Ivy never imagined herself a damsel. She never expected someone like Lila to risk it all for her. Though it was hard not to feel grateful as the wind blew past her ears.
"Lila," she whispered into her guardian's mind.
"Just hold on!" Lila squeaked.
The Earthling was frantically navigating through an entire cannonade. She'd already been shot by then, relying on her rugged ambience to keep pushing. But as long as that wooden door - the one to Yrix's office - remained in sight, Lila would push on.
Premus had long since foreseen her escape plan. He'd witnessed the girl flying a Riven with his own two eyes. It was his mission then to pour fire onto the steps to Yrix's office with every measure at his disposal, however premature it might have seemed.
Lila knew she'd best avoid whatever strange energy spewed forth from the Executor's gun, its orb-like projectiles creating a distortion wherever they went. But her options were running out. Soon, nothing remained of the furniture that once dotted the bedchambers. The bathhouse she had shared such a special moment with Ivy was just another nest of Consortium snipers. Even the kitchen, little more than a crater by then, was overflowing with Xenquar from the latest drop-pod.
"Shit!" Lila stumbled.
She had been wading back and forth through the bedchambers, often in between the legs of the taller aliens in an attempt to avoid their fire. But Premus had learned to lead his shots after just a few misses and was more than willing to sacrifice his brave troops to land a clean hit on the Earthling. It was only a matter of time then until Lila's luck ran out.
"His pack," Ivy warned. She could see through Premus's complex suit mechanisms. "It's filled with a chemical of some kind. Dangerous to us."
Lila had found that out the hard way. A splash of white liquid from Premus's hand-held launcher had sent her reeling into a mess of wooden splinters. Her head felt like it was about to explode as the scrambling effects of the chemical took hold.
Premus signaled for the Vesper in his assembly to strike, tossing their grenades into Lila's space as she stumbled back, heiress in hand.
"Not so fast!"
The shrill voice of a familiar Psion rang out as a sudden flurry of roped knives caught the grenades with their sharpened edge, twirling them about like a rock on a sling.
Return to sender.
Lila blinked in disbelief. She reckoned Alia and Rena were either indisposed or had run off on their own path. But an explosion of electrified mist changed the course of her opinion almost instantly.
"Hey!" Lila waved, scrambling to her feet. "You guys!"
The two Psions leapt into the center of the crater where Lila once stood, fully announcing themselves to the Consortium. Premus seemed none too surprised by the revelation. If anything, he had accounted for it with his excessive show of force.
"Go, Lila." Rena flicked at the Earthling with her chakram. "Get Ivy out of here!"
"But-."
Alia chimed in with her own biting remark. "Now you owe us. Don't forget it."
Lila felt Ivy deflate in her arms. She couldn't argue any further. If Rena and Alia wished to cash in on their good favor, then that was their decision. Still, Lila wouldn't abandon them completely. There was still a plan for everyone's escape, provided she could get into the air.
"Thanks!" Lila peeped before dashing towards Yrix's office.
She only narrowly outran a volley from Premus. He intended to pursue, only to have a chakram remind him of the immediate issue as it struck his face. Rena and Alia would stand their ground.
Lila could hear the rain of gunfire as she sped down the hallways behind the office. Her heart was beating out of her chest. Exhaustion was setting in.
"Ow!" She tripped, dropping Ivy onto the cold floor. "S-sorry!"
Ivy stared up at her with a desperate expression. "It's okay…"
Even in her dire state, Ivy's beauty was apparent. Her face alone spoke volumes as to the history she shared with her partner. It all meant so much to the heiress, more than ever.
"Just a little further," Lila grimaced. "Come on, baby girl. Hang in there."
Lila's desperate bid had a clear effect on her as well. However, she didn't quite seem to notice her shaking hands. The wonders of adrenaline hide the truth.
"We're almost," the Earthling panted, hauling Ivy in an awkward position. "There…"
The Aerie shook terribly as the battle overhead threatened to flatten the walls around her at any moment. And as if that was bad enough, the Psionic realm surrounding the girl - ever present- was quivering at the seams. Escape was becoming less of a preference and more of a necessity by the minute.
