Another chapter re-written, finally.

I've actually had this one sitting around for a while but was never fully satisfied with it, but I finally sat down to edit it.

Nothing much has changed story wise once again, but I am changing the pacing a bit. But in general, I'm just fixing my god-awful writing from the past, as usual. I'm half way through the third chapter re-write, hopefully I won't be long finishing it!


Waking up with a screeching headache and nausea was not how I had planned my morning going. But then again, getting home and drinking through most of the night also hadn't been on my agenda. I savored the darkness of my bedroom, flipping my pillow over to bury my face in its soft soothing cold surface. I was supposed to be up by now, but instead I was thinking about abandoning the guard altogether, curling up in my duvet and living out my days in bed. That dream was short lived as my comm starting beeping its little high pitched annoying beep. I slung an arm out and slammed my hand down onto it, hopefully having hit the correct button to answer the call. There was silence for a moment, sweet, sweet silence.

"You're late Elie. Again."

Erol really knew how to ruin everything good in this world.

I groaned into my pillow, the sound muffled but loud enough that he would hear.

"I suppose a polite 'piss off' won't be useful here?"

"Not in the least. You have a mission report to fill out, plus you're due an eco-boost. I'm not dumb, I noticed you were short of breath yesterday."

I mumbled some more profanity at him as I pushed myself away from the delightfully cold embrace of my pillow. "My eco's fine."

"You're not putting it off again, not after last time." Last time being my lung almost collapsing in on itself, what a day. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah ok, give me like ten minutes."

"Make sure you take something for that hangover before you get here, you're a pain in my ass as is."

I grumbled a name at him he wouldn't be too happy with as he finished the call. I glared down at my pillow, cursing its comfort that I'd have to abandon, and slid out of bed. Being upright was just a bad idea all together, my head throbbed and it took every ounce of self-control I had to not empty my stomach then and there. Water and painkillers, then food. My stomach lurched again at the thought of anything else being in it. Ok, no food.

I took the risk of operating my zoomer to the fortress, if only to make the journey shorter. The morning cold biting at my skin cleared my head a little at least. I wasn't in the mood for anyone or anything today, especially not Erol's eco bullshit. I wanted to go back to bed and live out that earlier idea I'd had. But as the fortress loomed in front of me I knew I'd just have to bare it for today.

I was met with little acknowledgment on the way to Erols office, which wasn't unusual, it's not exactly the most enjoyable environment. Aside from the odd cluster of guards engaged in friendly banter and conversation, the place was pretty dead, but quiet, I could savor that at least.

I didn't deign to greet Erol as I strolled into his office, fighting to urge to cradle my thumping head. He gave me a short look and handed over a stack of papers. I raised a brow, even the small motion was painful.

"That's a lot of paper for a simple mission report."

He waved a hand at me, "Formalities, read them if you want to torture yourself, I've signed off on a lot of it already since you decided to grace us with your presence later than expected."

I held back the urge to curse at him and pulled a chair over to his desk with my foot, "Just don't try me today and we'll all leave here alive, ok."

"That's a bold threat."

"One I won't fail to fulfil."

He chuckled lightly but went back to whatever the hell he'd been doing before.

We did our respective work in silence, thankfully. Erol took the opportunity a couple of times to try and test my patience, just being generally annoying, but one snapped pen and a sharp glare later and he went back to his work, a smirk plastered on his face. I wasn't going to bother reading through all of the papers once I'd finished my dull mission report. But my curiosity is endless and I finally shuffled through a few pages, picking out words here and there. Erol seemed to stiffen as I got to the last page, I almost missed it, but there on the bottom of the page was my signature, and I had no memory of signing anything recently.

"What's this then?" I asked as I held the page up to him, frowning.

"I told you not to worry about it-"

"Erol."

He seemed to contemplate for a moment whether or not to ignore my tone, then snatched the paper from my hand, adding it to the bundle with the rest and pulling them away. "We wanted to try something with your eco boost, I knew you'd disagree at first."

