[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/231117/4397e947d9496e89a02a516a94d678c6.png[/img][/center][hr]Maya clutched Edmund’s bulletproof cape around her, cowering behind his armoured form until he took off to deal with the incoming assailants, leaving her alone. 

One arm hooked around the chandelier chain, Maya looked frantically around at the darkness, seeing intimidating shapes in the shadows and assuming every gunshot she heard was aimed in her direction. Her breathing quickened, each breath sharp and inadequate as her heart thundered against her chest. A few times she raised her gun at a shape in the darkness, but she could never make out enough of a target to fire; probably for the better, considering how her gun hand quaked. 

Edmund was little more than footsteps in the blackness around her, the sound never clearly friend or foe, and Maya found herself wishing he hadn’t left; she felt alone, dreadfully alone, in a moment of terror that stretched on forever. She found herself longing for someone, even an enemy, to appear - if only to put an end to her tormentous suspense. 

Incepta must have been listening, because Maya got her wish. 

Heralded by an ominous red light from the floor, a loud noise ripped through the ballroom. Maya didn’t have time to wonder what it meant; her stomach heaved as her grip on gravity was suddenly cut off, and much like the assailants on the zip lines Edmund severed, Maya was sent careening head-first into the darkness. 

She screamed. She was only suspended for an instant, sliding down along the chandelier chain like a fireman’s pole, before she came painfully to rest on one of the chandelier’s arms. Gold-plated ivy leaves rammed into Maya’s ribs, and she was sure she felt one crack; but that was of lesser concern as the chandelier itself jolted downward, remaining aloft by the grace of the Mother alone. 

Maya clung on for dear life, heedless of the pain in her ribs. Her legs swung freely below her, scrambling for purchase, but there was no foothold to be found. [color=7041A5]“Edmund-- help me--”[/color] she sputtered, pain and terror confining her voice to little more than a frayed whisper. But she couldn’t imagine how he could help her, especially if he fell when she did. Edmund might be a broken mess on the floor right now, and then she’d have no chance--

[i][b][color=fff79a]"Maya... we are leaving. Now."[/color][/b][/i]

Maya gasped at the sound of Edmund’s voice, her gut quivering once more as she felt the force pulling her down lessen. But it was far from gone; she was still dangling over three storeys at least of empty space, and if she let go of her precarious perch, she would still certainly fall. 

[color=7041A5]“H-how..?”[/color] she stammered, only audible to herself. Her heart pounded, and her head began to swim, but she was torn from her panicked speculation by the startlingly close [i]whirrr[/i] of another zipline. This time, she could see the glowing eyes of her assailant ascending from the darkness below to meet her. 

[color=7041A5]“Okay,”[/color] Maya gasped, taking a few quick breaths to steel herself. At the end of the last one, she held it, squeezing her eyes shut as she released her perch and fell. 
[hr][right][@webboysurf][/right]