A/N Another creepy chapter for you all! I wish it was Halloween or something so it was more appropriate. :/

Anyways, Read, Review and Enjoy!


Strange how the dark seems to scare more people then the light, what we can't see frightens us more then all the known horrors we can see everyday. The darkness is comforting, solid, unwavering... safe... Rila always felt safer in the dark for some reason. Not knowing what's there was actually exciting to her, she was an explorer as a child, loving to see the unseen and uncover vast secrets. This eventually nearly got her killed on multiple occasions when she sneaks out of the house to search the woods for something new. Her mother always warned against her going outside alone, but Rila never saw the danger until it was too late.

One night, she was on one of her solo walks through the woods, listening to the gentle breeze, the cool feel of it on her skin along with the crunch of fallen leaves under her bare feet. It was forbidden for the daughter of a prestigious family to do what she did regularly, and that just added to the excitement of it all. Her mind wandered to thoughts about school, her lack of friends, the inability of anyone (her teachers included) to recognize her as anything then a snob living off of her parent's money and influence. She sighs in aggravation and shakes the thoughts away, she was too nervous around people to defend her position, but it still hu-

Lost in her thoughts she neglected to watch where she was going and tripping over a branch before falling into a deep hole, screaming all the way down until she landed unceremoniously on her back, surprisingly unharmed.

For hours she screamed and hollered for someone to help her, but no-one came. She sat there, whimpering from her situation before crying herself to sleep.

In her dreams she was free, she was popular, liked, and no-one thought of her as a terrible person. She loved the darkness, the cool and calm that brought her pleasant dreams every night, but you always have to wake up...


Rila gasps as her eyes open up and she heaves in panicking breaths before the blackness of the sky above her calms her heart.

Where am I?

She yawns tiredly and cringes in pain as she tries to sit up. Her vision blurs and she is forced to lay back down to stop her head from spinning.

What happened?

A flash of light strikes terror into her heart as lightning flies across the sky, intending to destroy anything in its path. She shivers for a second before taking a deep breath and reminding herself that the storm couldn't hurt her. She feels her hearing sharpen and the sound of crashing waves tells her she's near an ocean. For some unknown reason her mind tells her she has to run. She ignores it and gets into a sitting position to look around. Her surroundings were black and empty, some part of her was comforted by that fact, the rest was concerned. Her eyes sharpen and adjust to the darkness to show she was sitting on a beach of some sort.

How did I get here?

She whips her head around at a small whisper she hears, her eyes catch a person in the distance. She opens her mouth to speak but no words form. Her whole body starts shaking as she stands up and starts staggering towards the person.

Maybe they can help me.

She hears herself whimper in severe pain as every step feels as if her feet were being cut apart. A girl giggles in the distance. "Hey! Stop! Please, help me!" Rila shouted as she continued to stagger after the girl.

The girl stops and Rila catches up, as she approaches the girl's form shrinks until disappearing all together. She pants at the exertion and stands there in confusion as her head pounds.

What's going on?

She looks around and sees nothing but darkness, as if she had gone blind. Her hearing perks up at the sound of footsteps behind her. Rila freezes as they expand and multiply to become constant all around her, "What's going on?!" Somethings growls dangerously to her left. "What's happening? Who's there?" She asks urgently, shaking with fear. The growling follows the footsteps and Rila turns and turns, trying to catch sight of what was hunting her until she trips over her own feet and falls.

"Oh..." Her head feels like it's going to split open as she feels it hit the hard stone floor. She coughs as she lays there and spits out the resulting blood.

Ow... what happened?

Rila...

She freezes as a whisper calls her name, it quietly echoes through the hall she's laying in. Her body is on fire as she stands and starts blindly walking towards the source of the strange whispering. They get louder and louder, accompanied by screams and more and more whispers raging against her ears until... they just stop. She pants in fear as the silence freaks her out more then it should. She jumps at the sound of slow, pounding footsteps moving towards her. She panics and turns to run, but slips and has to scurry into a corner, hoping not to be seen.

Her hand covers her mouth as tears form in her eyes from how fearful she felt. She sees two, bloody red and glowing eyes looking around, staring into the darkness, trying to find her. She feels her tears fall and hears one drip onto the floor loudly. She gasps and holds her breath as the creature hears it and slowly approaches. She shivers in fright as the eyes come close enough to see her before a noise from outside alerts the monster, making it dash out towards the sound with ferocious rage and away from her. She lets out a breath of relief she didn't know she was holding before carefully standing. She freezes as she hears growling from right behind her.

Goddess no...

