FINALLY, I've found time to update! My exams are nearly over and it's amazing the effect it's had on my mood, haha! Anyway, the plot is beginning to get back to what I had originally intended, which is lucky on my part because I was worried I was getting completely off track…
Oh, also, I'm currently writing a Quirrellmort fanfic for any A Very Potter Musical fans out there, if any of you want to check it out! :D
Big thanks to all my lovely, lovely reviewers and readers!
Warning: Swearing, sexual references (kind of…they're mild) and just the usual kind of angst.
The following day was surprisingly warm and Gerald – formerly known as Thrasher – woke up to find his ankle was completely fixed. He'd been taking pills to reduce its pain, which was how he'd been able to walk briefly with only a little discomfort, but now he looked cured; no cast or pain or anything.
He swung his legs out of the Medical Bay's bed, grinning as he gingerly tested it on the floor. Myra, from the bed opposite his, smiled encouragingly.
"That creepy doctor did it last night." Her voice was still broken and strained, but there was a little sparkle in her eyes that seemed to be her old self fighting to get to the surface. "Probably thanks to your friend punching your boss. God, that was cool!"
"Cool?" Gerald huffed, feeling irritated even at the memory, "Nearly lost me everything I had. Still, I can get back today, right?"
"I think so. You'll have to ask. But don't stress yourself out, I'm sure your boss will be fine if you're off for a few more days –"
"Are you joking? You've seen him for yourself." He made a slicing motion with his hand across his neck. "I'm screwed enough as it is. No, I need to get out there." He was already out of the bed at this point, searching for his jacket. "What time is it?"
"Seven."
"Ok. That's not too bad, I guess. I – oh, hey, Ding." Clarabelle had emerged from the back room, yawning and holding a glass of water. One side of her face was still red from the Remnant's slap, but she seemed pretty oblivious.
"Hi, Gerald," She said sleepily, rubbing her forehead. "What're you doing up so early?"
"Going to work. Dr. Nye fixed my ankle."
"To work? That's nice. I should probably start working too." Clarabelle admitted, swallowing the last of her water, then pulled a face. "Oh, I think that liquid was for cleaning wounds, not drinking. Never mind. Hello, Myra!"
"What happened to your face?" Myra exclaimed, crawling to the foot of the bed for further examination.
"Oh!" Clarabelle gingerly felt her cheek. "It was nothing. Tanith Low just made a mistake, that's all. She's very sorry."
"No, she's crazy. You stay away from her, ok?" Gerald warned, zipping up his jacket, "I'm off."
"Have a good time," Clarabelle said breezily as she watched him leave, then turned back to Myra. "I'm not sure what's been up with Tanith lately, to be honest."
"Don't go near her." Myra whispered urgently, her pale face stricken and her sunken eyes widening. "She'll hurt you. She'll keep coming back and she'll never ever go away. She'll hurt the people you love."
"Oh, no! No, I knew Tanith before, and the remnant made her do all of those –"
"She killed my family." Myra hissed, and Clarabelle realised that she was beginning to claw at her arms, causing droplets of blood to break free from her skin and stain the white sheets. "All dead. Because of her!"
The young woman rushed over hastily, grabbing Myra's hands. "Myra! Myra, look at me. Please don't hurt yourself like that. It's going to be –"
"Myra? Myra, stop!" Fletcher had appeared in the doorway of the Medical Bay and was rushing over. Clarabelle stood back as Myra's boyfriend gently held her hands and sat on the edge of the bed, kissing her cheek. "It's ok. I'm here. You don't need to hurt yourself."
"Fletcher," she whispered, "Fletcher, I'm scared."
"I know," He murmured back, "I'm here now. It's alright."
"Tanith's here. She's going to come for me. She'll hurt you."
"No, she won't. She's being kept locked up at all times, remember? No one trusts her, not even Ghastly. Anyway, I'm an army man now, gorgeous. I'll defend you."
Myra smiled slowly, a sparkle seeming to return to her deadened eyes as she snuggled against him. "My hero." She managed with a small giggle and Fletcher grinned back, wrapping an arm around her frail shoulders.
"See? I'll always protect you. Besides, you have nothing to worry about; who in their right minds would let Tanith Low out of custody?"
XxX
"New worker?" Ferr snapped, looking at Tanith up and down disapprovingly. "Ain't that the remnant, Bespoke? The hell do I want with a remnant?"
Tanith blushed as Ghastly put an arm around her, staring at her shoes. They were standing in the wonderful outdoors and it was so nice to feel the faint sun on her skin and see other people around her. Even if the world was so damaged and - quite honestly - terrifying, it was comforting to know that people had made it this far and were sticking together.
"She isn't a remnant." Ghastly said briskly, "Her name is Tanith and she's been cured, as you well know. And I'd prefer it if you called me Elder Bespoke, if you don't mind. Good to have some kind of authority around here, after all."
Ferr glared at Tanith, clearly mulling it over. The other workers were beginning to take notice of the situation; a few were whispering and pointing at her. With a jolt, she realised Sanguine and that Gerald guy were standing nearby, watching her too. She hadn't realised they were workers as well…Shit…
"You strong?" Ferr barked suddenly and she jumped.
