VampireOracle

Not If You Were the Last (MxF)

Darlene Kate Revie

Albuquerque, NM: Interstate 40
August 27, 2016

For one brief but horrible moment Darlene had thought that the boy was honking and gesturing to imply that she wasn't welcome here, especially when he ended up driving off. But not for long. Automatically she stepped back as his car came speeding towards her before skidding to a stop. So then... not entirely unwelcome.

Once he stepped out she looked him up and down subtly, her right hand never straying from above her pistol even though she kept the smile plastered on. Taller than her, stronger than her. Probably one of the kinds of guys that some teens back at school would have fawned over, though she didn't think much about that now. Her thoughts at the moment were not of such unimportant things, her thoughts were wary as her gaze never left him.

Duncan. Despite the situation, she couldn't help but wonder what the name meant. That had always interested her...

As the teen talked on and on she looked for breaks in his speech where she could introduce herself as would be proper, but Duncan seemed like he had a lot to say-- so she would be content to listen for now. And she was listening, very closely. Even as he used terms that she didn't know, Darlene didn't tune him out as perhaps some other girls might have done. This information could, would prove useful sometime. She would have been frowning in concentration by now, if she hadn't been so trained in keeping an amiable expression at almost all times.

Still, her smile dropped slightly as Duncan began to tell about what he had been doing in the past year or so.

He's so open. Too open.

He missed most of the Plague.

He didn't have to see all the people die off.

Luckily he continued on his techy talk before she could dwell too much on those thoughts, and the smile returned full force once more. Once he was done though, she had to make a decision. It seemed that he was already assuming she would come by the way he was clearing some space for her... so... it would be the most practical to go with him. Accept his offer, see if she could learn anything from him, and then... then what? Stay? Leave?

Leave? When he was the first person she had seen in months? Stay nearby instead, perhaps?

"Thanks for the offer." Darlene tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, glancing at his face quickly before looking away. She was nervous, though it didn't really show on the outside. But inside was a different story. Her stomach muscles were clenched as she resisted the temptation to bite her lip or cross her arms. "I'm Darlene Revie. A pleasure to meet you."

Should she try and shake hands? Maybe that would be overdoing it a bit.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer, if it's not too much trouble. Don't worry about the car. I can find another suitable one soon, if you don't mind getting me off this interstate." Then perhaps she could come back and grab the rest of her stuff later on.

Since she had already mostly sorted out her stuff, it only took her another minute of shifting a few more things around before she had two bags of stuff ready to go. One contained mostly just food and a few other random tools and necessary items. The other one, a backpack, contained her clothes and personal items including her art supplies.

She hesitated when Duncan offered his help, gazing at him for a few seconds before shaking her head. "I'm alright, but thanks." Darlene went over to the back of the car, and after glancing at Duncan again to make sure he didn't mind, opened the trunk to squeeze the first bag beside the other things he kept in there. She brought the backpack with her to the front and dumped it on the seat before going back to her broken down car to close the doors.

Then at last she got in his car. "Are you staying near here?" she inquired politely, straightening the plain blue shirt she wore. "Again, you have my thanks."

Not If You Were the Last (MxF)

Mmm, I did actually look on Google Maps to get an idea of where they were, but I was looking at the interstate further east of the point you linked me. So I got the impression that all there was in between the east and west roads was a divider. Anyway, quick question for you.

I tried to look for pictures of the car you wrote he was using. I'm getting pictures of low cars with only front seats-- and very very little trunk space. Is there anything in the trunk, or is Darlene free to put her stuff in there?

Not If You Were the Last (MxF)

Darlene Kate Revie

Albuquerque, NM: Interstate 40
August 27, 2016

It felt so strange to be riding alone in a car, driving it herself, eyes on the road with no one to talk to. She'd begun to talk to herself less and less lately; it had now been more than a week since she had last said anything. What was the point, when there was no one?

It had taken her longer than she had thought it would to hotwire a car by herself this morning, but at last she had succeeded. It was so much harder to do, without the warm presence of someone beside her, placing his hands over hers to direct her to the right wire when she faltered. The group had been harsh at times. Disciplined. But after a few months of being with them... they had become more than just friends... an extended family.

Gone now.

Her mood was melancholy as she drove down the road. Driving on such an empty road needed little concentration, so her mind was free to drift, dwelling on the past. She had been torn between leaving or staying in Alamosa. Many memories were associated with the place, perhaps too many for it to be healthy. But at the same time those memories were the only things that could give her the courage to keep moving. Her right hand lifted to touch the pouch hidden beneath her shirt before returning to rest on the steering wheel.

She had never been particularly strong-willed. Nor physically strong. Not super smart. They were more talented artists out there than her. She wasn't witty. She wasn't skilled at making friends or holding conversations.

She had been content with being normal. She had never wished for a drastic change. Never. But the Plague had come anyway, and cruelly left her alone.

Darlene was too absorbed in her thoughts to notice immediately when the car began to have issues. The little warning light on the dashboard went ignored, not that she would have known what it meant or what to do about it. It was only when she smelled something that she was pulled out of her thoughts, noticing with some worry the smoke beginning to seep from under the hood of the car.

Whoa.

She overreacted, braking hard, automatically pulling to the side of the road even though there was no need to. She was no mechanic, had never even gotten a drivers license. So she had no idea what was going on with the car. Stepping out, she slipped the hatchet back on her belt on the opposite side to the pistol that was already there. For security of mind.

Darlene spent the next few minutes staring inside the hood, but she didn't know what she could do. The car still drove... at the moment. But what if it exploded soon or something?

She would have to walk, perhaps steal another car if the opportunity arose. At least she was near houses and buildings if had read the map correctly, so she wouldn't have to walk too far to get to an exit. Was it even stealing if there was no one there to own? She shook her head slightly and got to work. There were more supplies in the trunk than she would be able to carry, so she would have to leave the less important ones behind. Like the few books she had picked up. The sweets. But she wouldn't leave behind the paper and pencils. She began to separate what she would keep from what she would leave, before a sound made her freeze.

Not barking, not growling, not the birds. Or the squirrels. Was that an engine? Or had she finally gone crazy and started imagining things? She stepped closer to the open door by the driver's seat in case it turned out that she needed to get away quickly. Dogs couldn't drive. Neither could cats.

That meant that... that... she didn't allow herself to hope. It's probably nothing. Probably just something breaking down. Something crumbling apart. Just something you haven't encountered before.

Except that a car soon rolled into sight, complete with human inside. And stopped.

Hallucinations? She needed to be careful. If there really was a man, he could turn out to be hostile. Or he could turn out to be a friend. She shook her head again, but even as she did so she forced herself to smile a little.

Be polite. But not overly accommodating. Don't look weak. Firm.

Her right hand came up to rest lightly on her hip, just over where her pistol hung. Close enough to show that she wasn't afraid to use it, but not close enough to come across as too threatening. Would a teenager even seem threatening? The man seemed young, perhaps maybe around her age. But still... her other hand drifted up once more to touch the pouch before returning to hang loosely at her side.

She made herself walk forward a few steps towards the car, until she was approximately four feet or so away from the barrier between them.

A nod. "Good day, sir," she called out. Better to be overly polite than to come off as rude. "It's been a while since I've seen another human, so I have to say I'm glad to see you." Glad to see him, if he didn't turn out to be hostile. If he was, well, there was the barrier. And the car that might or might not explode if she tried to drive it for any longer.

Not If You Were the Last (MxF)

Darlene Kate Revie

════════

Darlene Kate Revie

╞══════════════════╡

---

Nickname(s): Kate

Age: 17 years (June 12th, 1999)

Height: 5' 2.5"

Weight: 105 lbs.

Gender: Female (Hetero)

Birth Place: Antonito, Colorado

═APPEARANCE═

---

Someone describing Darlene would probably use words along the lines of slender, slight, delicate, and so on. She's not very strong, nor does she have much fat, but you can't say that she's only skin and bones either. Her weight is just above the border line of between being underweight, and just right.

