Hi! A little note about this story: it will be 8 chapters + an epilogue, and I currently have 4 chapters written... and I started writing it twelve hours ago. So! I'll be posting one chapter a day for the next week or so!
Update 6-22-16: I've gone back and re-read the whole fic. I fixed all the typos I found (And hoo boy were there a lot of 'em), actually spelled Chenshi's name correctly (her name only appears twice, and not only did I misspell it twice, I spelled it two different ways), and changed some wording here and there.
I'd also like to point something out- the song lyrics are only meant as flavor text. This is not a song fic. (The lyrics all come from various songs in the XCX soundtrack.)
Chapter 1
Blood
or "Guess who didn't use a reference"
The tar inside, stealing the body and breath
'Till only a shell is left
Witness the Hell in the flesh
A fight to the death
Screaming, where's the relief?
Maybe no more sleep
All is swallowed in grief
Images start to stalk like a beast
I hear voices but, no one talking to me...
The cavern was empty. Lin had called this place a chapel- she saw it as a tomb. Her heavy footsteps echoed loudly in the chamber- her metal boots were designed for kicking, not stealth. The pathway was unscarred, the glass pristine. The yellow-green lake beneath her feet was still and sparkling- in another world, it might have been hopeful. She ascended the platform step by step, clanking loudly. She stood atop the table, and looked down. Her breath hitched in her throat- she was not alone. Ten, maybe fifteen feet in front of her stood a man- his black hair fell below his shoulders, uncombed and unwashed. His clothes fit snugly to his body, designed for easily piloting a Skell, but provided little protection from direct attacks. They were burned and ripped in places, but his skin seemed unharmed- pure.
She blinked- this man… She thought she'd never see him again. Five seconds passed, then ten- he did not disappear, and she heard his breathing, his heart beating! He was real, and here!
"Lao!" She'd meant to yell it, but it was barely a choked whisper.
He jumped at the sudden sound, then turned. His icy eyes met her fiery ones, shocked and hard as grey steel-
Then softened, as a kind smile spread across his face. It was an expression of untainted joy, one he nearly never wore.
She ran jumping off the platform, her heavy footsteps crashing on the glass, deep cracks spreading across the room like a twisted spiderweb, away from her, towards him!
He was smiling still, he didn't realize-
crack
She tried to yell, her throat was dry-
Crack
She had to get to him, save him-
Crash
The glass under his feet crumbled, his eyes widening a split second before he disappeared under the surface. She reached the hole a second too late, but she prepared to jump in, was in midair-
A mottled grey hand burst from beneath the glass, leaving a geyser of shards and poison in its wake. It slammed into her chest, throwing her across the room. She landed painfully on her back- her right arm was useless, but her left seemed alright. She forced herself into a sitting position, watched the abomination lumber towards her.
Its skin was mottled with scales, fur, and rot. It was torn- stretched taunt over pulsating, bleeding muscle. It was a slimy mass of appendages (Twisted, Broken) and eyes (Reddened, Puss-filled) and mouths (Drooling, Foul) and it reeked of death-
It was right above her now, looking at her face with all its numerous eyes.
She couldn't move, could barely breathe for the pain in her chest. It leaned over her, its -no, his- face directly above her.
"I want you," it moaned in a distorted growl. "I want your body."
"N-No," she whimpered quietly. Her tears burned her face.
It's horrid mouth opened, from what would have been his jaw to his throat to the center of his chest, and from it emerged a forked, slimy tongue.
It ran over her face, gently wiping away her tears, caressing her arm, slowly sliding down her legs, nearing her thighs-
"Stop!" She screamed. She slapped away the cold tongue, wiped away the saliva it had left on her cheek.
"Why?" It asked. It sounded… hurt.
"I'm lonely. I feel like I'm all alone in the world, I crave a woman's touch. I have desires, same as you. I need to be saved." It smiled cruelly. "You told yourself all those things and more, when you were thinking about how much you wanted to-"
"That's not-!"
"True? You know it is. Ah- that was another of your little fantasies, wasn't it? Us finishing each other's sentences." It placed its hand next to her body, leaned down, its face right next to her ear. She could feel its breath on her face. "You wanted my body, wanted me to touch you, wanted me to whisper sweet nothings in your ear. You're beautiful. You're the woman of my dreams. I love you." By the last three words, his voice was kind, affectionate.
"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" He pressed his hand across her chest, "And this," His tongue slid own her bare stomach, massaging her abdomen, inching lower, "And this!"
The air was crushed out of her lungs, there was no escape. But her left arm was still free, and her gun was in reach. She grabbed it, pressed the muzzle to his forehead. Wild orange eyes stared into hers wordlessly, their meaning incomprehensible.
It spoke, but its (cruel) voice did not match his (sad) eyes- "You wanted this, even though you knew I never wanted-"
She pulled the trigger, the cold red blood poured out its wound, down her arm onto her face. It burned her eyes, filled her nose, ran into her mouth- the cold, metallic taste almost sweet. It poured down her throat, filled her and cooled her burning breast-
Cross hit the floor. Her blanket was tangled in her legs, and her face was wet- but rather than salt, she could still taste blood. She stumbled into the kitchen and emptied the remains of her dinner into the sink- she'd have to apologize to Lin later, but at least it wasn't on the carpet this time.
The taste of blood was nothing new- she'd awoken with the metallic tang on her tongue more often than not in the four months since she'd woken up on Mira. She pushed herself from the counter, and made her way into the bathroom. The container of red makeup was on the edge of the sink, and with practiced precision, she ran her fingers down her face, leaving a messy red X on her skin.
The makeup was damp and sticky;
(The fire nipped at her heels, her hair. She turned, wanted one last look, as his shoulder erupted in an explosion of gore, it splashed on her face, down her cheeks, into her mouth, the metallic taste almost sweet-)
So many people had told how pretty she would be without it, how it ruined her good looks. She didn't feel pretty- she felt bloodstained. She felt ruined.
In the end, his blood had been blue, and had smelled of plasma- but her dreams were always red and stank of iron;
(She ran her rough fingers down the woman's sweaty bare stomach, her laugh magical. "Remember when we did this every night?"
"Why don't we do this every night?" A sobbing scream came over the speaker. "Oh.")
Cross shook her head. Her dreams were always red and stank of iron. Those dreams that smelled of blue flowers and sex- those were stolen.
When the tree spreads it roots at that place
it will bear blossoms as blue as the sky
When the wind scatters the blossoms in a friendly way
the sky and the Earth will flow together
Next time: Coffee, or "Yes, I'm Chrobin trash, how could you tell?"
"And what were you doing in my bathroom, by the way?"
"...That was your bathroom? Not team Belisarda's?"