I found the way her eyes narrowed to be a telling sign of the news to come. Her apprehension wasn't lost on me, given it was as clear as the night sky in rural land. Whatever was about to come, I braced myself for it.
Slowly, with a bizarre amount of care, she lifted those strange x-ray glasses. A trail of black, glittery goo replaced the bags under her eyes. With a relatively small hand, at least in comparison to mine, she wiped at the blackness. As it smeared it became more apparent that it was akin to space, dotted with starlike shapes and painted with the faint colours of a nebula. I was so caught up in her eyes I barely noticed as that small hand was placed flat to my chest. I could feel the warmth of her lava-filled veins as they emanated from her skin to mine through the rip in my shirt. Goosebumps invaded every inch of my body.
"Pedri," she whispered.
My eyes widened. Pedri? How does she know Pedri? Does she also know…
"Your his host," she continued, releasing a sense of dread within me.
Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck.
"W-What are you t-t-talking about?" I asked, trying my best to play dumb, but I knew it wouldn't slip past her. She knew. I couldn't hide it, so I had to accept it. I scratched at my forearm, lost in an endless sea of indiscernible thought. How do I address this? How does she know this? Does she have a demon too? Pedri said that his wife and soldiers took the potions, too. What if Ava pacted with one of them?
Out of nowhere, she surveyed the landscape hurriedly, as if awaiting the sudden onslaught of Titan's crazed followers. I flinched, almost worried that that was what she was looking for. Before that fear could accumulate much merit, she removed her hand from my chest and placed it instead around my hand, dragging me along behind her as we ventured deeper into the alleyway behind the Titan shipyard. In this spot, we were away from the main excitement of this base, out of view of the many organic and synthetic lifeforms that called themselves "followers of Titan."
I was about to make a snide remark about her wanting me alone all for herself, but the thought felt abrupt and inappropriate in the moment. Instead, I laid out a string of incoherent stutters inquiring about what the hell was going on.
"Admit it to me," she commanded with knitted brows. "Say that Pedri is your demon."
"W-what is this s-s-supposed to accomplish-?"
"Say it!" It was obvious from her tone that she was in no mood for a runaround. I caved.
"I am Pedri's h-host."
I may have been seeing things, but I swear those lips just curled into a smile. I blinked, attempting to focus, but the smile was already gone.
"I have Wrathia."
My eyes widened beyond any size I thought they could. My chest began to tighten. Ava. Had. Wrathia. I wasn't asleep, but the activity in my mind was abuzz with Pedri's excitement. He wasn't bouncing off the walls of my subconscious, of course, but he was obviously anxious to finally meet his wife. I felt bad that he couldn't. Unless…
"Is there any w-w-way for us to meet each o-others demons?" I asked with the vain hope that Pedri could finally meet his wife and fulfill my end of the pact.
Ava nodded, that smile returning with all its subtlety. "We need to sleep next to each other. Then our minds kind of…" her eyes wandered as she searched for the right word, "…mesh together. I did it with Maggie but it didn't turn out so well." A sadness reached through her, almost grabbing at me. I wasn't sure how, but Ava had this ability to make me empathize with her. I hated it.
I pulled her from her melancholic daze with an inquiry. "W-why didn't it turn out so well? What happened?"
She shook her head. "Maggie didn't want me in her mind…" All of the sudden her sadness evaporated, and it was replaced with a quizzical air. "How come we didn't see you there?"
I shrugged.
Her hands fiddled with my coat. "Maybe I couldn't find you?"
I shrugged again, but I hoped that was the problem. I hooked my thumbs around my belt loops. "When can we do this?"
"It will have to be somewhere safe. Definitely not here."
I smirked. Finally, someone else who didn't buy into Titan's propaganda bullshit. I was almost proud.
"Don't worry, Odin." She smiled as she continued, "We'll being doing this soon."
I smiled right back at her.
Soon.