Her eyes are probably the prettiest part of her, mostly green but with some brown closer to the pupil. Depending on the light, some say that her eyes are hazel instead of green. While once innocent and happy once, now they have become harder. She's seen more than she ever should have had the Plague never come, so now they reflect a wariness, and have become harder to read. The rest of her is pretty plain, though not ugly. Lightly tanned skin, a singular mole just beneath the corner of her right eye, medium brown hair with a tinge of red that falls just past her shoulders.

Even after the plague killed off millions of people, she tries to keep herself looking presentable. Cleanliness matters to her, but it's hard for to remain clean when baths are hard to come by in addition to the fact that she has been forced to become much more active lately. A few cuts, scratches, and bruises adorn her arms and legs, along with smudges of dirt here and there. She tends wears long sleeved button up shirts made of a light breathable material that seem identical to the next in cut, except for the pattern on them. Her pants are a pair of sturdy blue jeans.

Around her neck on a leather string, almost always hidden by her shirt, hangs a small square pouch. It hangs low, just between her breasts, and so it is concealed there. Through the loops of her jeans is buckled a thick plain brown belt from which hangs a holster on her right where a pistol is kept. On the left side of her belt hangs a hatchet, and behind it another small pouch.

═PERSONALITY═

---

Perhaps if you would have met her before the plague, you would have found Darlene different in a few ways. But people change with their surroundings, and different parts of Darlene's personality have become weaker or stronger in her during the past year or so.

While she had always been polite and known how to keep civil tongue, this behavior has now taken over almost everything she does and says. She keeps her voice level, says her pleases and thank yous, and tries not to flare up at others. Solving something with violence? No, not if she can help it. This way of speaking and acting has become like a shield or crutch for her, something that holds her up or protects her, something that gives her some sense of normalcy when everything around her has really crumbled to bits. It’s there to keep others from seeing how insecure she is inside, how lost and unsure.

She does have a lot of insecurity. She always doubts if what she does is the right thing, which is why she falls back on being polite and distant most times. She doesn’t want to show any weakness to those around her, she strives to be the role model, the one people can look up to. But really? Sometimes she just wishes that there would be someone to take care of her instead of it being the other way around. Not that she admits it often, though. Most of the time she keeps her feelings pent up inside, pressing them down. And when she can't stand it anymore, she tends to break down for a day or two before she gets her walls back up.

Not all of Darlene is uncertainty and loneliness, though. She has an ability to keep a pretty calm head, and she’s used to coming up with instructions and directions for her younger sister. That’s different from instructing people her age or adults, of course, but at least she’s able to take charge if she can get past the feeling that she might be wrong.

She will also drop the polite face occasionally, if you give her enough reasons to. Annoy her or anger her enough and she turns irritable, using sarcasm freely as she defends herself or scolds the person who displeased her. It's not something that happens often, but if it does, it's not one of those five minute bursts that some people give out before returning back to normal soon after. She will brood for hours afterwards if alone, and even in front of the person she lashed out at; but to anyone else she will remain polite. As to how long these episodes last? Depends if you try to apologize or if you leave her alone.

═HISTORY═

---

Before the Plague

Darlene grew up in a very small town, and perhaps that is part of the reason why her parents were strict when it came to their standards for her. Apart from being the oldest and automatically needing to be the "responsible" one, they made sure that she remained at the top of class. "Don't let where you live keep you from your dreams," they always said. But she didn't... really have a lot of passions or dreams. Her days were filled with her contently browsing sites including tumblr, facebook, and deviantart, posting or sharing there. Or she would spend hours drawing, pretty much the only passion she did have.

As long as she made sure that she wasn't falling behind in her work, her parents let her do what she wanted. They believed in giving her a bit more freedom, after all. Darlene also had a younger sister, Claire. She wasn't actually Darlene's sister by blood, having being adopted into the family when Darlene was eleven. Darlene never quite understood why, her parents never explained much. Claire was five years younger than she was, however, so Darlene just couldn't relate to the young girl's fantasies and pretend play scenes. But at least Darlene made sure that her sister was always alright. One could have said that she helped to fill in the mother role, helping to advice and (as necessary), often give orders and lectures to the young girl. With their mother often away on business trips, who else was there? Their father?

Her life wasn't particularly eventful, but it was peaceful. And that was fine.

After the Plague

The arrival of the Plague shattered that sense of peace. Though it took a while for the Plague to reach the town she lived in, she felt its effects early on. In April 2024, when she was fifteen, her mother never came back from a trip. They had received news from her that she had fallen sick and would arrive home later but she ended up dying in the hospital instead, while their father had had to stay at home to take care of Darlene and Claire.

Her father, though grieving, soon realized that this sickness wasn't one that appeared for a few months before dying down again. They began to store up supplies, including ammunition for the pistol her father owned but rarely used. In early July, the Plague reached the small town of Antonito at last. Two weeks later, at age eleven, Claire died as well.

With now two of his loved ones gone, Darlene's father changed suddenly. He came up with this idea that they couldn't stay in this town, not when they were sure to die. He wanted to leave, to keep moving while keeping away from other humans. Wanted to find some uninhabited patch of land and live there. He wasn't exactly thinking logically, but Darlene had to follow, she had no choice. After packing up as many supplies as they could carry, they snuck off in mid-September.

Where were they going?

To a campground and forest only about sixteen miles away. It was perfect to Darlene's father, with barely any people. Who would be camping out here when Martial Law had been declared? Well, it was fine. They had food, dried, canned, even a little fresh stuff (though that didn't last long). Her father had his pistol and began to teach her to use it, for with feral animals beginning to roam and wild animals already roaming, they needed its protection. At least her father could aim pretty well. A shelter was soon erected for them to live in, and so the weeks passed.

But the food wouldn't last forever, and winter was coming. Knowing that by now things would have changed drastically, they left in November to head north towards Alamosa. Before they reached there, however, they ran into a group of four other people, survivors who were also heading towards Alamosa. They were lucky that these four weren't entirely hostile, so Darlene and her father were allowed to join them once the group realized that they could be of some use since they had ammunition and a gun. Once part of the group they continued to travel with them, soon reaching Alamosa.

In Alamosa they were able to find enough supplies to keep them going through the winter. The original four members of the group were more competent at this scavenging thing than Darlene and her father, so Darlene soon picked up a few useful skills. One of them? Lock picking. A much cleaner way to break into buildings that didn't have very strong locks, and a way to make sure the door could still lock afterwards. She also learned basic self defense moves, and got better at shooting.

This relative safety though, didn't last forever. It was mid winter when one of the members of the group fell sick, and was brought to a building streets away to die. Darlene couldn't stand it though, not when the man had helped her and taught her. She snuck there a few times to bring food, tossing it through the door. But he didn't live long. Despite the groups' care to leave the man once he got sick, soon one by one they fell ill as well.

At last it was just her and her father once more, but at least now winter was almost over and they were more skilled. But it turned out that that wasn't all she was about to loose. By the time winter was coming to a close, her father fell sick. She refused to leave him like the group's policies had once required, feeding him and caring for him until he died.

Now alone, she struggled to stay afloat from the grief and loss. For a while she stopped scavenging and lost her will to keep going, letting herself waste away. Until she realized that she couldn't just let herself die, not just because she wasn't brave enough to let go of life, but because she hoped that someday she would be able to find someone else. Or at least keep living because everyone else she had come to love and appreciate hadn't. She began to gather up more supplies once more, building up her strength again as well.

Afraid she wouldn't be able to handle the winter in Alamosa, she thought ahead and decided to make her way down towards the south, hoping that she would be able to get to a place where the temperatures remained well above freezing in the winter. Using the little information that had been imparted to her by the group, she managed to find a car that she was able to hotwire, deciding that using a car would allow her to carry more with her. She had hoped that she car would last long, saving her the trouble of having to find another car, but it disappointed her. The car broke down when she had just almost reached Albuquerque, New Mexico, after only a few hours of use.

═SKILLS═

---

═Limited fire arms knowledge═

Since her father owned a pistol, she was taught to use it. She's able to aim pretty well from practice. But since she hasn't been able to find any more ammunition lately, she only has seven more bullets.

═Drawing═

Darlene is very skilled at art, mainly preferring to use pencils for black and white sketches, or sometimes color pencils. She even was trying to offer commissions on DeviantArt for a while before the Plague, with the support of her father.