She bolts forward as fast as she could, trying to escape the beast. She runs down the dall and out of the hallway, after the fifth step outside she hears the pounding again and picks up the pace as the monsters starts gaining on her. She sees a light as she turns in the darkness and throws herself at it.

The glass of the window shatters and cuts into her body as she flies through it. She screams as she feels herself fall until she splashes into a body of water.

Shocked at her luck, she swims to the surface and gasps for air as she quickly kicked towards the shore, trying her best to ignore the multiple searing cuts and embedded glass along her skin. She sees a shadowy figure that seemed to radiate danger, murder, insanity, and rage and out of desperation swims to that part of the shore.

Her feet carry her onto the beach and she screams in agony as pain shoots up her leg. She falls to her knees and cries as the pain intensifies. Her eyes open and she sees the sand was finely ground salt.

Why is this happening?

Rila screams out, letting her pain burn into her mind as she weeped. Her screams are cut short as a hand covers her mouth. She continues to scream and cry from her suffering as she opens her eyes to find a familiar shadowy, hooded figure shaking their head left and right slowly. She watches as it whispers in three echoed voices, "You must stay quiet to avoid alerting the monsters." She continues to cry even more as her vision blurs and focuses around only the shadowy figure until she finally passes out from the intense pain, grateful to feel the darkness consume her and take her in... she could finally rest...


Rila panics and she wakes, trying to fight off something not there. "Hey hey, it's alright, it's alright. Your in a hospital." She blinks in her dazed state and stops fighting the gentle hand keeping her on her hospital bed.

She shuts her eyes tight, holding back her tears as she grabs onto the arm of the person and asks, "What happened?"

"Everyone's fine, one of the Quarians got a concussion, the other has a cracked rib and the last... no physical damage but she's definitely fucked up in the head." The person says calmly.

What are they talking about?

"Huh?" She asks, a bit confused.

She feels the person place their hand on top of hers and she relaxes slightly, "You were knocked out during a firefight at the Community Center Rila, you don't remember that?" The person's voice was strangely fearful, and hopeful at the same time.

"I... remember that, I was talking about-" She stops herself.

No-one is going to believe me if I tell them.

"Talking about what?" The person asked.

She keeps her eyes shut to ward off any trace of lies, "Nothing, nothing, just a dream." She finally lets go of the person's arm and remembers the incident. Her eyes well up with tears as the pain from feeling completely vulnerable in the hands of the Batarians tears into her mind. She starts whimpering and gasps as someone hugs her. She freezes, unsure what to do until she wraps her arms painfully around the person and let her tear out.

She cries for as long as she can while she replayed her nightmare over and over before taking in a deep breath and forcing the tears to stop. "Hey hey, it's alright, you're safe." She hears the person whisper to her.

I'm stronger than this.

She lays her head on the person's shoulder and feels the soft fabric of a hood stroke her cheek gently. Rila takes in a deep breath of a strangely comforting scent that seemed to linger on the person and sighs as she finally feels safe enough to open her eyes.

She sees that she is indeed inside a hospital room and frowns at the strange black suit the person was wearing. She pulls away from the hug to look the person in the eye and freezes in absolute shock as the deep-brown eyes of Scorpio stare back at her. Her heart immediately jumps and thousands of feeling rush to the surface as she remembers how a person in the exact suit saved her, blew up a transport depot, and was considered a terrorist.

AND SCORPIO IS INSIDE THE SUIT!

Her heart monitor goes off the charts next to her, rapidly beeping as she tries to sort out what the hell was going on.

"Calm down Rila, calm down! Don't give yourself a heart attack, it's just me!" Scorpio states quickly, holding her hand carefully, trying to get her to stop panicing from the fact that he's holding her hand, and just hugged her, and possibly is a wanted terrorist and-

OH GODDESS!

She starts hyperventilating and he hands her some for of bag to breath into, which she quickly grabs and breaths in, and out, in, and out...

Goddess...

She calms down after a few minutes and lays there, light headed while Scorpio continued to try and calm her down. He has her drink some water and do breathing exercises. Her mind was frozen in place, completely gone from the overload of information.

He's really taking care of me?

Another gulp of water, some more soft words, another gentle brush against her hand. She smiles slightly and blushes, knowing she couldn't hide it.

She watches Scorpio watch her curiously, "Are you alright Ri?" He asks with concern.

He's concerned!

She nods slowly, not trusting her voice.

He looks over at the monitor and frowns while she continues to stare at him in awe.

Maybe he knows I love him? WHAT?! NO! I don't love him! I can't!

A small voice in the back of her head asks, "Why not?" and she has no answer for it.