My eco bubbled and pooled in my chest. "And when were you going to tell me about this?"

"Not until after, you always come around in the end anyway."

I almost snarled at him, almost. "What are you even planning on doing?"

Erol sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Your eco is weak, and you're over exerting yourself. You know we can grow it from the samples we take from you, but only so much. We think we've found a way for you to produce your own eco, continuously."

I didn't trust this, he seemed nervous to be telling me, that meant there was something else. "So am I just going to become a little eco zombie then? Another experiment." I was bristling at this point, he'd tried to pull the wool over my eyes, was still trying to, signing me up for the scientists to poke and prod at.

"Of course not, don't be stupid. I don't see why you're so up in arms over all that, you were a part of it after all, you put people through that too, you-"

I interrupted him when my fists collided with the surface of his desk, the wood cracked and bent as I pushed up out of my seat and I realized what I'd done. The table was essentially snapped in two, I'd lost control of my eco, something that hadn't happened in years. I pulled my hands from the table quickly, as if it were on fire. I backed up a step.

"I'm sorry." I muttered as I turned and practically ran from the room. My head pounded and my stomach churned but I ignored it, I just walked with my head down until I got to a bathroom. I resisted the urge to throw up and looked at my hands, there were several cuts where the splintered pieces of table had sliced them, but they weren't deep so I simply cleaned them off and left them. I gripped the edge of the sink, breathing get a hold of yourself Elie! I was past this, past these outbursts, past this lack of control, and I thought I was past being afraidl. I ran my hands down my face and decided it was finally time to give my stomach some relief.

I felt better after depositing the small amount that was in my stomach. Anxious and tired, but physically better and wanting some fresh air, or the freshest air one could get in the city. I was still at the top level of the palace, the door to the roof just across the hall. The cold breeze was welcome for once and cleared my head enough for me to ask myself what the hell I was doing. Letting them play with my eco was insane, and at what cost? How was anyone going to be able to predict any outcome? But then I thought about how utterly exhausted I'd been, how useless I could be in a fight, in protecting the city. If I could recover eco quicker, if I had a bigger pool to pull from.

You always come around in the end anyway.

Bastard.

And as if I summoned Erol on mere thought alone, I felt my jacket being unceremoniously thrown over my shoulders.

"Changed your mind yet?"

"So long as I'm not dead, or incapacitated, then I don't care do whatever." I said as I turned and left.


I was in a foul, foul mood as I stomped away from the palace. Where I was headed, I wasn't entirely sure, but I just had to take some time before I was dragged back for who knows what. I looked, for the most part, like a very disgruntled guard on patrol, so mercifully people did their best to avoid me. One person in particular though didn't have that good sense, oh no, there just had to be one person who wouldn't give two shits about who or what I was.

"I need to ask you something."

I huffed, not bothering to turn to Jak as he fell into step beside me.

"So you trust me now do you?"

"You warned me about Krew, not that I didn't already know, but you could have said nothing."

Naïve, so naïve. I stopped then giving him a pointed stare, "What do you want?"

"You told me about a patrol out looking for me yesterday, why?"

I clicked my tongue, "I already told you, I owe Torn."

"Owing Torn doesn't mean shit to me."

I whipped my head to him, "It's not about you, I know enough about you to know Torn will value keeping you around. If I let you die he'll have my head. It's about me."

He almost laughed and crossed his arms, "So you are selfish, just like all the other guards."

"Whatever," I growled at him, "We're done here." I turned from him sharply but felt a hand grasp my arm as he pulled me against the cover of a building.

"I wasn't finished."

My eyes slid down to his hand griping my skin "I am literally giving you three seconds to let go of me."

"And then what?"

Oh, he was fucking pushing it. I might have agreed not to throw him in prison, but I didn't say anything about not beating the living shit out of him. I counted down silently in my head, there were already people starting to stare, we were drawing attention. When he made no move to let me go peacefully I flexed my fist and swung for his jaw. To my utter surprise, he caught my fist, caught it while it was laced with red eco.