"Uh, yeah." She cleared her throat, "Strong, fast, reliable. Everything you want here, I'm guessing."
"Hmph. This ain't a free ride though, kid. It's just hard graft. Lifting, building –"
"That's alright." Tanith said in relief, "I'll be fine. Seems pretty easy stuff."
Workers around her laughed mockingly and she hesitated, fidgeting under their condescending glares. Ferr simply grinned slowly and nodded. "Easy stuff, huh? Welcome aboard. You'd best get started right away and show those lot how it's done."
Ghastly smiled at her encouragingly and pulled her into a hug, whispering in her ear. "This'll be good for you. And don't worry about Sanguine. I gave your new boss permission to hurt him if he goes anywhere near you. Alright?"
She bit her lip and simply nodded against him as they parted, turning back to the rest of the workers. Gerald made a slicing motion across his neck and grinned at Sanguine, who smirked back. She blushed, following Ferr hurriedly towards a large basket filled with heavy looking stones and he simply gestured.
"We're building a new army centre. Gotta carry this lot to the other side of the Barricade. Shouldn't be a problem for such a strong, fast and reliable person like you, remnant."
"You're right." She replied stiffly, "No problem at all."
A few hours later she realised why people had been laughing at her for her confidence. This was hell. You never got any time to rest, either. All she'd done for the past two hours was carry heavy baskets of rocks and her arm muscles and lower back were aching.
She dropped the latest load she'd been carrying and wiped her brow, thankful she was wearing a simple grey outfit instead of her leather. Come to think of it, she had no idea where her favourite item of clothing had even got to. Ghastly had probably burnt it.
Sanguine walked past her and she stiffened, hesitating for only a split second before hurrying after him. "Hey. Hello." She struggled to keep up as she painted a smile on her face. "This is pretty tough, right? How long have you been doing this for?"
He stopped walking and looked at her with a scowl. "Why're you talkin' to me?"
"Uh." She stopped too and shrugged after a few moments uneasily. "Well, seeing as I'm working here too now, I just thought…We might as well try to get along. We know each other, after all, don't we?"
"I knew the old you." He replied simply, "I don't know Bespoke's future wife, doll. We ain't meant to be seen with each other, anyway. You want me to get sent to the cell house?"
"There's a cell house here?"
"Yep. And I'm gonna get a one way ticket there if you keep hangin' around. Look, you're out that room an' that's all grand, but don't think you can come talkin' to me, alright? I don't even want you to. I don't want anythin' to do with you. Got it?" Without another he word, he turned and proceeded to walk away leaving her standing there dejectedly.
"Fine!" She snapped at his retreating back. "I don't want anything to do with you, either!"
He just stuck up his middle finger without even looking back. She swore under her breath, humiliated beyond belief, before turning away to lift up the next basket. It was then that a sharp pain exploded in her skull and she gasped, clutching her head. She knew this feeling all too well – Darquesse was trying to communicate with her. She dropped onto the ground, trying to hide herself from view behind the barrel as she desperately rummaged in her pocket for her pad and pencil in the hope to write down any more of Darquesse's plans which she'd be able to pass on to the authorities.
"Kill them all, burn them all, but not yet, not yet…"
Tanith's eyes were watering from the pain, but she persisted, scribbling feverishly in raggedy handwriting.
"No, not yet…First I teach them a lesson for taking Tanith away from – get Fletcher, bring Fletcher to me, see how they survive without their Teleporter –"
Tanith cried out as the pain in her head reached new heights, then crumpled in relief as it slowly but surely began to ebb away, her connection with Darquesse broken. She glanced down at her notepad, deciphering her own writing and inhaling sharply when she'd taken everything in. Fletcher? Valk – Darquesse was going to get Fletcher?
"Well, what do we have here, Remnant?" A feminine voice purred and Tanith glanced up sharply to see the goading smirk of this random bitch who'd been firing insults at her all day. What was her name…Susan? Sarah? Tanith betted on Susan. And from what Tanith could tell, she really had it in for her.
"Nothing," Tanith shot back, hurriedly standing up and making to stuff the note in her pocket, when Susan's hand shot out and snatched it from her grip. "Hey! Give me that!"
Susan's eyes had widened in shock as she read Tanith's messages and her face paled considerably. "I knew it! I knew you were still a no good, Darquesse loving skank! Hey! Hey, Boss!"
"No, no, wait!" Tanith attempted to snatch it back. "You've got it wrong, I'm helping you!"
"Boss! The remnant's spying on us for Darquesse! Look!"
"For the love of –" Tanith growled, raking her hands through her hair in agitation as Ferr immediately approached. "I can explain!"
"Look, sir, here's the proof!" Susan hissed, showing Ferr the note, "She's plotting against us! Get her out of here!"
Ferr's eyes skimmed over the note and he glanced back up at Tanith murderously.
"Hey, listen, I can explain!" Tanith said in frustration as he gripped onto her arm.