"Maybe your concussion was worse then the doctors thought if your heart's beating this fast, and your blush seems to compound that theory." She blinks back at him while he places his fingers to her wrist and checks her pulse manually to see if the machine was counting right.

He's barely even a friend, a possible terrorist friend, why would he even be interested in someone as dull as me? I can barely talk to him! He must think I'm a freak, like everyone else does.

"Well, either the heart monitor is broken or you're having a heart attack, but I'm not a doctor so I have no idea." Scorpio says before shrugging.

He's so-

Rila's thoughts are cut off by the door whooshing open as a very familiar doctor walks through.

"Well it seems we have a newly bonded couple! Congratulations, you're now able to fuck one person for about a hundred years." Jeilus states while smiling deviously.

"What! No!" Rila shouts in a high-pitched voice as a severe blush rises up her neck.

Scorpio laughs at Jeilus, "Ha ha, very funny Jeilus, that was hilarious." He states sarcastically. "I barely even know Rila, I think we at least need to go out a couple of times before I drop that dead-weigh on her." Rila's heart monitor skips twice at the thought of bonding with Scorpio, prompting her to curse her life.

"Well at least SOMEONE agrees." Jeilus winks at Rila knowingly and she shifts uncomfortably.

I hate her so much.

Rila groans in pain and winces as her chest feels like it's on fire.

"You had four broken ribs, a concussion, and internal bleeding when you arrived" Jeilus says casually while inspecting her fingernails.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you here fast enough Rila." Scorpio lowers his head in shame.

"Hey, hey, it was not you're fault that I got hurt, I was being foolish thinking I could take on that crowd alone." Scorpio raises his head and smiles weakly at her before looking extremely angry and turning away.

Rila and Jeilus exchange a concerned look as Scorpio shakes his head and clenches his fists. "Scorpio?" Rila asks.

His fists start to glow and he mutters, "I should have gotten there sooner."

Rila reaches out to try and comfort him and yells out in intense pain. Instantly Jeilus is holding her arm and gently placing it back onto the bed. Scorpio jumps to her side, "Are you alright? What happened? Are you ok?" He asks quickly, the wisps of biotic energy slowly falling away from him as he stares at her with concern.

Rila holds back a tear from how much her arm burns, grateful for the concern.

Jeilus inspects her arm gently, careful not to move it too far, "I can't figure out why the nerves are overly sensitive in her left arm Scorpio."

Rila looks at Jeilus then to Scorpio who places one finger on her wrist and pulls it up her arm. She winces in pain, "EIAL!" Rila swears in Asarian as her arm burns once again.

Scorpio quickly lets go, "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to hurt that much."

"THAT MUCH!" Rila winces again as her chest cracks painfully.

"Her amp was riped out of her head." Scorpio comments.

Yeah and it hurt A LOT!

"That fast of a disconnect could have worsened her condition neurologically. I mean that's why you said I could never be implanted with a biotic amp, because my nerves are too sensitive." Rila blinks at Scorpio in slight confusion. She didn't know his condition was THAT bad, and she's a bit ticked off that they were talking like she wasn't even there. She looks at Jeilus as she seems to contemplate something.

Jeilus rubs her chin, "Hmm, it's a possibility I hadn't considered, mostly because Asari physiology has an extra gland at the base of the brain-stem that filters a lot of the unwanted feedback you suffer from. Which now makes sense since common amp overloads usually result in hypersensitivity in the limbs due to damage to that area of the neural network." Rila gulps in unease and internally panics that she had suffered brain damage and might be permanently scarred for the rest of her life. She notices Jeilus smiling at her, "All I need to do is do a scan of the area and everything will be clearer than a pyjak's rectum during mating season." Rila chokes.

"Jeilus, you might want to just stay quiet until Rila knows if she's ok or not." Scorpio comments.

Jeilus sighs and calls up her omni-tool, "Everyone's a critic." She lifts Rila's head off the pillow and scans the back of her skull before pulling it back and quickly typing something. Rila looks at her worriedly before Jeilus smiles again and says, "Everything is alright, just a small bit of bruising around the base of your skull, you'll be using your arms and legs like the rest of us in no-time."

Rila breaths a sigh of relief, "That's good." She mutters quietly.

Jeilus crosses her arms, "Your lucky that your bondmate was there to scream at the officers until they closed traffic to get you here before you had a seizure."

Rila looks at Scorpio in shock and notices he's looking off to the side, a common thing for people to do if they're withholding information, "I am lucky indeed."

Why did he even show up at the Community Center?

"Well I have more than one patient so page me if anything decides to blow up." Jeilus says seriously while walking out and down the hall.