And he looked just as surprised as me. Surprised enough that he dropped my arm and hand like hot coals. I felt drained, like someone had sucked the air right from my lungs, like I'd run out of eco. That punch alone shouldn't have sapped me dry.

Then it all started to click.

"You're an eco channeler, that's why...all those experiments, worked."

Eco was a rare commodity these days. What little was left was fought for viciously. To have any ability to harness it was so valuable, it was why I was so protected, and so isolated. But an eco channeler, a person with the ability to literally absorb and use any eco how they saw fit, that was basically unheard of.

"And your red eco is why the Barron keeps you leashed."

I clenched my fists a couple of times, but my breaths were labored, I was in no shape for a fight and I was tired of arguing. "Just ask me your gods damned question will you." My voice was hushed, fully aware of the eyes still trained on us.

Jak loosed a breath and straightened, he also seemed like he wasn't all too interested in bickering, "I heard you're good with the city's history-"

"Heard from who?"

He gave me a look that very well conveyed shut up for a second and let me finish.

"What do you know about the tomb of Mar?"

I sniggered, that was his question he'd given me all this grief over. "I know people continue to prattle on about it nonstop, yet no one's actually found any evidence of it. It's a stupid story, nothing else."

"You're the only one who seems to feel that way."

"Cause everyone in this city is an idealistic idiot." If he was looking for the tomb of Mar, that meant the whole Underground was looking for it. Whatever they expected to find down there I didn't know, but they probably thought it would help them bring Praxis down. The air between us was tense and thick, like he was waiting for me to yield something. But all I gave was a pitying smile as I said, "Until the Barons dead, you're the one that's leashed."


I hadn't walked more than a block before my communicator was beeping irritatingly. I ignored it completely, Erol could wait before getting me tangled up in his rudding experiments. I was in the Bazar when I heard some commotion coming from a nearby stall. A group of four guards stood in a half circle around it, one of them in the almost golden yellow armor of the elite Krimson Guards, one of Erol's men. They were never sent out on regular missions like the rest of us. I made a bee-line to them, one of the lower ranking guards turned and stepped forward.

"We have this under control, we don't need anyone else."

I almost growled at him, the décor on his armor told me he was a rank under me and in no place to give me orders. There was a sharp shout from the elite guard as he shoved his gun forward, and what sounded like a young girl's cry. I pushed the guard aside and ignored his protest, coming to stand between the yellow clad guard and the girl.

His head flicked to me, "Move or I'll shoot you too." The girl whimpered.

"Shoot me, and Commander Erol will hand you by your tongue." The guards mask was a cold shield between me and the heated glare I was probably receiving.

"This woman is a criminal and threat to the security of the city, I've been ordered to deal with it."

"Woman?" I exclaimed, throwing a hand back to her, "She's a girl, a child almost. I don't think the Commander would appreciate this kind of behavior from his own Guards."

He snarled, "You'd be surprised."

I stepped closer, "Then go back to the fortress and tell him exactly what happened, see how far it gets you. Tell him I'm dealing with this." I said no more as I turned to the frightened girl, huddled up at the back of the stall. And she definitely was a girl, maybe only a few years younger than myself. The guard did nothing for a moment, probably contemplated killing me and dealing with the repercussion, but deciding it wasn't worth it as he shouted at the other men to move along. I watched them leave and huffed, "absolute swine." I muttered under my breath.

The young girl has unfurled slightly, but her body still quivered with small sobs. I bent down to her and offered a hand to help her stand, "I'm sorry about all of that."

"I didn't do anything, I swear!"

I nodded, "I believe you, the guards can be brutes."

Her too small hand trembled as she reached for mine, seeming to hesitate. I pulled her up easily and shot a glance at the small crowd that huddled around the stall, they quickly meandered off.

"But aren't you a guard too?" The girl asked tentatively. I gave her a confirming nod.