═Lock Picking═

One of the men in the group she was part of for a while taught her this skill. When he died, she took his tools and now carries them with her.

═Self Defense═

Another thing she learned from the group. It's far from knowing martial arts, but at least now she knows basic punches, blocks, and the vital spots to hit.

═Car Hotwiring═

Though far from proficient at it, she was taught how to hotwire a car. However, she knows pretty much nothing else about cars, so she is unable to fix any other parts of cars should they break down.

═OTHER═

---

Nothing at the moment.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Sophia Lemane

---

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟘, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℍ𝕪𝕒𝕥𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪 ℍ𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕝 / / ~𝟙𝟚𝟘𝟘

---

Her phone and earbuds had been her constant companions ever since coming back from breakfast that morning. She cycled through playlists from albums and artists that she fell back on when she felt this way-- letting the music just envelope her so she didn't have to pay attention to anything else.

This time she was disappointed, so disappointed in herself. There had been that party last night, and she'd gone. But she hadn't said anything to anyone. Except for Lily a bit, but she already knew Lily more than the rest. She was supposed to have used that as an opportunity.

Still listening to music, she left the room she and Lily shared, deciding to head down to have an early lunch since she didn't know what else to do. She hadn't gone far, though, when the sirens stopped her. Then rumbling. Shouts. Not an earthquake...

She was already on her way back to the suite when a soldier came for her, and once back inside the suite she could see what was happening more clearly. Sophia stared out of the window in shock as she caught sight of the giant ice creature and the blob with veins and a heart like it was alive. Officer Brahm's words were almost lost on her, for she only picked up the part that defined the monsters as high threat, and the word "assault".

It was different this time. At Wisford they had had a warning, time to prepare, a plan. But the threat was here, and there was no time. What had she done in the past situations? What could she do? At Wisford she had stayed away from the front lines, but here was a different matter. During that "game" she had been a healer, and spent the entire time hiding. The day she had woken up in the hospital and ended up being flown over to a battle, she hadn't actually had to fight. But there had been a plan for what she was supposed to have done... something about her power and weaknesses in monsters that weren't so threatening... something--

The building had been shaking under her as she thought, and now she fell. No, not just her. The entire building. She needed to grab onto something but there was nothing, though she felt someone latch onto her just before something hard hit her. She let out a yelp just before the entire weight of the bookcase landed on her, and she fell unconscious from the sudden pain.

That darkness didn't last long, for it soon spit her out again in time for her to feel the weight being lifted, catching the words that... that... the person spoke. She couldn't match the voice to a name. She wasn't so alright this time, was she? There was that familiar ringing in her ears and lightness in her head, and she felt so distant, as if everything was far, far, away. She heard the muted sounds of footsteps, and people talking.

Including Brent. She should say something if she was alive. That was her, right? Alive. But since the pain wasn't going away, all she could manage with the tight breaths that she drew was a faint "Mmmmm" hummed through her lips.

It hurt too much to do anything else, and she'd never had a very high pain tolerance.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Sophia Lemane

Arrival at Hyatt Regency (Sophia & Lily)

Lilianna Brandt | Sophia Lemane

---

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℍ𝕪𝕒𝕥𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪 ℍ𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕝 / / ~𝟘𝟡𝟘𝟘

---

_{Collab with @Kyrisse}

After only a little more than two days, they were being moved again. Sophia wished that USARILN East would give them a warning in advance, instead of just banging on their doors in the morning. Luckily she had been up when the guards came, but it still was sort of annoying to have to rush to gather up her stuff. At least they were finally headed back to USARILN.

Except... why were they being given such luxurious cars just for the drive? With a sinking feeling, she realized that their destination probably wasn't going to be the place she had thought it would be. Following instructions to get out of the APC and transfer into one of the cars instead, she was glad to see that Lily had by chance ended up in the same one. They had been in the same APC just now, but Sophia had been too late to get a seat next to the Aberration.

Scooting over to sit next to Lily to greet her friend, she looked around at the interior of the car with awe. She had never been in such a car before, and this was amazing. It even helped to elevate her mood a bit. A smile played on her lips as she continued to oggle, not looking at Lily but speaking to her all the same. "Lily... this is quite something, isn't it?"

After the incident the night before, Lily didn't think she could or would want to sleep. Thoughts of what happened and what she did plagued her mind despite the voices significantly quieting down. She ended up staring at the cellphone she was convinced didn't belong to her as it rang continuously, notification of messages appearing on the screen one after the other. By the time the sun rose in the sky, the phone had finally run out of battery and the teenager's lids finally fluttered closed.

But her sleep was eventually disturbed by guards banging on her door. Waking up with a start, she stood up from the bed, disoriented and sleepy, and opened the door. She didn't complain when the guard told her that they were leaving and moved automatically, brushing her teeth and tying her hair up into a ponytail, some strands escaping the pink scrunchy. Still yawning, she let herself be led out into the APC, not really bothering to look who she was seated beside. But when they were herded into a limousine, her eyes widened in surprise, the sleepiness instantly gone from them.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar figure settle down beside her. Sophia. "It is. I wonder why we're being treated to something like this. Is it some sort of reward?" she asked, still wide eyed as she looked around.

It hadn't occurred to her that this treatment might be some sort of reward, it seemed highly unlikely. Reward for what? For getting one of their teammates killed? The thought began to pull her mood down, though she struggled against it. But she didn't want to seem like a pessimist. "Maybe..." she began, finally looking at Lily. "But somehow I don't think we're... going back? I should think that they would have just left us in the truck if we were going back to the school." School? Home? Prison? She didn't know.

"They don't tell us much."

Lily shook her head as she glanced out the window. "No, no, not going back yet. I wonder why. I hope we're not being pampered because they plan to throw us back into another battle."

Although you would want to have that chance to hurt someone again, don't you? the voice in her head whispered.

She glanced towards Sophia and shrugged. "But I think they'd at least tell us if we're being shipped off to battle again, right?"

"Yeah. They told us in advance last time, so I don't think it's that?" She pursed her lips, looking out through the heavily tinted windows as they began to move. "Just have to wait and see, I guess."

Lily nodded and leaned back on her chair. Just have to wait and see.

---

The place they were going to stay in was just so big! So fancy and expensive looking and overwhelming. So different from the comparatively drab USARILN East. But she still didn't know why they were here, in Washington D.C. Wasn't that where the Pentagon was?

Sophia watched the officer and most of the soldiers walk out of the suite, then looked at the soldiers posted around the room. A pretty place, but still not free of guards. She thought about what the officer had said, about there being a possibility that the people here could be dangerous to them. I'm guessing these people aren't very friendly, then. But that was okay, she wouldn't mind just staying in here for however long it would be until they were moved yet again.

First though, she needed to find a room. There were twelve rooms, apparently, but she knew that there were more than twelve people here. Would she have to share? The thought gave her some anxiety, and she had to hope that maybe she would be lucky enough to get a room all for herself. Still, if she had to room with someone... the only person she really knew here was Lily. Brent didn't count, she had barely spoken to him before. A frown now on her face, she glanced around to see where Lily had went.

The blonde Aberration was walking around wide eyed, fascination and wonder apparent on her face. It was the first time she had ever been allowed to stay in such a posh place. Or at least as far as I know... She kept her hands to herself as she walked around, afraid that she might soil or break anything. Everything was shiny and expensive looking and fancy. A few minutes before they arrived, her mood had taken a dip when she realized that they weren't going back to USARILN.

But in a place like this, it was difficult not to be excited.

As she glanced at the mirror mounted on the wall, a fragment of the memory she lost flashing through her head. A tall person standing beside her with short golden hair like hers. She tilted her head and stared at her reflection, trying to grasp the fleeting image.

There she was. Walking over to join Lily, she glanced at both of their reflections in the mirror. The girl with the golden hair tied messily into a ponytail and bright golden eyes, and the girl with the long, loose dark hair and dark eyes to match. She couldn't help but notice the contrast, dark next to light.