Rila frowns.

How she's able to keep her job here I have no idea.

She hears Scorpio snort a laugh and watches as he shakes his head before looking at her with so much concern in his eyes that her monitor skips another beat. Rila grinds her teeth, trying to keep herself under control.

How am I going to get him to leave?

She closes her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She stiffens when she feels someone cup her cheek. She keeps her eyes shut, fearing her heart would explode if she saw who was doing it. The hand leaves her and she opens her eyes to find Scorpio walking towards the door.

"Wait!" He stops in his tracks.

What am I doing? What do I have to say!

He turns around and her heart hits the floor from the devastated look in his eyes. She looks at him with concern and he smiles weakly, looking absolutely exhausted all of a sudden. "You don't have to go, we can talk if you want." Rila's eyes widen as she hears herself speak.

Why did I say that? Why would I want to spend MORE time with the person who makes my whole body tremble with a look?! Am I insane?!

Scorpio's eyes widen for a second before he smiles and walks over to sit next to her bed. She smiles as he puts his elbows on the bed and folds his hands, "So what's troubling you Rila?" He asks sincerely.

He's analyzing me isn't he. Maybe he can analyze me some more when I get better, alone.

She blinks in shock.

Where did THAT come from?

"I... have been swamped lately." She says carefully, he nods to indicate he's listening. "I just moved out of my parent's estate for the first time and am having difficulties dealing with everything at once." She swallows nervously, she'd never talked to anyone about herself before. "It's really stressful, balancing work and home, not to mention all the little things."

"Who're your parents?" Scorpio asks, catching Rila off guard.

"Uh..." She bites her lower lip.

Should I tell him?

"I'm... will you promise never to tell anyone?" She watches him.

He frowns slightly before nodding, "Yeah, sure, not sure why but yeah, I'll keep it a secret."

She shifts uncomfortably before taking a deep breath and saying, "My last name is Tevos."

The effect is instant, Scorpio jumps out of his chair, stares at her in absolute shock, and nearly screams out that her last name was Tevos before covering his own mouth to muffle it and screaming his head off. He sits back down after pacing for a about a minute or two, "Sorry, it's a bit shocking." he says, eyes as wide as saucers. They sit there in silence for a moment until he breaks the silence, "So..."

She watches him shift around for a bit, "Your related to the Asari counselor?"

Rila sighs and lowers her head, "Yeah, she's my mother, well one of them." She cringes as she says the words.

Now I've done it.

Scorpio takes a deep breath and asks, "One of them?"

Rila winces, "I'm... please don't hate me." He watches her with a confused expression as she reaches up and placed two fingers on the center of her eyes. Scorpio gasps as she takes out her contacts, revealing sharp, azure blue eyes. "I'm a pureblood." She bites out the word like it's a curse.

Scorpio sits back in his chair and she waits for him to accuse her. "So?" She hears.

She opens her eyes and stares at him in shock, "What? Aren't you mad at me? Aren't you going to scold me?" She can feel tears well up in her eyes.

He shakes his head, "Why would I be? Both your parents were Asari, they bonded, you were the result. It's biology. Why would I be offended by biology?"

She glares at him, "Because I'm a freak! I don't deserve life!" She feels herself start to loose control. "Nobody loves me! I have to wear contacts and use pigment altering drugs just to keep my mother from being a disgrace! Just so I can walk around and be treated as normal without being shunned!" She covers her eyes with her right arm and starts to cry.

"Your not a freak." Scorpio whispers.

"Yes I am. I'm blue, completely blue, and a freak." She keeps sobbing, hatting herself for who she is, a freak, a deceiver, something not worth the air she breathes.

"No."

She sniffles and looks through at him with puffy eyes, "What?"

"You are a beautiful, attractive young woman with a great job protecting people, you have a great life and you deserve nothing less Rila no matter who your parents are." His eyes are strong, his resolve strangely solid, but comforting.

"Y-you, you don't mean that, everyone who says that is a lier!" She shakes her head angrily.

"Why?" He asks calmly.

"Because, because I'm not worth telling the truth to." She sobs again, this time with more force. "I'm a sick freak that needs to be put down."

"I know some people that deserve that punishment, but you aren't one of them. Why should I hate you, and give me the logical reason." Scorpio states rather than asks.

She looks at him and tries to think of something, anything that made sense beyond the hurtful words and mocking and cursing, but she can't. "No, no logically it is impossible for someone to hate another they barely know without bias or prejudice." She says quietly. He smiles and she blinks at him on confusion, "So you don't hate me?" He nods. She stops sobbing and he hands her a handkerchief, she wipes her eyes and notices it was embroidered with some kind of insect. "What are these?" She asks while still sniffling a little.