"I don't need to scare people just to make myself feel important." I sneered in the general direction that guard had gone, "Will you be ok?"

She looked as though she might cry again, "I don't know, m-my father owns this stall. He had to go run an errand and asked me watch over everything. Then those guard came and...and they said I was a rebel, said I could be executed, if I didn't...I." Tears welled up and slid down her cheeks as she tried to recount what had happened, I resisted the urge to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder, being touched by a Krimson Guard probably wasn't something she wanted right now. Not really knowing what to do with my hands then, I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms.

"What's your name?"

The girl looked up to me, her eyes still brimming over with fat tears, "N-Nanelia."

I smiled softly, "I'll look after you, ok Nanelia? I'll make sure stuff like this never happens again, I promise."

Surprise swept her freckled face and she didn't seem to know how to react or respond, she just nodded and rubbed at her tear stained face.

"Thank You."


I thought about Nanelia non-stop as I went back to the fortress, thought about how Erol had ordered that treatment that wasn't even rightfully hers to endure. It was likely it was her father who was the rebel, but by the look of the small almost bare stall and old worn clothes the girl had been wearing, he had probably just wanted to make a better life for his daughter. I full well planned to confront Erol about the whole ordeal, that was until I found him standing at the entrance to the fortress, waiting for me.

I was angry still, at him, for what he was making me do, for what he put that girl through, I was so so angry. But I couldn't say anything, the words caught in my throat. I eventually swallowed them down.

"Glowering won't get you anywhere. Save your anger until after we finish with this."

We took the elevator down to the very bottom levels of the fortress, down to where they could hide everything. I still didn't even know the extent of the experiments that were permitted here. It was clinically white and clean but the smell of eco filtered through the air, a few scientists meandered the halls, but would quickly make way for their approaching commander and soon to be guinea pig.

The room we entered was the same one I had been coming to for years, I had always needed eco boosters as far back as I could remember. I didn't fully understand whether or not my eco was natural or not, nobody did. But either way I could run out, and I could die because of it. Eco channelers could go their entire lives never having the substance flow through their veins, they never needed it, I was a special case. A doctor scuttled over to the crisp white stretcher where I was sitting, placing a chart down on a table nearby. He rifled through some of his equipment and settled on a device to assess my breathing. Erol was leaning against one of the walls, waiting. My eyes drifted over to him as the doctor grabbed his chart and began inputting information. He looked right back at me, dissatisfaction written all over his face.

"I hope you had fun interfering with my men earlier."

So, they really had run back to him, like little snitches.

"They were out of line completely-"

"You don't get to decide what that line is. That's why I'm the commander."

I snorted at him and turned away.

The doctor came back to me, continuing with various tests and scans of my chest.

"Have you had any problems with your physical health Officer Elie? Any changes since last time?" The doctor asked and I shook my head. "Then we're ready to start Commander." He said it more as a formality and didn't wait for Erol to give him any instruction. He asked me to push my sleeve up, cleaned the area, and then picked up a small syringe a tray and attached it into the small gun that would administer it. An eco-booster normally consisted of a small amount of red eco being forced into my system to essentially kick start whatever it was that made it in the first place, but something wasn't right about that syringe, it didn't shine the same bright red that my eco normally did, a cold sweat started to bead on my brow and a sharp pain quivered up my spine. I pulled my arm away from the Scientists outstretched hand.

"What's in that? What are you going to do?"

His eyes slid to Erol and the Commander pushed away from the wall, holding a hand out for the gun, and coming to stand beside me.

"We've tested this over and over on the inmates, this is the only formula of eco that creates enough energy to constantly replenish your red eco."

I kept my arm tucked to myself, "What's in it?"

"It just takes a small amount flowing through-"

"Erol."

He wouldn't look me in the eye as he fiddled with the gun in his hand, checking everything was in place.

"Dark eco."

