[color=aba000]"JC..."[/color] Rhea mumbled his name like a small prayer as the brief physical contact between the two of them left her barely capable of coherent speech. No, it wasn't the hug that really triggered the reaction. Actually, the words that JC spoke to her caused whatever doubt in her mind to vanish all too suddenly. Every letter, every word that left the fellow titan's lips were laced with an emotion that Rhea had never expected JC to have: concern and care. While everyone was busy turning against one another, blaming themselves for the deaths of their comrades, they weren't just fighting against the zombies but against themselves as well. Rhea knew that she couldn't mope around and feel sorry herself; she had to move and do everything she can to end it. As the visage of the de facto leader vanished from the stairway, Rhea turned to Static with a nod. [color=aba000]"I be fine, Static. Lez just try and be helpin' da others."[/color] With that, the healer sheathed her katana as she sped away but, before she could do so, a wave of zombies blocked her path which she fought back by lopping a few heads. However, a guttural cry was heard as the cadavers began to fall one after the other; they fell like how marionettes did when their puppeteers severed the strings. Rhea raised her brow in confusion, opting to sheathe her sword back when, suddenly, the zombies began to revert back into their original forms-- innocent civilians; man, women and child were all slain at her hands. The rolling heads turned from mummified husks to fleshy people, spurts of crimson liquid ejecting brutally from the cuts and wounds. Like a blood fountain, the dismembered dead coated the healer with a stain of red so dark that a repugnant and sanguine stench invaded Rhea's nostrils. This was not good... not good; not good... Rhea began to feel that her fingers were becoming numb, her feet refused to budge and her very nerves were frozen solid. Her eyes widened in horror, her auburn eyes trembling in pure terror. SHE FELT IT AGAIN... she heard it all, saw it all! Like nightmares that never vanish even when you open your eyes, the horrors of her past ensnared Rhea, pulling her down to the depths of her sanity. Rhea's fingers gripped her hair tightly, pulling her locks with all her might, causing the chestnut strands to fall to the ground-- forgotten. She began to whimper pitifully. Every breath she took was pained and labour, her core dropping coldly without restrain. It seemed that she was trap in a box barely enough to fit her; there was nowhere to run, nowhere to escape and she was trapped in the darkness with her nightmares and fears as the vivacious accompaniment to her orchestra of sorrow. The people she killed... they were innocent civilians; she had sliced off a child's head, she had mutilated an elder woman... Did she really deserve this fate?! It was... hours since she was suffering and, during this time, the very threads of her sanity were threatening to snap when a benign face with crimson hair assaulted her shackles with much light and warmth; like a blazing phoenix, her kindred soul reminded her of the words which she, herself, uttered. [color=aba000]"Just... 'cus... I be stumblin'... dun mean dat... I lost... I just be needin'... to try... harder..."[/color] Rhea chanted to herself, peeling her fingers away from tearing her skull apart. [color=aba000]"I'm... Rhea... sixteen... years old... I'm... no, no... I'm... a titan."[/color] she mumbled softly, feeling her frayed nerves begin to ease down. Rhea wobbled as she stood up, slowly slinging the katana over her shoulder via a rope that was attached to the sheathe. She slowly walked around the devastated base, her eyes blurring towards the dead civilians around the place. It seemed that titans were already starting with cleaning up the place. She would help soon... not now... but soon. Her aimless wandering landed her outside of the Hall of Mentors, hearing Sentinel's voice echoing the words that had pulled her out from the chasm of her mind. [i]You just have to try harder...[/i] She had heard him mutter. Rhea would have wanted to see him, her first friend on the team but... it felt wrong to smile at him when her heart was still not through blaming Sentinel for something that was out of his control. She'd talk to him soon but not now. She would smile at him when her conscience was clear; smiles were supposed to be genuine after all. She placed her bloodied hand on the great doors, her mind in solemn contemplation. She knew he could hear her; he always heard everyone. [color=aba000]"Thanks..."[/color] Rhea sighed before removing her hand from the door, leaving a bloody handprint on the once pristine barrier. She wanted to go somewhere... somewhere... quiet. Rhea wanted to be alone; she needed to be alone. The only place which wasn't as bloody as the ones she went to were the gardens. Only in this serene place did Rhea plop down, feeling a little bit relaxed since all Hell broke loose. The flowers looked extremely beautiful today... This was the last thought that entered her mind before her cellular acceleration abruptly shut down. Rhea's eyes rolled to the back of hear head before she succumbed to a much awaited slumber. She was going to be out for a while and, when she would awaken, she would need to eat... a lot. --- Rhea's eyes fluttered awake as the rise of a new morning sun greeted her. The healer stretched her arms before standing up, waltzing over to her room, noticing that the titans must have cleaned everything up. Well, this was awkward... she was useless in the cleaning, after all. Chances are, they also saw her sleeping in the garden, bloodstains and all. The healer looked up to her chalkboard, steadily picking up a chalk before tracing down two vertical lines on the left side of the board. [color=aba000]"Rest in peace."[/color] Rhea solemnly mumbled before cleaning herself up, walking down to the kitchen and fixing herself a well-earned breakfast. The katana that was now normally slung behind her was not just there because Rhea had found a weapon; no, it was more of a memento from Rose who the healer had not heard from in a while. For the rest of the day, Rhea helped out with cleaning up the tower, not really daring to venture out into the city for she knew that horrid sights would await her there. --- Soon, even Rhea was surprised when Sentinel screamed into the communicator, warning them of an incoming trouble. In an instant, Rhea sped down to the kitchen, just in time to hear Skelly's whined inquiry. Rhea spun around the corner, the sword behind her. [color=aba000]"We run."[/color] Rhea grimly stated. [color=aba000]"Dis not be a question of dem killin' us; it's a question of us bein' able to stop ourselves from killin' dem. If Luthor's bull-droppings is true, den, da public be already scared of us. Knowin' dem, if we be turnin' ourselves in... they'd just be usin' our powers for der purposes."[/color] In an instant, cannons began to fire into the air, making Rhea realize that their time was running short. [color=aba000]"We did what he had to do to survive. We're not like Tulip or Sentinel... if we had held back... we'd be the ones dead. Ye saw what happened when dey killed Lock an' Load. If dey killed anyone of us... they'd be unstoppable. We did da people a favour... by not letting ourselves get done in."[/color] Rhea shuddered at the thought of the zombies merely killing Skelly and her; the blokes would have invincible bones and enhanced regeneration from a cellular level... they'd be, more or less, immortal. Her eyes turned to JC with a pleading gaze. [color=aba000]"We can't be lettin' it end like dis, JC." [/color] [i]It sickened her to say something so lightly when faced with the notion of them murdering thousands of civilians, but she knew that she had a point. For the most part, Tulip, Sentinel and Evan had the largest chances of holding back. However, for titans like them... one mistake and they would have rested in pieces.[/i]