"Hmmmm..." She took a step backwards and then forwards again, attention no longer on the mirror. How should approach this? "Think you'll be able to get a room of your own?"

Lily could almost grasp it. Just a bit more. She just had to reach out and finally remember that face that never failed to fade before she could find out who it was. A family member maybe? Father? Uncle? Brother? A guardian? Had she somehow been put up for adoption? And her foster parents got tired of her that they decided to off her?

Her thoughts headed towards a dark path. She didn't even notice the dark haired girl beside her. Until she spoke up.

The Aberration blinked and then looked at Sophia, her eyes a little unfocused first. "I'd want to get a room of my own just like in USARILN. But..." she gestured to the others. "They've all probably chosen rooms so unless they all decided to room in with someone, I probably will have to squeeze in with someone." She wrinkled her nose as she ran through the possible people she'd be willing to ask.

Angelique, Callan, Emma...? It'd be awkward. She wasn't really close to any of them. And they probably won't want someone like her in their room. Despite the friendly encounter she just had with two of them.

She sighed. "Have you chosen your room yet?" she asked back.

Sophia shook her head, knowing that Lily was probably right about most of the rooms being taken. "Don't know who I would room with... unless we..." She should ask? "but..." She left the sentence hanging in midair, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

Lily understood the unspoken suggestion and her face immediately lit up. "We room together? That'd be great!" She paused. "Or at least I think it would be. I've never stayed in a room with anyone before."

Sophia was relieved that Lily understood what she had meant, saving her from having to say it out loud. She actually had never slept over at anyone's house before, no sleepovers or anything, and the two extra beds in her dorm back at USARILN were empty. She had liked it that way and still preferred it that way, but rooming with Lily for a few days couldn't hurt, right? It would just be a little less private, but she could survive.

"Never stayed with anyone before either," she said, opening up once more. "But there's always a first time. Should we?" She turned as if to go check out the rooms.

Lily nodded, a wide grin spreading across her face. It was definitely nice to have friends and be asked to do stuff together. "We should!" she piped up cheerfully.

Now with Lily's consent, Sophia walked across the room and towards the line of doors. Not wanting to accidentally walk into a room someone had just claimed, she went to the nearest one that had its door open. Peering inside, she made sure that it looked unoccupied before glancing back at Lily. "Looks like this one's empty... does it matter to you which one we take?"

"No, not really," Lily replied, walking into the empty room. She looked at the lavishness, still unable to believe that they were to stay in it. "Wow. So this must be how rich people live, huh?"

How rich people lived... yes. Only rich people could afford something like this. But she still didn't get it. Why were they of all people being given such rooms? Not for a reward, like Lily had suggested. As a distraction from what had happened? Compensation? She sighed softly, though it was hard to tell whether she did so because she was satisfied or upset. Something to think about later.

Looking at the single bed in the room, she realized she had forgotten that there was only one bed per room. Sharing a room was one thing, but sharing a bed? She hadn't done that in years, except for a night or two once in a while when she shared a bed with her sister in a hotel. She wasn't sure that she really wanted to sleep with someone outside of the family... so there was always the couch?

She looked at the bed, then the couch, and then at the bed. That could work. "Uh, there's only one bed, so maybe I can sleep on the couch?"

Lily looked at the bed then at the couch then at Sophia. She was glad that someone actually wanted to share a room with her. And because this dark haired girl did, she wanted to make sure that she was as comfortable as possible. Her offer to sleep on the couch was proof enough that she wasn't comfortable sharing a bed. She smiled and shook her head. "You take the bed. I don't sleep all that much anyway and if I do, I'm small enough that I would fit on the couch perfectly... even if I stretch out." She chuckled. "Back home, he would always say that I---" she stopped.

Back home? Did I remember something?

She furrowed her brow but that flash of memory was gone and she had no idea what it was that she was about to say.

Lily was only a few inches shorter than Sophia, so it wouldn't really matter who slept there, would it? She opened her mouth to respond, but her friend wasn't done talking. Something about an unknown person again, just like that time Lily had come over to her dorm. She waited for Lily to finish, but she had stopped and didn't seem like she was going to continue.

Putting down the few things she had brought from the motel on and near the night table near the bed, a thought occurred to her. She got the stuff about who would sleep where out of the way first, though. "Alright... if you're sure. But we can always switch, if you don't like it."

She sat down on the edge of the bed. "Lily..." Sophia began slowly, gazing at the girl. "Have you ever tried writing all that you remember down? So that... one day maybe you can put it together?"

Lily looked thoughtfully at Sophia. "No, not really," she admitted. "It's... kinda difficult to do that because I don't remember long enough to actually write it down. Sometimes I see a face in my head but I don't really know who it is. Sometimes I think I remember but the memory doesn't stick. It never does." She shrugged. "So I don't really bother anymore."

"Oh." It was too bad, but if Lily couldn't remember, there really wasn't much that could be done about it. She dropped the subject, turning her attention to the room around them once more. "Well then, I think I'm going to explore this place more."

She and Lily spent the next minutes checking out the room they were going to stay in, checking out the facilities. The closet compartments were cool, there were robes provided, and the bathtub was so big. The question why they were given such a luxurious place to stay in still bugged her a bit, but the excitement of the motorized snack shelf distracted her from thinking about it too much.

When they were done checking everything out, Sophia and Lily headed down to the buffet together, ready to satisfy their appetites. They passed by the music room where a melody was playing. Lily paused, considering peeking in to see who among them were the ones playing but her stomach had other plans. When it growled, the blonde threw all thoughts of music out the window and continued on.

An E-mail (Solo)

---

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℍ𝕪𝕒𝕥𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪 ℍ𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕝 / / ~𝟙𝟙𝟜𝟘

---

Sophia came directly from the buffet to the computer lounge, still full from breakfast. Having been away from USARILN for a few days now, it had been a while since she had been online. She probably could have used her phone to access the internet, but that sort of thing had been one of the last things on her mind during the past days. Anyway, it was probably a good idea to check her e-mail and do some browsing online, before they were shipped off elsewhere.

Opening the internet browser, she went to sign in to her e-mail first. Messages unread: 18. Her eyebrows rose, until, scrolling through the unread messages, she realized that most were from sites she merely had accounts on. Telling her to not give up and keep learning this or that, check some new post out, or advertise some sale. A few of them were from her mother, though. It seemed that her mother hadn't dropped her off the list of family members to send articles to, she found the e-mails containing links to news sites, but no personal words for her.

That was... a good thing? She should probably feel relived that her mother hadn't taken her becoming a subnatural badly. But then, there were no attempts from her mother or her father to keep in touch. Not to ask how she was adjusting to USARILN, if she wanted to talk, or anything. But she couldn't blame them. She'd never really talked with her parents much anyway, and they were probably still shocked from the sudden change of events. She didn't click on any of the articles, another e-mail catching her eye.

An e-mail from Matilda, dated late on the 13th.

Dear Sophia,

How are you doing? Please reply if you can. I wasn't sure how else to contact you since you don't have a phone, but I would like us to communicate a bit. Now our phone is just mine now. Or if you can access a phone you can call me, though I do not like talking on the phone as much. I am available in the morning on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Tuesday and Thursday I am available in the afternoons after 2pm. Friday I am only available in the evenings after tea, since I have two classes on that day.

Hope you have a good rest of the day (or night if it's night when you read this).

Love,
Matilda

She wasn't sure what to think. It was short, and more on the formal side compared to how her sister usually wrote. But she had still used "love" at the end, and had wanted a reply. That at least seemed good, and it did make her a little happy that Matilda, if not her parents, had tried to get in touch. It was the... 18th today, wasn't it? No, 17th. The 17th. Four days since Matilda had sent out the e-mail, maybe she had given up on Sophia ever replying.

Though she knew it would probably be a good idea to reply now, she hesitated with her cursor hovering over the reply box. What was she supposed to say? "I'm fine", like she often did? Her sister would want details, and Sophia didn't know if she wanted to give the total truth. It might make them grow apart if Sophia went ahead and told Matilda about facing monsters, and the death, and everything. Plus, she wasn't sure Matilda could handle it.

