(Alder3049)
Free the Animal
Track nine
Sia
1000 Forms of Fear
I love you so
Wanna throw you from the roof
The pressure builds
Wanna put my hands through you
I'll squeeze you tight until you take your last breath
Loving you to death, loving you to death
There were two of them.
Two horrible reminders of that night with Quan Song, two horrible reminders that would need to be cared for for years, that every time she looked them in the eye would make her cringe. The girl's eyes were open, and they were the same exact shade as her father's, silvery-blue and curious, ringed with darker blue circles. The boy's were the same.
It wasn't their fault that they looked so like their father, down to the shade of their skin and hair, or that they were twins, but it would mean that she could never truly look them in the eye.
The girl shifted. "Mama?"
Mai's resolve hardened. "No. Not mama. You can call me ma'am."
Tam and Linh. Excellence and Spirit.
The pressure's rising I won't make it through tonight
This love immortal is an assassin's delight
Just blow me up or run me down or cut my throat
And when it's time for you to die...
Detonate me
Shoot me like a cannon ball
Granulate me
Kill me like an animal
Decapitate me
Hit me like a baseball
Emancipate me
Free the animal, free the animal
"Mai, this wasn't my fault. Don't pretend like it was."
"Then whose fault was it? I didn't plan on dropping out of Foxfire with two children to take care of! At least you have a steady job!"
"It's not all about you, Mai. I've had to give things up, too."
"What? You don't seem to have changed in the past three years."
Quan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Please don't use that tone with me, Mai."
"Why? I'm not done, you know."
"No, but we've had visitors for quite some time."
Mai spun to see little Linh, barely three years old, toddle away from the doorway, a look of horror on her face.
I love you so I'm putting you in quicksand
You take your chances when you kiss the hitman
The animal's inside of this infinite jest
Loving you to death, loving you to death
"These are our children, Tam and Linh."
"Oh, how lovely." The woman standing at the door smiled at the eight-year-olds. "Which one's older?"
Tam looked up. "We're-"
"Tam. He just turned nine. Excited for Foxfire in a couple of years!"
Tam glared at his father, who glared back with just as much venom. Then he looked up at the woman between them and their dinner reservations, calmly shuffling around for menus. "We're twins." Her head appeared over the booth, still smiling. "Oh! Do you play that sometimes? I used to play with my older siblings that we were triplets." Tam snorted. "That's stupid. We really are twins. Linh's older by six and a half minutes." Linh, eyes trained on the ground, nodded. The woman's face went slack, and their father grabbed Tam's arm. The look on his face could kill as he pulled him away. "We won't be eating here tonight. Maybe you won't be eating at all."
The pressure's rising I won't make it through tonight
This love immortal is an assassin's delight
Just blow me up or run me down or cut my throat
And when it's time for you to die...
Detonate me
Shoot me like a cannon ball
Granulate me
Kill me like an animal
Decapitate me
Hit me like a baseball
Emancipate me
Free the animal, free the animal
"Dad! Dad!"
Linh ran up the front path after school, Tam following her quietly. Their father was standing on the front stoop hands behind his back. She stopped, short of breath, at the top. "I'm a Hydrokinetic!" Her grin faltered as his scowl deepened. "Dad...isn't that good? It's the same talent as Mom."
"Uh, yeah."
Just another reminder of Mai.
Murder me, ruin me, look what you do to me
Beautiful pain baby, pour acid rain on me
Kill me with your loving
Kill me with your loving
I'll slice you and dice you, like sugar and spice
I'll do all that you want me to on the beast in you
I'll kill you with my with my loving
I'll kill you with my loving
The two of them walked hand-in-hand, a few paces in front of their parents, down the crowded streets of Atlantis. They looked the same as ever; Tam in all black, dark head bent, his skin a shade lighter than his twin's, and Linh in one of many colourful dresses, long hair pinned back with jewelled butterfly clasps. But anyone who knew them could see that their demeanour had changed coming here. Beads of sweat stood out on Linh's forehead, and Tam's head was inclined to his sister's, whispering words of encouragement. Tam's hand was caught in his sister's death grip in an attempt not to loose control. It hurt her sometimes to bring Linh down here, when even she had to hold back to stop the whole ceiling from coming down. But Tam, though he should have the same Talent as his twin, hadn't shown his colours yet, so she had something to latch on to from the above world that should calm the urges. Quan came down here often for work, and Linh followed him like a puppy, so she was often down here.
The street was crowded, people jostling each other as they went from storefront to storefront, and someone hit Tam in the shoulder, causing him to lose his grip on Linh, who immediately gasped as she lost contact with her twin.
"Tam! Tam!"
Her calls got more frantic as she looked for him in the crowd, loosing more and more control on her Talent.
Some didn't even have time to scream as the wall of water came from above.
Detonate me
Shoot me like a cannon ball
Granulate me
Kill me like an animal
Decapitate me
Hit me like a baseball
Emancipate me
Free the animal, free the animal
"It's completely uncalled for!"
"Don't take that voice with me, Tam Song."
Quan sounded so much like when he was fighting with Mai that it hurt.
"She can control it! It won't happen again!"
"Then why did it happen in the first place?"
They were standing on either side of Quan's desk.
"I don't...she hasn't gotten used to it! It wasn't her fault!"
"You say that...and yet the two of you sauce me and pay no heed to what I tell you, come home from Foxfire a Shade, with your hair made of metal..."
"Dad..."
"She's Banished. There's nothing you can do about it. Now, stay with us. We can be a much better family without her."
"Why? Just because she reminds you of Mom? If anything, it's me you hate. Say it. Say it, Dad."
"Tam, I'm not going to argue over this. Your sister will go to Exillium, and you Foxfire. This is the end of the matter, you understand?"
"No, I don't understand, and if you won't let her come back, I'm leaving, too."
"Tam-"
"No. I'm done. Goodbye."
Granulate me
Shoot me like a cannon ball
Evaporate me
Kill me like an animal
Decapitate me
Hit me like a baseball
Emancipate me
Free the animal, free the animal
Oh
Oh
Free the animal
Oh
Free the animal, free the animal
Oh
Oh
Oh
Free the animal