He'd barely gotten the words out before he yanked my arm to him and shot the syringe into it, I didn't even have time to pull away or react how I had wanted to before a white-hot pain was coiling up my arm and through my body. A cry of pain was stuck in my throat and my whole body shivered, it felt like I was on fire. And as quickly as it had started, it came to an abrupt end. Sweat peeled down my skin as I took a few steadying yet clear breaths.

"If I told you, you would have argued and made it difficult."

I whipped my head up to him, "So you would have done it anyway? Whether I was happy with it or not?"

He tossed the gun back into the tray and braced his arms on the stretcher, giving me a pointed look "I'm trying to ensure you don't die. There's not even enough eco in that to kill a rat. The red dampens it."

I didn't have anything to argue back with because, I felt fine. Normal. My breathing was easier, I felt the surge of strength the red eco brought with it, but nothing different or off.

"I might have understood if you'd explained." I told him.

He huffed, a wicked smirk on his lips, "maybe that will teach you to get in the way of my men."


Erol had sent my off down to the Hellcat docking bay after that, knowing I was still royally pissed at him. I had every reason to be pissed at him, he had given me dark eco, the stuff we've used to kill people. I couldn't give two fucks how much or how little it had been, in was in my system, worming its way around every vein, artery and organ.

"Someday, I'll kill him." I thought to myself as I worked myself up into the frame of a Hellcat.

I had been sent down to do repairs and cool off, it was almost therapeutic, I could pick one thing from my head at a time and figure it out before moving onto the next. It was good that I was here, maybe even good that a bunch of newbies had skimmed a Hellcat along the docks and waterlogged the engine. I retracted that thought as I struck my hand on a piece of sharp metal. I recoiled my arm, holding it to me, "Motherfucker." I breathed, ducking out from under the cruiser, and jumped when I glanced a person standing nearby.

"You'd think by now you'd be less prone to hurting yourself."

"Fucking hell Ash."

She raised a slender brow, "Well you're awfully jumpy."

"You scared the shit out of me, don't do that." The older woman almost smiled at me, almost.

"Are you ok?"

I loosed a breath, "Yeah, fine. Just adding to the collection." I remarked at the flurry of small cuts just barely scabbed over on my hands, and the new one, a tiny droplet of blood pooling on its surface. I wiped it away.

"Yeah, Erol told me about that, briefly. Good job." She quipped.

I groaned inwardly, barely restraining my eyes from rolling back, "Please don't, I've had a shitty enough day as is." I said, tossing one of my tools into its box.

Ashelin leaned back against one of the workbenches and raiser her palms, "I'm just here to make sure you're ok."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "Or is it Torn that wants to make sure I'm ok?"

She averted her attention from me, seeming uninterested, "He worries sometimes."

I scoffed, it was whether or not that worry was sincere that I questioned.

"And we both think that you shouldn't put so much trust in Erol."

"Obviously," I drawled "Torn doesn't think I should trust Erol."

"And yet you do." She had turned her head back, her emerald green eyes fixed on my own lighter ones.

"Who do you deem I trust then, if not Erol and your father?"

She huffed a laugh, "even I don't trust my father." Her eyes softened then, "You should really go back, you're not-"

I raised a hand to her, "I've heard all of this before, from you and Torn. If I really wanted to leave I would have walked out a long time ago."

Ashelin pursed her lips before saying, "What they do to those prisoners, with eco, it reeks similarly of what they do with you. They just deign to give you more respect, there's something off about it all."

Erol obviously hadn't told her about the dark eco, about what they were already doing. Bringing it up with her would just make things worse, so I kept that information tucked away. But it was hard to deny the similarities she brought up.

"I'll be fine, I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

She shook her head with a hint of a smile, "You're like him you know."

"Who?" I asked.

"Jak, I only met him today, properly, but it's like talking to the same person. Only younger and maybe a little less stubborn."

I whipped my head away from her, thoroughly offended, "We're nothing alike, he's too naïve and reckless, I'm surprised he's lasted this long."

"Maybe you'd make a good team, balance each other out." Ashelin said with a shrug.

I barked a laugh, "Not a chance in hell."