She needed time to think over the facts of what had happened, maybe tweak them a bit or decide what to leave out. How much was there in the news about the attack on the school? She knew news about Wisford must be everywhere by now, but how specific were the reports? She closed her e-mail and went to sign in to her Discord.

It turned out that there were a lot of messages to read through from that Death and Taxes site, and it took her a while before she was done. It was confusing, piecing together what everyone was saying. USARILN had been attacked? And there had been deaths, and someone was cleaning up bodies. That wasn't a lot of information, but at least it was something.

Would anything have happened to her if she had been in USARILN at that time?

Moving on, she spent almost the next hour or so browsing through the news before heading back up to the 20th floor.

Keeping in Touch (Mostly solo)

---

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟠, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℍ𝕪𝕒𝕥𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪 ℍ𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕝 / / 𝟙𝟡𝟛𝟝

---

_{Parts written by @Kyrisse}

From where she sat with her back to the large bed, Sophia pulled the earbuds she had bought earlier that day out from her ears, switching off the music after checking the time. By now Matilda should be done with dinner, if her family was still keeping to the same schedule as they had been only a few weeks ago. There was only one problem: Lily was in the room. She would feel bad asking Lily to leave... but she really wanted to just get this over with.

"Hey... uh, Lily?" she called, twisting around to catch sight of her friend. "Are you busy?"

A singer like Angelique? A nerd in school? A favorite daughter? Maybe a popular girl like Emma? No, no, can't be. I'm not even half as pretty as her. Hmmm... maybe someone like Ernie who gives good advice? Or maybe... Lily was daydreaming about possible pasts when Sophia called out her name.

She looked towards the dark haired girl. "Hmmm?"

"Yeah, I was planning to... maybe call someone now. But if you want to stay here, I can always call another time?"

"Oh, no, no. It's okay. I'll go," Lily replied, stretching her arms and legs before standing up. "I'll go see if there's someone I can bother," she giggled before slipping out of the door.

Now there wouldn't be any putting it off any longer. With hesitant fingers she dialed in the number from memory, hovering over the call button for a few seconds before finally pressing it. The phone rang once, twice... four times... and then stopped. Sophia automatically tightened her hand on the phone as her sister's loud voice came through.

"Hello? This is Matilda. Who is this?"

Now. Time for her to speak. She hesitated, listening to her sister's breathing from the other side of the phone.

"Hello?"

"I... this is Sophia. I wanted to-"

"Sophia?" It was hard to tell how her sister was feeling just by the tone of voice. "You- you're calling me! I thought you weren't going to, or that you had forgotten, or that- something else happened. How are you?"

Relief, it sounded like relief. But Sophia's hand only tightened even more on the phone as that question came around. "I'm good, Til. I've just been... busy lately. Adjusting and all? Anyway, what about you? How are the rest?"

"No, don't switch the subject. I'll answer your questions later, but first I want to ask you things. You never talk enough." There was silence for a few seconds, one that Sophia didn't know how to break. "I want to ask you things," Matilda repeated again. More silence.

"How's USARILN East? And having powers? Is it like, weird? Cool? Horrible? Do you want to come back?" Her sister had begun slowly, but picked up speed as she continued to talk, even as her voice became softer.

"Are you ever coming back? Do you hate us? Is the place horrible? I'm sorry, sorry. We shouldn't have called. We should have waited. We could have kept you with us, and worked something out. I hate myself for reacting so impulsively, I never think before doing anything. And now you're gone, and I don't know if you're coming back, and everyone misses you though they don't say it. And-and-" Sophia thought she could hear her sister getting chocked up. "I don't know how to do anything, how to handle Lyra and make her feel better, how to get along, I don't get what people mean, I have no one to talk to about what I'm feeling and no one to ask if someone was sarcastic or not, and-"

Matilda stopped, and all Sophia could hear was crying. She needed to say something now, but the words had come too quickly without giving her enough time to think them through. "Matilda, you-"

"I'm so selfish. Here I am complaining about my problems, when it's you who should be talking. How are you?"

"Til, I already said I'm fine."

She paused to further think things through. "You shouldn't be blaming yourself... would have had to go eventually anyway. It was either go immediately, or cause a lot of trouble for you all. And don't worry, you can still talk to me. Call me. I got a phone, so... you know I'm still the same, right? Just because I have a mark now doesn't mean that I'm not Sophia, okay? I'm not going to change."

Except she was going to change, and she was already changing. Everything was different now.

"No!" All of a sudden Matilda seemed angry, though sniffles still punctuated her words. "Don't forget I'm" the older sister. I'm the one who you should be telling your problems too. I know... I need to tell you a lot, but it can't be one sided. I want you to talk, tell me about what's been happening."

What was she supposed to tell Matilda? About the battles, and the death, and the wounded, and the gunshots and soldiers, the violent games? That she wasn't even at USARILN at the moment? No. "It's... going to take me a while to adjust. I do miss you all. But... it's really not as bad as I thought it would be? I think I made a friend, and there's good food though I still miss mama's? And everyone's well provided for here..."

Her sister still didn't say anything. "What do you want to know?" she asked at last. "You know I don't... talk."

"Just say what you feel like."

"But... are you sure? The reputation of that school isn't something along the lines of being friendly. You haven't been out to fight, right?"

Her sister needed reassurance, and Sophia would give it. "Of course not, Til!" A little too loud, a little too forced, and a little too happy.

Yeah, right.

"We've only had a little training for like strength stuff. I mean, I've barely been here for any time. They wouldn't send us out."

Hah. Very true.

"I don't ever want you sent out, Sophia. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." She needed to switch the subject, this was getting too far from the truth for her comfort. There was no way she could find out about who had been sent out to Wisford, right? She hadn't done any interviews like some of her other classmates, so she should be fine?

"Uh... you said you'd answer my questions later. How's mama and papa? Lyra? You can talk about yourself later."

"Oh, Sophia. It hasn't been good. They've been fighting more lately, and both of them just left. To talk outside of the house. Not to make you feel bad, but it's probably because of you leaving. Though you already knew that. As for Lyra, she's Lyra. You know that she and I don't get along as well, so she gets rude and annoying, though then sometimes she just comes to me for comfort."

As she had sort of guessed. Situation: not so good. And Lyra, so young and all these changes.

"Lyra's downstairs if you want to talk to her."

Did she want to talk to her? It might make Lyra feel better, but... Maybe just talking to Matilda for now was enough. She should though... except...

"I'll... talk to her another time, okay? But tell her she can e-mail. Should e-mail. She still needs to keep practicing her typing." Sophia was trying to keep cheerful, but she could feel her voice dropping into its quieter mode. I'll talk to you another time, midget.

"Are you sure? Well, okay."

"Now, tell me about yourself!" Yes, keep up the cheer. "How's community college?"

Her sister launched into explanation, about the people she had met on the bus, in class, including some questions about what her sister thought certain people might think of her behavior. Luckily Matilda carried the conversation by herself, needing only a few words here and then to keep her going. It was almost eight thirty by the time conversation petered off, and Sophia was glad to hear that Matilda seemed happier.

"Wow, I talked a lot, didn't I?"

"You always talk a lot, Til. But yeah, it's probably best for you to get going. Finish that homework and all."

"Yeah... okay. We can e-mail until we find some other time to call, alright?"

"Mhmm. Have a good night. Tell... tell them all I say hello."

"I will. Stay safe, Sophia."

"Bye."

Restless Night (Solo)

---

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟡, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℍ𝕪𝕒𝕥𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪 ℍ𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕝 / / 𝟘𝟚𝟙𝟞

---

The day had ended up with Sophia having more conversations than she was used to having... one with Brent, small talk with Lily once in a while, and then the long phone call with Matilda. Perhaps all this conversation had called to mind all the things she had not done, still had to do, and memories about the far and near past so they were too fresh in her mind.

It had taken Sophia hours to fall asleep, tossing and turning in that big bed. And even when she fell asleep, it was not a deep and dreamless one.

Nightmare

Closing her eyes found her opening them in a different place, one that she recognized too well. The APC. Outside the open doors everything was more blurred than she remembered it, only two things in focus. Marcus, and a clockwork dog. It circled him, and though she could hear faint whimpers and cries of terror from the people around her in the APC, she could not tear her eyes away.

