miserabile visu

"Olivia!"

"Darin!"

Stars supernova-ed between my eyes, and warmth trickled down my throat, oxidized and bitter to the tongue. Through bleary eyes, I watched the man with the shotgun back away, his eyes on me.

"Shut it, boy."

The voice was feminine, weary, yet firm. Squinting, I only caught a glimpse of pale and severe cheekbones leading up to a hastily-done ponytail before she turned her back on me.

"The fuck, lady? You can't-"

The sound of ripping fabric chilled my bones, but the scream… The scream was what broke me.

"Ollieeeeee-!"

I couldn't breathe. A shadow loomed over me, a dark halo round its head as eyes black and cold as the space between stars glared in rage. It was squeezing the life out of me, denying me even the slightest wisp of air.

"She's impure, Mother."

The noose of black loosened suddenly. Coughing violently, I rubbed at my throat with my free left hand, before my eyes flew open at the scraping sound of a knife being drawn from its sheath.

Frantically, I reached out, desperate, the agony of my right arm numb from the adrenaline, and had only begun to shout, to beg, when the blade flashed orange against the lamplight and, in one swift motion, came back up crimson.

In my shock, I had only begun to recognize the bits of once-fair skin on the flat of the blade before I felt something thud into my chest. As the darkness crept in closer, I could only stare at her. Only her.

Spring 2034, Salt Lake City, UT

Joel cursed as the shiv splintered in his hand. "Lost one again."

Gritting his teeth, he eased the door open and stepped into the once-locked room.

The first thing he noticed was the silence. The complete, utter silence.

The second was the skeleton, dressed in blue rags and illuminated by the morning sun.

Moving closer, he inspected the bleached bones. The spine just below the skull had a small indent on the left side.

No, not an indent. A cut.

"Christ…"

He glanced down. Pelvic bone's-

"Oh, Jesus."

He turned back around, to see Ellie standing, wide-eyed, in the doorway.

"Ellie-"

"They- they-"

He was about to answer, when he noticed the other skeleton in the corner.

"Joel-"

Hushing her with a finger to his lips, he crept over to the second skeleton.

Cuffs, stainless steel.

Arrow. Looks like a sports brand. V-I-I-D.

Khakis. Dress shirt. Ribs over the heart are shattered.

He hung his head, then rose slowly, walked back to Ellie, and brushed her out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Ellie glanced up at him, eyes glistening.

"Did they-"

He opened his arms and grasped her to his chest tightly. Muffled sobbing drifted up, breaking him down even more.

Pressing a kiss on the top of her head, he rested his cheek against her and let the tears flow.

"I'm sorry, baby girl. I'm so, so sorry."

The sobbing softened, until there was only a few faint snivels left.

Easing his grip, Joel looked down at his- no, not his cargo, not his burden, his- his daughter. Bringing his good hand up to her face, he brushed away a stray tear.

"C'mon, baby girl. Let's leave the dead to their rest."

Through the crack under the door, the footsteps of the last of the living echoed about the chamber, as the sunlight flickered, glinting briefly against the band of silver round what was once the left ring finger of Cassandra Olivia "Ollie" Moore-Drake.

Author's Note: Second upload of the night. Sorry for the surprise shocker ending!

Anyways, the start of the fic is set around 2-3 months before the start of the Spring section of TLOU, based on the breakdown of the skeletons' clothing, as well as the relative color to their bones. Since Cassie was born around this year (2017-2018) in the Uncharted universe, I'm moving every UC event that happened in this universe back about 15 years; thus, she's around 31-32 at the time of her death in this universe, with Nathan Drake's adventures happening in the '80s-'90s. The second half of the fic is based on the second-to-last shiv door room you can unlock in the game (the one with the two skeletons, in the tunnels beneath SLC).

And, of course, the story is partially inspired by the song "miserabile visu (ex malo bonum)" from the band Anberlin.

-Nate