Yes, I'm not dead! I'm very sorry for yet another long wait for a chapter! I know, I suck but alas, life does too xD
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(Hel's Catacombs)
Even though the moonbeams returned most of Jack's memories, it still took a few hours after Sabrina's "check up" for him to comprehend what happened. While Jack was confused about the whole ordeal, Nefra was thinking about the cause of his loss of memory. At the end, Nefra concluded that Jack lost his memories because of psychological shock since Jack said Hel waterboarded him, and with his memory of drowning, it was no surprise that he'd be a bit traumatized from that.
While Nefra was glad that he was all better, Jack quickly became bored without any confusion, and a bored Jack is someone nobody wants to be with.
"I spy with my little eye something… black?"
"Jack, everything here is fucking black," Ciara snapped.
The winter spirit grumbled back, "At least I'm trying to lighten up the mood."
"We understand that you are, but please just stop Frost," Pitch piped up from his corner of the dungeon.
Jack crossed his arms and replied in a sing-song voice, "Eh, I don't see why I sho~uld."
Ciara huffed, "Gah, this is so boring."
"Well, maybe because you're boring."
Nefra shook her head, oh those two. "Guys, don't start another argument. Just be glad that none of us have been sent yet."
"To be honest, I'd rather get tortured by her than sit here and die from boredom with Jack Frost," Ciara replied.
"Wait, what? What's the problem with me?"
"I dunno, the fact that you exist?"
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Nope."
"What's my existence got to do with anything?"
"Everything."
"Really? How?!"
"Well, first…"
For the last couple of days, with all the free time in the world, Jack and Ciara decided to take up their old rivalry. Basically, that meant that they would argue nonstop about anything in general. Heck, they argued about socks for an hour!
Yes, socks.
That explained why Nefra had the urge to bang her head against the wall till she fell unconscious.
Before she could do so, Pitch interrupted her thoughts with a sigh. "Is this not the fifth time?"
"Seventh," Nefra automatically corrected him while her brown eyes glared at the quarreling duo.
Pitch stared at the girl. "You were counting?"
"Yeah," Nefra answered, looking back at Pitch, "You should see them during the equinox and solstice. Their highest record was fifteen, until Mother Nature stormed in and threatened to freeze their mouths if they started again."
"Sounds like Emily Jane."
Nefra shrugged her shoulders to the best of her ability. "Not really, she's more temperate than that. Though, she does get angered easily."
Pitch hummed, "Exactly."
The two fell back into silence as they listened to the argument.
This scenario was honestly killing her. These two shouldn't focus on bickering over one another, but focus on finding a way out of here. Better yet, they should be focused on who will be the next subject, even if Nefra wanted to jump off a bridge at the moment.
While her mind wandered off in another world, Nefra still heard Jack's indignant shout echo through the room. "I'm not a nuisance!"
"You damn are with all your pranks!"
"You do the same thing!"
"At least I don't do them as much as you do!"
"Mine aren't as harmful as yours!"
"Hey, none of my pranks ever killed someone!"
"Your pranks hurt others!"
"So does freezing tongues and making people slip over ice!"
Ugh, can they not be so loud! Nefra internally screamed. Hel will hear them.
As if reading Nefra's thoughts, a loud thud outside quieted the two.
"Um, what's that?" Ciara asked.
Jack added, "Please don't tell me Ciara jinxed us again."
"I didn't jinx anything!" Ciara screamed.
"You did!"
"I didn't!"
"You did!"
Another loud thump ricocheted across the room, with a grumble telling them to shut up. The two arguers did so.
Before Nefra could relish the second of silence, the door banged open, revealing a very startled Sabrina next to a bulky guard who towered above her.
"I have unlocked the door for you, Mistress," the man replied in the gruff voice they heard earlier.
Sabrina fidgeted with the strap of the green medical bag slung around her shoulder. "Yes, I can see that. Thank you."
"Anything for you, Mistress." The guard stepped aside, showing the adolescent cowering behind him carrying a pile of what seemed to be heavy, iron chains. The near adult looked through his black bangs towards the group of prisoners, as if he were afraid they would harm him.