"Don't look back," Lila had to remind herself with a groan.
She didn't much care for fire. But the Aerie was beginning to burn all around her without its foremost caretaker present to squash the flames. Soon, the air itself was beginning to fight Lila in her retreat.
"Your helmet," Ivy squeezed the Earthling's wrist. "Lila-."
"I know-," Lila coughed.
The Riven had the rest of her gear, which, in hindsight, should have been fully packed before the duel against her peers. But Lila could never have imagined things would go so terribly. She still had faith in Yrix back then.
Pressing on, Lila limped her way into the hangar as flames began to engulf its wooden layer.
Finally.
"Just a little further." Lila smiled. "And we're going home."
That word meant nothing, in hindsight. Her home had been taken long ago. All Lila could do was reminisce about her time in the Aerie, observing its features once last time as if life away from it would somehow become a fresh start.
Ivy was just about to smile when a shiver ran down her spine. Something had appeared on her Psionic radar. But she was too horrified to admit its validity.
Yrix's safe.
It was open.
The vents were creaking.
Not from flame.
"LILA!" The heiress screamed.
The Earthling looked up in horror as a skeletal frame dropped down from the ceiling.
The Mimic.
It stared the girls down with a beady gaze. A sudden ambush would have certainly meant victory for the monstrous creature. But it preferred the dramatic entrance, gazing into Lila's soul with ominous intent.
"What!?" The Earthling stuttered, taking a step back. "How!?"
Ivy held Lila close as she whimpered in fear. "No…"
Lila couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. After all she had done, after everything she sacrificed. It had all been dashed in an instant.
"What the fuck!"
The Mimic twitched, cocking its head at Ivy. "Y-you." It spoke in a scrambled voice.
Lila recognized the conjunction of so many vocal tones. It had come from somewhere deep in Ivy's history. She herself had experienced the depths of that rabbit hole firsthand.
There was a moment, however brief, when Lila considered negotiation. But that was foolhardy at best. The Mimic was there for only one reason.
"You can't have her," Lila growled. "You hear me!"
The Mimic flexed its claws. The appearance alone still terrified Lila to her core. Whatever therapy Lunae had provided no longer mattered in the face of her resurrected nightmare.
Ivy was equally frightened. She was practically shivering in Lila's arms. Even with her full strength, there was no telling what the Mimic could do to her.
"I said fuck off!" Lila lowered the heiress as she swore. "You hear me!"
Ivy observed with a mortified expression, unsure of how the Mimic would react. Lila's bravery was unwavering. With but a single gesture, she had placed herself between death and love.
But something had changed. The Mimic was not nearly as feral as before. It was thinking - learning from its interactions with the girls.
"F-family," it stuttered with a slightly feminine tone. "I-Ivy."
Lila quivered in her boots. But she stood her ground.
"My family. Not yours!"
Past the Mimic's towering frame, she could spot her helmet lying on the side of the Riven's open cockpit. Lila would need it for the fight ahead. Not just for protection from the smoke, but as a symbol of her resolve.
"F-family," the Mimic chattered with an odd sense of amusement before pointing its finger at Lila. "You are not…the only one…cursed…"
Lila could sense an imminent battle. She knew she was outmatched. She fully understood her grim chances, as well as the brutal fate that awaited her upon defeat. Yet in the worst moment of her life, she felt the cold chill of inspiration.
The time had come. Lila reached out with a Psionic grasp, tugging on her helmet with a powerful grunt. The Mimic reacted with a slight turn as the apparel sailed over its head.
"My only curse is you," Lila huffed. She placed the helmet on her head without hesitation, its systems flickering to life with a magenta glow. "This ends here."
The great journey.
Ivy released a sharp exhale. She wasn't quite sure what to think anymore, beyond complete awe and appreciation of her partner. Never before had she quite considered the potency of the girl named Lila.
Perhaps, in a twist of fate, it was the Earthling who proved more special.