Marcus was unarmed, obviously terrified. She needed to do something, help, but she just watched.

A snarl and a leap towards the time mage.

For a moment or two the entire scene was blurred, and when she could see again he was lying on the floor with the dog's jaws around his neck.

Do something.

Making Marcus look like a rag doll, the dog shook its head vigorously. Marcus's eyes met her own, pleading, but they were golden eyes, not hazel.

Another blurred few moments, and through the fog she heard a loud snap that made every part of her freeze. Couldn't move. When the fog vanished, the dog was gone. Marcus was gone. In their places was Savannah, and the gargoyle.

Dead. But Sav's eyes still were fixed on her. She tried to move towards the girl, but still she couldn't move. Something held her in place, something that she struggled against but couldn't overcome. Before she could try again to break free from those bonds, the doors slammed.

Total darkness.

It seemed like she was stuck in there for ages, but at last the darkness faded away and she was at USARILN, at the place where they did training. Her classmates were around her, exercising. She knew what she should do and automatically moved to lay on the ground with her knees bent. Sit ups. But the moment she lay down, it happened once again. She couldn't move.

And as she lay there, her classmates surrounded her, forming a circle around her. She knew that they were her classmates, but their faces were blurred, some more than the rest. Those that weren't entirely blurred beyond recognition were the ones of Lily, then Brent, then Lawrence and Marcus. But she could still barely recognize them. She struggled to stand up and face them, but they moved closer and began to speak in unison.

"You don't know us, do you?"

"Too good to get to know us, always sticking to yourself. Too good, huh?"

"What are our names?"

She tried to call up names for the faces that she could at least somewhat recognize, but came up blank. She knew, though, she knew.

I know you, she tried to say, but nothing came out. I just can't--

"Can't remember?" The tone of their voices... such contempt, hate...

On they went, listing every time that she could have interacted with them, become friends with them. Listing every time she had thought of speaking or approaching but never had. As if they had searched her mind. There were so many times, too many... but she had tried. She had tried.

"No, you didn't try," was the last thing they said before they faded away in that fog.

Then it was Savannah there above her, just her alone. She hadn't been there just now, Sophia could remember that much. Sav looked so happy, whole, innocent. A grin on her face, with a stack of music sheets in one hand, a violin and bow in the other. The moment Sav's gaze landed on Sophia, however, the grin faded and was replaced with an expression of sadness, loss, helplessness...

"You never got to know me much, did you? Do you know what's my favorite song? Favorite color?" She stopped to look Sophia up and down, and she realized that she was standing. How had that happened?

"Favorite food? My history? You never tried to reach out, never suggested that we play together." A faint smile. "You know, I think we could have been good friends. Both of us the youngest ones, both of us liking music."

"Too bad you couldn't do anything to help me then." The smile faded, and Sophia wanted to tell Savannah how sorry she was, how she thought about it every day. She still couldn't speak.

"Regrets and apologies won't change anything," she said softly, as if comforting Sophia. "But I'll play something for you, okay?" Savannah spread the music sheets before her, and they somehow stayed there, floating in midair. Getting into position, she lifted her bow and placed it lightly on the strings.

But something wasn't right. Sav seemed to shiver and tremble before her eyes, even as she smiled and began to draw the bow across the strings. Instead of the sweet notes Sophia had been hoping for, a screech rang out as Sav began to tremble harder. Cracks appeared in the young girl, and a second later the girl before Sophia crumbled into thousands of pieces. Even the music sheets crumbled, falling onto the ground with a crash.

No. What was happening? She needed to get to Sav, see if she could fix it. She needed to fix it, she couldn't fail another time.

She couldn't move.

The pieces on the floor trembled as if they wanted to join together once more, but each movement of a piece resulted in its breaking even farther. Sophia could only watch as the pieces of Sav, small enough to begin with, crumbled into dust.

A breeze began to blow, and the fine pieces were swept off by the wind. Into the distance. Out of sight. Never to come back.

And she was crying, sobbing into her pillow. The sheets of the bed were twisted around her, her cheeks wet with tears. She was safe. Here. Not anywhere else but here. Hyatt Regency Hotel.

But Sav wasn't. Not safe, not here, and not at this hotel.

The tears continued to fall even though Sophia was now awake, unable to forget what she had witnessed. It was many minutes before the sobs subsided, and she untangled herself from the sheets to sit up in bed. The room was big, but not big enough. She suddenly felt trapped. She needed to get outside, breathe some fresh air.

Carefully, as quietly as she could, she slipped out of the bed and out of the room, only stopping to grab her cardigan. The guards were in the living room as they always were, but they didn't speak to her and only tracked her progress across the room. She thought of going down to get outside, but... her attention flickered over to the balcony. Outdoors.

It would be good enough. She stepped outside, breathing in deeply as the cold air enveloped her. She was sticky from that dream, and it felt good. From this high up she could see the cars still on the road at this hour, and the lights of other buildings. She gave herself a minute to relax before she couldn't help but dive deep into what that dream might have meant.

Everything in there had hit so close to home...

She didn't know her classmates. She hadn't tried to get to know anyone. She hadn't tried to get to know Sav. She hadn't done anything to help during the battle. She didn't do anything, all she did was think. And think. And think. That was all she had been doing, drifting from room to room when she needed to get somewhere to eat or something. But she didn't interact, didn't talk. Didn't try hard enough, did she?

Things did need to change. Everything around her had changed, and she needed to change with it.

Except... wasn't that what she always told herself? That she needed to change? Needed to learn to talk to people? And maybe she would try for a few days, a week, and then the attempts would peter to a stop. It didn't work, and she had never gotten it to work.

Try, try, and try again. That was all she could ever do. But it had to count for something, right? Maybe one day... she would get better?

Not if you keep making excuses for your failures. With all your 'I don't know' and 'I can't'.

I'll try again.

To do what? Do, not try.

To communicate, to train... to learn more about others... to get stronger, to take care of my sisters and help them, to help others... to not just sit or stand there and do nothing.

Good. These better not just be empty words again.

They won't. I'll try--

Do.

I'll do my best.

Eventually she felt exhaustion returning, and she turned from the balcony to go back to bed. Tomorrow-- or rather, later today, would give her a new chance.

Iris Halo

Laura Tilney

Hallway, Chroma Knight Base
December 19, 2016 - ~10:30

Darius's sudden change of demeanor took Laura by surprise. He had seemed to be getting aggressive less than a minute ago, but now he seemed to change. But then, she had also been angry but then suddenly changed, so perhaps he had been acting that way because of her. Could she be that unpleasant? Enough to make others take the offensive?

She tried not to think about it too much, taking his words as a sort of apology. He admitted that he should have known better, and agreed to be more careful or find someone on his level. It satisfied her, but before she could perhaps apologize about her behavior or tell him that his words put her more at ease, he walked away. And with a smirk too.

She watched him go, standing there looking after him even after he had disappeared out of sight. After a minute or two, she shook herself. She had things to do too. Turning on her heel, she headed back towards her room. She would finish reading that chapter, then she should check to make sure everything was in order back at the infirmary. It was one of her jobs, and one that she took seriously.

---

---

< < Time Skip > >

---

---

Office room, Chroma Knight base
Dec 25, 2016 - 10:12 am

The office had been occupied since early that morning, by one person who alternated between sitting at a basic drawered wooden desk, to jumping up to pull stacks of papers out from the many shelves and cabinets that lined the room. The head of base, to put it lightly, was busy. He was busy every day, but the past few weeks had found him in this room for longer hours at a time.

There had been more requested visits from family and friends to approve the scheduling of, and more organization and scheduling to be done in order to make sure that the knights who were to have visitors could get their belongings to the rooms above the Cafe in time... and still, despite this organization, there were last minute rushes with Cartesians and Butterflies dispatched to help teleport furniture and decorate the rooms. All this hassle in addition to his usual work to keep the base up and running and supplied. And it wasn't even a very big base.

Taking a moment to lean back in his chair and run his fingers through his light brown hair, he sighed. All this extra work for him and his two helpers, because of the holidays. If he would have attempted to do this alone things would have been even busier, so as much as he hated to pile work on the two, he was grateful for the help.