After a moment, Sabrina began to descend the stairwell. Noticing that the teen wasn't following, the guard pushed him with a beefy hand, nearly making him fall down. Shaking, the teen started following the Halloween spirit.
As Sabrina descended down the obsidian stairs, Nefra couldn't help but notice the nearly invisible, dried tear tracks on Sabrina's cheeks gleaming under the torch light. Once Sabrina reached the ground, the guard slammed the door shut, scaring the teen enough for him to topple over, getting himself tangled within the chains he was carrying as he rolled down.
All of them grimaced when he hit the floor with a thud.
"Are you okay, Acheron?" Sabrina asked, kneeling down so she could help him disentangle himself from the chains.
"I am alright, Master," Acheron responded as he slipped off the links.
Nefra, not knowing what else to do, said awkwardly, "Um, hi Sabrina?"
"Hello to you as well, Nefra," Sabrina smiled at her, the grin looking more like a grimace.
"Everything alright, Bri?" Jack asked as he stared skeptically at her.
"Unfortunately…no." Sabrina sighed. "Mother asked me to retrieve—"
Apparently the guard decided to interrupt her and banged the door open once more. "The insolent servant dropped your keys, Mistress!"
With that, he threw down the set of keys he was twirling on his finger and hit Acheron on the hip. The poor teen yelped, falling down in pain.
"Is there anything else you shall need?" the guard called out from outside of the cell.
Nefra grimaced at Acheron's state. "Hey, at least it wasn't a knife?"
Soon, a jeweled knife was thrown into the cell as well, but Acheron managed to dodge it on time.
The prisoners stared at the weapon that was lodged in the floor.
"At least—"
Ciara clamped Nefra's mouth shut with one of her hands, still peering at the knife. "Don't even say anything."
Nefra merely nodded her head.
"You should sit down, Acheron," Sabrina said as she took the keys and tried to get the teen down on the ground.
Acheron shook his head. "No, it is alright, Master. Also, we came to retrieve you, Ma'at."
Nefra simply stretched out her hands to allow Sabrina to unlock the shackles binding her to the wall, mildly shocked at* Acheron's directness. The black haired teen merely limped towards her and attached some chains to the hooks of her restraints. Before the three could move, Hel's shout startled all the inhabitants of the cell.
Acheron's eyes widened in fear. "We should hurry up, Master, before Mistress hangs us both!"
Sabrina, still nonchalant, grabbed the set of chains and started walking out with Acheron in tow, the jeweled knife thrown down strapped to her waist.
As the trio walked down the hall, Nefra broke the silence with her question: "Why were you guys picking me up?"
Sabrina kept strolling in the front, not looking back as she replied, "Mother caught me."
"What?"
Acheron looked around hastily, seeing a few guards, before replying quietly. "Master was trying to sneak in a key to the cell during the duration of Jack Frost's healing," Acheron replied, dark brown eyes connecting with Nefra's, "Mistress thought it would be the best punishment if Master were to retrieve her next convert."
"Hmm," Nefra hummed as she too swept her gaze around the occupied hallway. Why does Acheron call Sabrina Master instead of calling Hel Master?
Before they could submerge into silence once more, Acheron said suddenly, "I cannot believe Mistress is converting such young spirits."
Nefra curtly responded, "I'm not young."
"Master said you were only three hundred and sixteen years old," the servant countered, picking at a thread on his dark green tunic, "That is very young for a spirit, much less a goddess. You are merely a child."
"I guess so." Nefra looked down at her shredded purple dress. The last one papa gave. "But I'm not sure if I'm mentally a child anymore."
Acheron muttered, "None of us are."
With nothing else left to say, the three walked along quietly.
Once they reached a door, Sabrina sighed. "It appears that we are here."
Nefra stared at the heavy, iron door with a four, in Old Norse, scratched into it as she picked at the crumbly rust along the frame. Or was it something else?
Sabrina glanced at her before shouting, "Mother we are here!"
"And? I am waiting!" was Hel's response.
If glares were a weapon, then the door would have disintegrated under the force of Sabrina's as she pulled out a key ring. Fiddling with them until she found the right one, Sabrina unlocked the door, Acheron pushing it open with a groan.