"Yeah, I think you'd better. Come on, with me. Inside."
"Get your hands off me! I've done nothing wrong! Let go!" She attempted to wrench her arm away, which just made her slightly insane boss grip on tighter. Workers were beginning to stop what they were doing to take in the scene which made her want to really hurt this guy. He simply shoved her into one of the shacks which she guessed he owned, while that bitch Susan scurried in after them.
"It's proof that she's been talking to Darquesse! Kick her out! Send the army on her! She's dangerous!"
"Why don't you shut your mouth?" Tanith fumed, before glancing back at Ferr. "Ok. Ok, yes, Darquesse communicates with me. But I have no control over it! And…I figured, it would be helpful to everyone here if I wrote down her ideas, so –"
"So you could act on them?" Susan goaded, causing Ferr to growl menacingly.
"No! So I could show the people in charge here what her plans are, and then we could prevent them! Don't you understand? I'm only trying to help you!"
Ferr glanced down at the notes again and barked, "Who's Fletcher Renn?"
"The new Teleporter that recently arrived with his girlfriend, Sir." Susan informed him, glaring at Tanith who was beginning to feel rather sick at the idea of getting fired after only one day. "He used to go out with that Valkyrie Cain before she turned into the World Breaker."
"Right. So our little remnant here is caught up in this. Sounds like trouble to me, and I don't need it." He scrunched up the note furiously. "Get out."
Tanith blinked. "What? But I explained –"
"We never even wanted your kind here. Get the hell out before I throw you out!"
She squared up to him defiantly. "I need this job. I need some sense of normality. Ghastly will –"
"Bespoke'll be thrilled that you're back under his lock and key, Remnant." He gripped onto her arms, shoving her backwards out of the door.
"Get off! Get OFF! For the love of God, I'm helping you! I'm not the monster, Darquesse is!" She roared as he gave her one last forceful push outdoors and she went sprawling, landing painfully on her front and skinning both of her hands and knees. She glanced back up desperately as Ferr threw the scrunched up note at her face and spat at her. Tanith cringed, feeling her body begin to shake from humiliation and shock as she wiped at her eyes which were suspiciously stinging. God, what a wuss she'd turned into it.
She scrambled back to her feet as some of the workers began to laugh at her, and then there was Sanguine, that fucking Sanguine, who stood there and shook his head at her as if she was something to be pitied. She glared at them all until they retreated and returned to their work, before turning around and storming away.
Now what was she supposed to do? No job. No hope. Only Ghastly to return to, who would sigh and act sympathetic, but would also be extremely all-knowing and tell her how she should've known better than to go back out into the public…
She was so busy wallowing in her misery that she didn't realise where she'd stumbled across. She glanced up sharply at the sound of women's voices and noticed she was standing in the foot of an alley nestled between a cluster of shacks and tents. Tanith could see a bunch of young-looking girls dressed in revealing outfits who were chatting up men, then realised what was going on. She'd found herself a whore-house of sorts. Wasn't that fantastic?
Tanith began to back away when she bumped into someone and turned sharply to find Scapegrace, who looked distinctly unimpressed. His gun was slung across his back and she saw ugly scars on his arms as he gestured. "I didn't know you were into prostitutes, Miss Low."
She blushed furiously in anger. "Don't be stupid. I got lost. What're you doing here?"
"I'm not planning on adding money to their pockets, if that's what you're thinking, lady. I don't swing that way. I saw you get kicked out of your job, and after laughing, I followed you when I realised you weren't heading in such a nice direction. This is what's known as the Black District, and you're going to run into a few enemies over here."
"You mean more than I have already?"
"Exactly. So you might want to come with me out of here."
She looked at him witheringly, then decided her options overall weren't too great, so she gave him a grudging nod. She had just begun to follow him when a scruffy looking woman in a red dress approached, smiling in what she probably assumed was a sultry way.
"You're a soldier boy, ain't you?" She purred, practically shoving Tanith out of the way as she addressed Scapegrace.
"Yeah, and as queer as a rainbow. Please can you move? Thanks."
Tanith managed a half-smile as they walked onwards. "Seriously? When did you come up with that line?"
"Literally two seconds ago. Admittedly not my finest. Come on, keep up."
"Where're we going?"
"Back to Ghastly Bespoke."
She stopped abruptly, her smile replaced with a scowl. "Oh, not you too! Fuck off!"
"Excuse me?"
"I can't. Not now. I…I've just been fired from basically the only chance I had at freedom. And that's where you want me to go? Back to those four walls where I can sit by myself and hear Ghastly tell me just how much he loves me, every hour of every day?" She gave a short, hysterical laugh. "No! No, I'm sorry, but there's no way."
"Alright, then." He shrugged off her outburst, and she had to give him credit for being so remarkably calm. "Where do you want to go then, Remnant?"
She glanced around weakly at their surroundings, before looking back at him. "Hey. Is there anywhere to get drunk?"
He took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it almost absent-mindedly. "Just so happens, yes. I know the perfect place, where a lot of people are dying to be reacquainted with you."
And the plot thickens…
Please review guys! :D