Taking a gulp of tea from his cup, Alfred leaned back over the the desk to continue his work. At that moment, an amaranthine ball of light sped through the closed door, coming to a sudden stop right next to him. He recognized the sprite because of the color it was, one of the sprites that he was often in contact with. Now, he could immediately tell that something was not right by the way it had rushed in. As he turned to face the sprite, it began to speak quickly without greeting.

"Severe threat spotted at Times Square, Manhattan. Known breed of Man-eating Spiders, quantity of ten. They have begun feeding on humans within the area."

Shit. Alfred acted immediately, reaching over on his desk to slam down the small red button that was placed near the public address system. An alarm began to sound through the speakers placed all around the base, a signal for the Knights to stop whatever they were doing at the moment and stand by for instruction. While the alarm blared, he jumped up from his seat to grab two thick binders from the surrounding shelves. The first was labeled CK Members, and the second Known Threats.

Opening the one marked Known Threats and scanning down the contents page with a practiced eye, he found the page number for Man-eating Spiders and flipped to the section. He knew much of the information listed there about the monsters, but wanted to make sure he hadn't forgotten any details. It had been more than a month since the last attack on areas this base was in charge of, and even longer since an attack from this type. Using the other binder to double check the power levels of the different squads, he formed a plan in his head.

About one and a half minutes after the alarm had been sounded, it switched off as Alfred began to speak through the announcement system. "All of squads two and three. All of squad four except Hannah, you're sick. All of squad six. All of you head to the Base meeting room. Royle and Elena from my squad, you two join them. Help to teleport since you aren't going out to fight."

Giving the members some time to grab their equipment and gather in the meeting room, he turned to the open laptop on his desk and opened the Discord. Sending out a message to the two Cartesians on his squad containing the coordinates they should bring the squads out to, he frowned at the screen for a moment before sending out another message.

Alfred W. : Can u handle that? Teleport as many as u can, those going out need to conserve energy.

While waiting for a response, he flipped through the files on the squads he was sending out once more, making sure he wasn't overlooking anything. The response came from Elena a good half minute later, no doubt she was occupied making sure everyone was ready.

Elena H. : ofc

Elena H. : Almost everyone's here now, ready? Royle's off getting one of S2 from work.

Not bothering to close the laptop or type out a reply, Alfred got up and half ran out the door and into the hallway, coming into the nearby meeting room less than a minute later. It was so close by, after all. As Elena had said, it looked like all the squads had arrived and were suiting up. As he walked in the door, Royle teleported in along with a man Alfred knew as Robert, still dressed up in a formal suit. Alfred didn't need to watch to know that Royle would go off teleporting some more to bring the man's gear to him faster.

Hurrying to the front of the room, he cleared his throat before beginning to speak in a calm and clear voice, a voice that did not reflect how he was really feeling inside. It was never easy to send out his comrades out to fight, especially when he wasn't going with them. But this time, he had decided it would be better for his squad to remain in base.

The Knights that were making small talk amongst themselves while getting ready fell silent immediately as he began to speak, all ears for the commands he was issuing. He kept his instructions brief and to the point, for at this very moment humans could- no, were being preyed upon by those monsters. He ended with a heartfelt "Good luck" that conveyed everything he could not put into words.

Silently, the squads gathered around Elena and Royle and soon disappeared into thin air, leaving only Alfred behind.

---

10:29 am

It was hard to focus when thoughts of the battle filled his head despite his efforts to focus on the work he had yet to finish up. Alfred trusted the squads that he had sent out, knew they worked well together. The squads that had left had contained mostly more advanced Knights. He hadn't wanted to take chances by sending out inexperienced squads, death was the last thing he wanted. Death was never welcome, it being Christmas or not.

Still, that unfortunately meant that his squad was the only advanced one left, the rest were pretty much either intermediate or newbies. An unwelcome fact. Yet another sigh escaped him as he got up from his chair, grabbing his mug. He needed more tea.

Before he could reach the door, though, he was interrupted by the sight of a familiar amaranthine ball of light entering, causing dread to spike through him. Was it news about the ongoing battle? Had something gone wrong? Or... he dared to hope, was the battle over? His hopes plummeted as the sprite spoke.

"Severe threat spotted at Central Park, Manhattan. Same breed of Man-eating Spiders as earlier this morning, quantity of eight. Have begun feeding on humans within the area."

No. No, no no. This couldn't be... not occurring so close together. There weren't enough squads in the base to handle this properly, but they had to try. "What about the squads I sent out earlier?"

"Still handling the threat. No casualties."

"Estimate as to when they'll be done?"

"Hard to tell. Five spiders are down, four wounded."

Not welcome news, but considering that the four squads were facing ten spiders, five down and some wounded in less than 15 minutes was good. He tried to take comfort in the "no casualties" part, but it was not time to worry about those squads.

Just like he had done so recently, he sounded the alarm, slamming his mug down on the nearest surface as he lunged for the cabinet in the corner that contained his equipment. It was always being moved by him from his dorm over to this office, for he always made sure to keep it near him. Slipping a vest over his shirt, he continued to don his equipment as he spoke into the intercom.

"My squad and squad five. Get ready to go and meet up. Hannah, are you able to come? We'll keep you in the rear, but we could use your shielding."

A few seconds later, a ping came from the computer and the Discord that was still open.

Hannah G. : coming

Almost done with his preparation, many thoughts ran through Alfred's mind. The entire base would be vacated once he left, but that shouldn't be too much of a concern. Fighting the urge to sink into a chair and put his face in his hands, he buckled on a belt containing a few choice weapons. Eight spiders, two squads. Squad five was a strange mix of fighters, ranging from advanced all the way to a newbie who had only been training for around a month and a half, if he remembered correctly. Our base is too small. I need to plead our case at the next meeting to get us more recruits.

His squad could try to take on the brunt of the spiders, his squad was the most advanced in the base. It would be very hard to hold off six, but they would have to manage. That would leave two for squad six... and Hannah would join them. That would still mean that squad five would remain an incomplete squad, missing a Croscope. Strategy with such a mixed group would be hard. He often left strategy to the squads themselves to figure out, but with the situation they were in, he felt it would be safer to lay things out for them.

Darius would have to be their main offensive power, while Keira could hang farther back for her ranged attacks on the spiders. Hopefully her aim would be good enough to hit some vital points. The Shields would protect the teammates who needed to stand still to execute attacks, meaning that they would form the wall between the spiders and Amelie, Laura, Keira, and possibly Connor. Laura was back up for when teammates got hurt as well as general lookout, and Amelie could distract the spiders away from the attackers using illusions. If Brian was up to it, he could teleport Darius in to points that were harder to access so the Hammer could strike there before being teleported back out. Or else Brian could do it himself, albeit with less force. Connor, however, could perhaps slow time to give his teammates time to think through their movements. God knows everyone here needed more time to think.

Time to brief them on the situation. Instead of going to the meeting room to wait for them to finish arriving, he turned on the intercom again. This way they could listen while preparing.

"Alright, listen up. We're up against eight Man-eating Spiders in Central Park. They're feeding on the humans there, so another side job we'll have is to get them out of the area. All of you know about these spiders. They generate a cover that appears to be a blizzard to all except us Knights and them. My squad is taking on six, while squad five, you will deal with two. More if you finish early.

"Darius, you're the main attacker. Make disabling the spiders your priority, knocking out a few legs should take care of that. Keira, hang back and aim for weak spots and joints in the legs. Laura, as usual you're the healer and lookout. Stay well away from the front lines. Amelie, distract the spiders' attention away from your teammates to give them a chance to make surprise attacks from behind or below. Cayde and Hannah, cover everyone who isn't moving around. Brian, work with Darius to get him in to strike the weak spots, and then back out quickly. Keep an eye out for Keira's arrows, same goes for you Keira, careful not to shoot if your teammates are too close. Connor, try to slow time to give your teammates time to think. Take the opportunity to attack when you can."