Inside was a nearly barren room, empty except for the metal table, a set of chairs, a small sink engraved into the wall, and a stool with something akin to a medical tray sitting on top. Hel was on one of the seats, playing with the plunger of a syringe that held a writhing, black mass.
Nefra knew exactly what that mass was.
"Hello Mother," Sabrina droned in a gloomy tone, "Do you need any more assistance?"
Hel set down the injection onto the metal tray and stood up, snatching the iron links in Sabrina's hand, "Yes, in fact, I need you to assist me with chaining her to the table. After that, you may leave."
By Sabrina's distasteful expression, it was clear that she wanted to do anything but leave Nefra alone.
"Of course Mis—Master," Acheron stammered, dragging Hel's attention to him.
"Did I ask for your opinion, Servant?" Hel responded in a steely manner.
"No, Master."
Even though Hel wasn't paying attention, Sabrina still obeyed Hel's commands and set forth to restrain the goddess.
Nefra, on the other hand, didn't know whether to smile or say something to Sabrina. Thus, she decided to keep a neutral face and didn't fight against her, even when the cold steel numbed her.
She knew that there was bound to be worse.
Sharing a tight grin with Nefra, Sabrina left the room, Acheron trailing behind like a guard.
Once the two left, Hel faced Nefra, a small smirk on her face. "Hello Ma'at."
"Just get this over with," Nefra replied tersely.
"I see you want to 'cut to the chase', as they say."
Nefra gave Hel a plain look that said it all.
"Alright then." Hel picked up the syringe she had earlier and, after a moment of thinking, set it back down onto the tray.
Nefra blinked. "Huh?"
Hel chuckled as she chose another shot, this one with something akin to nightmare sand, or better yet, is nightmare sand, swimming within the holder. "You do not presume me as a fool, do you? I know the fearling itself will not work on you."
"I suppose you're right," Nefra replied, "But, what's in there?"
"You'll find out sooner or later, Ma'at."
Nefra felt the prick of the needle before fatigue washed over her.
It is nightmare sand.
Even though she felt every grain of the sand burrow underneath her tissue, felt every grain leave a pinprick of a fiery sensation as they made their journey towards her soul, felt the subsided bundle of fearlings within the center of her soul squirm out and grasp the grains of sand to strengthen themselves, Nefra's eyes drooped, heavy with sleep.
Don't fall asleep! Nefra told herself as she blinked her eyes harshly.
Hel must've known that she didn't sleep in the cell, or else she would've been consumed by the fearlings. If only Hel would realize that Nefra would die with enough darkness swimming under her skin. After all, she was a harmony spirit by blood, slight more immunity be damned.
She nearly screamed in agony when the second shot was administered, the fearling this time successfully penetrating her core without being weakened, slicing her up as if her body was nothing but margarine. The fragments that remained were swiftly shredded by the other three supposed-to-be weak fearlings, all the meanwhile the nightmare sand swimming around her mind, the only protected part of her.
That is, until they successfully found an opening through her stretched out mind, piercing through it with rabid enthusiasm.
The worst part was, not the fact that she hung over the precipice of sanity, but the feeling of guilt that washed over her, knowing that she failed Jabari.
'Stay strong, Nefra.'
Couldn't he see that she couldn't? She was merely a child, just like everyone else said. Just a child.
'We all depend on you.'
But why her? It was impossible for her to defend the world from entities older and wiser than her. Simply impossible.
'Know that you will never be alone.'
So, when will the loneliness end, Papa? No matter how much she interacted with others, she would always be alone. Burdened with loneliness.
"I failed you Jabari and Papa," Nefra whispered before she stopped fighting.
(Nightmare)
Fire. That was all she could see. The destructive beast consumed all life within sight and left everything else alone.
It was funny in a way; the fire only burning away the souls of those that it encompassed, completely ignoring the homes that could add fuel. Actually, the flame seemed to be using the souls they devoured as a food source.
However, that didn't make the experience any less painful.
There were the cries of babies separated from mothers, cries of the nearly dying, cries from the earth as the inhabitants all shriveled away to dust, one by one.
