The heat from the surrounding lava bathed her skin, made her feel one with her energies. This was her element to control, the fire that came from deep within herself, and now she was surrounded by it. Its very destructive nature could eat through everything in its path if given the chance to be free.
Free… she was free now, after however long she'd had that collar on her neck. It had felt like an eternity, trapped in that mad man's "care," forced to do his bidding. Being her own person was the very reason she'd come to Pandora, only to have it stripped from her by some power hungry Hyperion jackass. How far she'd fallen.
She summoned the flame to her fingertips, watched as the light danced off them before she snuffed it out. Even that small spark turned her stomach, pulled something from the bowels of made her a Siren and twisted them into unbelievable knots. Something had gone wrong while she'd been in Jack's company, something she couldn't put her finger on or know how to fix.
She scoffed under her breath. This was supposed to be a victory. They'd found a map to all the Vaults across the galaxy, with literally nothing in their way to stop them. They were primed for the taking. They just had to get a ship and go.
For how long, was the issue. When would be a good time to raise her concerns to the others, to put a damper on everything they'd achieved to this point? Like hell was she going to stay behind while Mordecai and Brick galavanted across the system, either. No, it was all of them or none of them… and she wasn't keen on someone else getting those treasures for themselves.
"You kinda look like crap, Lil." The large man sat cross-legged beside her, careful not to get too close to the heat of the lava. Brick had always been the first to take notice when she was in a bad mood, and the first to say something about it. He wasn't the least bit afraid of her, and that formed the basis of their powerful friendship.
"Good thing I didn't ask for your opinion." Lilith shed the small vest, exposing her arms to the full force of the volcano's heat. Her markings fluttered in kind, almost appreciative of being exposed.
"Yeah, well, you keep this up, Mordy's gonna notice eventually, and you know how he is."
"I can deal with Mordy."
"Without setting him on fire?"
"… spoil sport." Her tiny elbow found his side, and Brick grunted, pretending to be hurt.
"The others're ready to go. You want some time here by yourself?" His large hand wrapped around her shoulder, and he could feel the sweat dotting her skin. As big as he was, there was only so much he could do to make Lilith cooperate, short of picking her up and dragging her back to Sanctuary. But her pride was about the only thing she had left, and he wasn't going to take that from her too.
"Yeah, thanks. I'll meet up with you guys back at HQ." She gave his hand a comforting pat he got up and rejoined the others. They were chatting idly with each other, with the trickles of laughter just audible above another roar and groan of a boulder being eaten alive by the lava.
How many more times could she do this, she wondered. Breaking into Vaults, amassing treasures, facing the consequences… It was all going to catch up to them eventually, with her possibly at the front of the line.
Bring it on. I'm not a coward.