Once done speaking, he was out the door and down the hallway to the meeting room. Everyone seemed to be there, including Hannah. She was pale and looked more tired than usual, but had a grim smile on her face. Determination, that's what he liked about her. She didn't give up easily. Striding to the front of the room, he motioned for Elena and Royle to join him. "Once you're ready, gather around Elena and Royle here, they'll teleport us out. Brian, you don't need to help. Save your energy."

As people began to gather around, he added one more thing. "If you have any questions, speak up now. We need to get going."

OOC

@FallenTrinity@Aeternum@canaryrose@PrimalOrigins

And... the battle begins. Hopefully everything was written out clearly enough, but if anyone has any questions or wants to know anything in more detail, just ask Canaryrose or me. The PCs make up squad five. General strategy has been outlined for the coming battle (if it can be called a strategy), though it's quite vague due to the sudden appearance of the Man-eating Spiders.

This will also be posted in the gm_notices channel in the discord, but I'll put the link in here too:
1drv.ms/o/s!AkAkKxHUhqqtaRa8CivzGyx7yik
It directs you to a document that shows the information the Knights would know about these monsters. These have been encountered before and are not a new species, so the Knights would have been taught about them sometime or another. As they fight new monsters, the information will be added to the document.

Go ahead and write your characters up to the point of gathering around Royle and Elena, but don't write them being teleported yet, just in case anyone's character decides to voice a question.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Sophia Lemane

La Plata, Maryland
September 14th, 2020 - 7:00 pm

At last, she was alone. The room wasn't some kind of fancy hotel room, but she didn't mind. It had four walls, and a door that could lock. Satisfying enough. It would suffice as a safe and quiet place for the time being. From where she stood in the middle of the room, she sighed, going over to sit on the edge of one of the beds to remove her belt.

Instead of dumping the entire belt on the floor, she then began to remove each of the items from the belt. The pepper spray, which she never used. The baton, which she never touched. She opened it and closed it a few times, waving it around in the air randomly before dropping it on the floor. Good luck warding off a clockwork with this. Then lastly, the knife. Holding it in her hand, she ran her thumb across the sharp edge. Another thing she hadn't had any use for. Those three items, they had all been useless. Sheathing the knife, she put it on the floor as well, though more carefully. Slumping backwards onto the bed, she reached behind her and pulled off the hair tie, letting her hair spread out around her.

Savannah was dead. Not breathing, not smiling, not yelling. Motionless, on that battlefield, eyes still open. Why? Why did the gargoyle have to snatch someone from the truck? Why couldn't the attackers have left them alone? Why did the monsters attack the town? Why was it this team that was sent out? Why, why, why? She lifted a fisted hand as if to smack the blankets in anger, before she let it fall, deflating. Running through the what had happened during the entire battle, she realized she didn't want to forget any of it.

It wouldn't seem right to just let go and move on, not when people had died. She wanted to remember every detail. She wouldn't let herself forget Savannah. Ever. Sitting up to remove her cardigan, she removed the floppy pieces of wishalloy that had been held in place by the fitting garment. The pieces on her torso and arms had reverted since she had already put them on in the truck, but the wishalloy on her legs still clung on. She'd have to wait for those to fall off.

The rest of the night was spent holed up in her motel room. She tried to shower, but gave up after the water refused to remain hot. She didn't feel like going out to eat anything, she didn't feel hungry. Even if she were, she doubted any food would taste good right now. She made herself go over each detail of the battle again and again, starting from entering the truck for the drive to Wisford and ending with the arrival at the motel. Many parts of the battle seemed blurred and hazy, especially after Savannah had died. But she tried her best to remember everything, wishing that she had her journal to write down the events in.

How long would they be staying in this motel? Why hadn't they driven directly back to USARILN?

She had too many questions, but she pushed them out of her mind as she pushed back the covers of the bed to climb in under them. An unfamiliar bed, but still not entirely uncomfortable. It seemed clean, and it was something to cover her up and wrap herself up in. Sleep didn't come easily, though. One hour passed, then two, then three, and more before she finally drifted off into a troubled sleep.

Cerendale: Forged In the Mind

@Drunk Uncle Bob Letting you know here as well that I sent you a PM a while ago regarding some questions/details about the CS I hope to make. Hopefully it's still sitting somewhere in your Inbox for whenever you have a chance to reply!

I'll keep brainstorming character ideas in the meantime~

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Sophia Lemane

Wisford, Maryland
September 14th, 2020 - 5:55 pm

Even after that terrible moment when Sav's neck snapped, they continued moving. Fighting.

Marcus. A brown haired girl with shadowy dark creatures. An aquamarine haired girl. Siena. From somewhere, another person was shooting bullets. It was only she who could not move, because someone had just died. Savannah. Someone whom Sophia had never had the chance to get to know better. And as weak as it might be, she could not ignore it.

From the back of her mind came scrambled bits and pieces of memories. A table, an occupied chair. Four people, when it should have been five. Tears, lots of them. But none from her. She stood there by that table, not quite old enough to understand what was wrong, but old enough to feel the weight of the situation. "He's not coming," her mother had said.

There was another part she remembered. A small bundle wrapped in blue. A gaping dark hole. Stepping outside into the hot sun to watch smoke rise from a chimney as her hand was held tightly. More tears, still none from her.

But this time, her eyes welled with tears.

It was the gargoyle's fault. It was the fault of that aquamarine girl. It was the fault of the brown haired girl, because maybe if she and her shadowy creatures would have been first, the gargoyle would have been dealt with in a better way. It was Marcus's fault, for... for not realizing that there was an intruder in the APC. It was Lawrence's fault for the same reason, for not paying enough attention.

It was... it was... the fault of all her teammates on the battlefield for not realizing that there were rouge subnaturals attacking Evac sooner. For coming to help too late. It was the fault of all the people who had not yet arrived to help. It was Savannah's fault for not managing to save herself. It was-- why did it matter whose fault it was? Sav was dead and there was no changing that-- her fault.

Because she hadn't done anything, or even tried. Because she was powerless.

What was it her sister had often called her? Ah, yes.

Hopeless. That was it. She was that too.

---

The walls of the APC dissolved, and she found herself in a place unknown. Her fear, sadness, despair, and all those other negative motions faded, pushed to the back of her mind along with thoughts of the fight going on and Savannah's death. This place, what was it? How did she get here?

A vast ocean spread out before her, so vast she could not see where it ended. Was she floating above it? It seemed so. Below her lay the ocean, and she had eyes only for it and nothing else. Beneath the surface where the water gently rippled, she could feel that there was... something. She didn't understand what exactly this ocean was, but it seemed to hold... potential? A potential for something good, perhaps.

It seemed so strong and sure of itself, beckoning and inviting her to come and take a closer look into its depths. She couldn't. Though she could move her arms and legs, she could not make them walk her down to the surface of that ocean. She wanted to know more about it so badly, why couldn't she see? Maybe she was too in awe to move.

Or too scared to find out and discover that the ocean wasn't as majestic and wonderful as she thought, perhaps.

Because she could not go to the ocean, it came to her. Just a little drop, but it came. Rising up towards her, it nestled in her outstretched hand before sinking through and into her. And it made her feel a little better. A little stronger, a little more whole. That drop belonged with her, as if it had been carefully shaped to fit her-- and her power.

---

The APC reappeared around her and the reality of what was happening hit her full force once more. The tranquility of that ocean was gone. In the few seconds that it took her to reorient herself, a gun shot rang out and not long after, they were moving. Grabbing onto the nearest seat and lowering herself into it as the truck lurched forward, she stared out of the open back door of the APC and witnessed what had to be the death of another person as the APC pulled away.

She didn't have it in her to do anything else but watch as the people fighting became smaller and smaller. Part of her felt that she should be there, helping or something. Not running away. But she was no use, she would just be in the way. Whatever that scene with the ocean had done or meant to do, the differences she had felt in that place-- both in mood and in strength-- now seemed to have disappeared.

Actually, something had changed. But she was too distraught to notice that tiny sliver of a difference.

As the APC kept moving away, she stopped looking behind her. Trying to tune out the sounds and voices coming from her cuff and radio, she lowered her chin to her chest as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She wanted to get out of here. She wanted it to be all over.