swift to dismiss her, however, grabbing her hand with a tight grip. She simply wouldn't allow the heiress to harm herself.
"Don't," Yrix spoke plainly. "Think of your family. What will your actions do to Lila?"
"How dare you invoke her name?" Ivy snarled. "The girl you tortured and maimed. You don't deserve to think of her as a daughter. You monster."
Yrix reeled back. Her face was stone cold, but deep beneath the layers of experience and ambition, she felt offended. For all her hypocrisy and misery-induced drunkness, Ivy was correct.
The Arch-Flayer was a terrible mother. She felt for the same creatures she deliberately tormented. And for whatever twisted reason, it could not be stopped.
"What we deserve is irrelevant." Yrix mused, staring at her own spindly fingers. "I only hope Lila can save you."
She left rather speedily, abandoning Ivy in the darkness. There, the heiress's mind drifted, contemplating her next move. Lila came to mind, and the damage that had already been dealt to her heart.
"No more." Ivy sniffled, attempting to muster the courage to do what she felt was right.
- - - - - - - - - - -
"Sonera!" Lunae sobbed, throwing herself into the girl's arms.
She was cradled gently, guided by a voice of concern.
"You're shivering," Sonera whispered. "Is everything alright?"
"Of course not! You're going to give everything up!"
Sonera was suprised to find the details of the operation stored within Lunae's frantic mind. It was a rare thing indeed for the girl to be able to pry open such information while it was tucked away deep. Truly, she must have been desperate.
"There's something else." Sonera squinted, her introspection. "What is it?"
Lunae was tired of secrets. Frankly, she was on the verge of allowing Sonera to witness her darkest secrets if only to ward her away from the surgery. For now, she could know the basics.
"I've been attempting to call my mother. She...won't answer." Lunae sniffled, burying her face in Sonera's flat chest. "I need her..."
The princess had been visited before, but never by her own consent. Remote communication with her mother was possible on her end, but she simply refused as an option out of spite. Sonera understood this as the reason Lunae's shadowy parent was avoiding a talk.
"She's spiteful." Sonera tilted her head.
"Y-yes..." Lunae groaned.
"I'll be here for you. Help in whatever way I can."
The princess smiled, planting a kiss on Sonera's cheek. "Thank you."
She wanted to bring up the surgery again, but was cut off by Sonera's next thought.
"Lila and Ivy-."
Lunae shook her head. The extent of the trauma between the girls was too severe to describe with words. Sonera understood the implication, bracing her shoulders stiffly.
"Let me see her," Sonera spoke with determination.
"Ivy won't even speak to Lila." Lunae frowned. "When you try to read her, it's just...static. I've never felt it before, with anyone."
"Then Lila. I have to help."
Sonera looked over Lunae's shoulder, searching for Lila in the bedchamber. Even Lunae was surprised to see that the Earthling had, evidently, run off when no one was looking.
"Shit," Sonera swore. "Lila."
Lunae jerked a bit, taken aback by Sonera's language. She must have been truly rattled to swear. In fact, little was understood by the Infestare girl when it came to curt human expressions.
"I'll catch her." The assasin spoke plainly.
"You can't." Lunae shook her head furiously. "She's too fast and I..."
It was selfish to ask for it. The wound within her soul only deepened the moment she thought about it. But Lunae needed Sonera.
She wouldn't last much longer without her.
Sonera gripped her hand. "We can search togethor."
- - - - - - - - - - -
Lila panted, her breath labored as she tripped over a pebble. She had been running through the outskirts of the Aerie for some time, attempting to push her way through the panic that had settled in her heart. Lunae helped, but it was as if she were trying to dry up a dam.
It was hard to admit how, for a moment, she nearly felt suicidal. The thought itself stuck like tar to Lila's mouth. She dared not imagine what would happen if Lunae weren't there.
But it was how she felt.
"Ivy," Lila grunted, pulling out a fistful of grass.
She had nearly sprinted past the massive wall bordering the Aerie's northern exit, brushing against the painted metal of the Consortium's defenses. A few voices could be heard far above, screaming in some alien tounge for her to stop. But at that point, Lila cared little for a few Daregen shooting at her.
There was a time when she was frightened by them. It felt like years ago, when she kicked one across the face with her little boots. The things she would do to go back to that moment were nearly unspeakable.
The Earthling rose to her feet, kicking the dirt. "Fucking assholes."
"I did all that...in spite of you. And I still lost the girl."
"What a load of-."
Suddenly, Lila gripped her heart, falling flat on her face as a searing pain enveloped her entire body. Something was wrong, and her Psionic ambience reacted fiercely in opposition. It didn't take long before the Earthling had figured it out, rolling around the dirt in agony.
"I-Ivy!" Lila gasped.
"No!"
Her feet felt like lead, yet she stood up. Her legs bent like broken twigs, yet still she ran. And run she did, faster than when Omizen had empowered her abilities.
It didn't matter if Ivy had struck her. It didn't matter if the heiress refused to see her. Her life was at stake.
Deep down, Lila knew the meaning behind her sudden pain.
Ivy was dying.
"Hang in there, baby girl." Lila coughed, nearly tripping down a hill as she flew off its edge.
This time, she wasn't some scared girl on Earth, looking up in horror at the stars. She was a Psion. And she would not fail again.