The more she ran into the fire, the more smoke clogged her throat, the stronger the stench of death reeked the air, the weaker her hope became.
The flaming inferno nipped at her in earnest, even though she futilely tried to tame the flames. After all, a harmony spirit cannot control the flames of death, the mockery of blue and black in substitute for bright red and orange.
Hel's latest creation.
She could've sworn that the fire was slowly crawling its way into her body. Ghost like hands left trails of hot pain as they submerged themselves deeper into her heart, as they reached out for the strings of her soul to play with. She didn't want them to taint her, she really didn't, but what defenses did a twelve year old have?
The calling of the elders telling her to come back taunted her with abandonment. It was simple really, just go back and all this misery will be gone.
Though, she can't leave Papa behind. Not ever. Ever again.
"Papa!"
No response.
Now, that would never stop her. Oh no, she merely ran into the flames even more. She already failed him once for being the village misfit, she can't fail him again.
"Papa, where are you?"
When she heard a masculine croak, she immediately scrambled to the source. On the way there, a dying woman grabbed her ankle, sending her toppling over a corpse.
"Please, help me!" the woman groaned as she held on firmly.
She stared back, innocent, brown eyes widening in fear when she saw a shadow creeping towards them. Soon, the beast trampled on top of the withering woman, screams of terror and delight melding into a haunting melody. With a cry, she kicked away from the two and ran as fast as she could.
"Papa! Papa! Where are you!" Tears rolled down her face, one by one, like the flames that extinguished life.
Even without any reply, she knew where to go, and soon she found him lying in a sea of bodies.
"Papa!" she shouted in glee as she tossed the dead out of her way.
She was surprised to see him staring at her in shock. "Nefra, go away!"
"No papa, I'm not leaving you behind." she replied, trying to reach out to him.
When she did uncover Papa, the sight of his state made her heart drop.
Half of his face was covered in blisters, his right eye swollen till all she could see was a sliver of amber. Splotches of burnt flesh painfully hung onto his arms, clothes tattered but not charred. What scared her the most was the small, black arrow buried in his right arm, oozing out bits of black goo.
He was infected.
"Nefra, please I beg you, run as far away as you can!"
She shook her head in disbelief. No. Nononononono.
Of everyone, why must her loved ones be targeted?
"Papa," she whispered.
"It is alright, my darling. Please, go for safety."
She glared at the man. "No! I will never leave again!"
"Please, Nefra." He coughed up a blob of black slime. "I do not have much time left."
She merely crouched down and grasped both of his hands, stubbornly staying in place as the darkness swallowed up his right limb.
"What are you doing?"
She stared into his amber eyes. "I don't wanna be alone anymore. If you leave, so will I."
Papa shook his head. "Nefra, you are the heiress of your mother's throne. Please, save yourself."
"No! Remember that I'm not the heiress anymore? I have to save you, Papa."
"Nefra—"
"No! I'm staying!"
"Nefra!"
She never heard his voice be so…authoritative.
Her surprised expression must've calmed him as he slowly responded, "You have to leave me here, alright? I am as good as gone right now. I will never permit you to jeopardize your health for me, understand?"
She gulped. "Yes, Papa."
"Good, but before you go." He then pulled out a beaded bracelet and tied it on with shaky hands. "Know that you will never be alone."
With that, he pushed her away, a second before a fearling swooped in and engulfed him in darkness.
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I tried, okay? Writer's block is so boring :( See ya next month!
Oh yeah, the list thingy even tho there's nothing new *shrugs* (other than that guard, Jabari and Nefra's dad, but eh they aren't that important at the moment)
List of OCs Mentioned So Far:
Mother Nature (GoC character with OC traits)
Tsar Lunar XII (GoC character with OC traits)
Anemone
Themis
Hel
Holler
Yuki-Onna
Khione (Sortaish from PJO with OC traits)
Bedelia Doiteain
Erantha
Ashun
Nefra/Ma'at
Ciara/Adrestia
Sabrina Hallows
Acheron
Morana
Gwenith
Old Man Winter
Beira
Boreas (Sortaish from PJO with OC traits)
Yas
Gwendolyn