He smiles and looks into her wonderful vibrant blue eyes, "They're Scorpions, an arachnid from Earth, and the origin of my nickname."

She frowns, "Your nickname?"

Scorpio raises an eyebrow, "You didn't think my real name was Scorpio did you?" His voice is teeming with laughter.

She blushes, "Kind of, what's your real name then?"

He shakes his head, "Not telling you, at least not without trusting you first. It's a well kept secret I don't like to disclose, kind of like your last name and your secret that your a faming hot blue angel under all that purple."

Rila's cheeks burn and she turns away to try and hide it unsuccessfully.

He's making it really hard not to love him.

"You really don't have a problem with my origins?" She asks cautiously, still weary that he's playing a sick game with her.

He shakes his head and leans forward to whisper, "I wouldn't care if you were an Ardat Yakshi." His eyes widen, "You're not right?" She giggles and shakes her head, "Ok, good, phew, that was about to get a bit awkward." He sits down and folds his hands in his lap, "Now I know why you like to go by Officer Rila, no-one wants to have a name so regal as the Tevos hanging over their career and love life."

Her heart monitor skips again.

She nods in agreement, "People usually shunned me because of my name, saying that I was buying my way through school when in reality I had no help from my parents what so ever. I'm still isolated socially when people figure it out. Thankfully no-one knows about my other secret, otherwise my mother would be kicked off the counsel and demoted."

Scorpio frowns, "But Matriarch Benesia has a..." He struggles with finding the words, "Natural Asarian daughter named Liara and she isn't shunned from society."

Rila shakes her head, "And how often do you see them together in public? She has to distance herself from her only daughter to keep her position and I don't want my mother to do the same with me. Neither does she, that's why I wear contacts and take pigment altering drugs, it's a sacrifice, but I love my mother so it's worth it."

He shakes his head, "I don't see why it's such a horrendous difference, I personally think the sharp blue eyes are more attractive, maybe the rest of them are just jealous?" He shakes his head and misses her heart beat on the monitor fluttering at his comment. "It's foolish and something I wouldn't expect from one of the most advanced races in Citadel Space."

Rila sighs and places her contacts back in, "What can you do? It's prejudice and a lot of people believe it, so much so that it's actually illegal to be a pureblood-"

Scorpio cuts her off, "Natural Asari. Never say that terrible word again, it belittles others."

She nods thankfully and continues, "Natural Asari, I like it already. Anyways it's illegal and punishable via execution to be a Natural Asari in one of the Southern Republics on Thessia."

Scorpio jumps back with disgust, "How can they do that! That's immoral! That goes against everything anyone has ever said about the Asari!"

Rila nods sadly, "It's true, not many are able to get away with it successfully like I have, the medication is expensive and illegal in some places, and the side effects can really kill you, thankfully I've had only a lack of energy when I wake up and that's about it. But the expense is the real thing thats killing me. I actually had to be promoted to the top Officer in the APC to just get by on my expenses, and I was only promoted because of how they want to use my name as publicity, which is why the commissioner likes having me at her side during press releases. Just another thing that'll get thrown away if people find out what I am." She lowers her head in shame.

Scorpio looks at her with concern, "Do you need help? I can front you some credits if you need them."

She shakes her head and frowns, "I never borrow money from others, It's against my personal beliefs. To owe someone money is to owe them your soul, I don't want that."

He smiles, "Seems like your strong will is getting the better of you Rila."

She smirks, "Alright, alright, and don't call me Rila, my full name is Rilana Aleena Tevos 'Rila' is just a nickname I give to acquaintances."

She watches Scorpio's eyes shift for a moment before he smiles. "Rilana Aleena Tevos, a beautiful name, but I'll call you Rila when we're in public, no need to give it out so easily, make them work for it." He comments.

She laughs, "Damn right. Now get out of here, your interrupting my nap." She smiles brightly at him, happy with their talk, but nervous about the future.

Scorpio bows in respect, "See you when you wake up." He leaves and lets the door close behind him.

He's so nice, and kind, and interesting, I should do something for him when I get the chance, maybe take him out to dinner.

The sweat darkness surrounds her once again, but for the first time in her life, she didn't want to let it overtake her.


I let the door lock behind me and slide against it until I hit the floor.

WHAT THE FUCK!

Taking a deep breath I try and keep calm after learning the most disturbing connection in history.

Rila is Rilana ALEENA TEVOS! NOT only is she a TEVOS, DAUGHTER to the ASARI COUNSELOR, but if her middle name is any indication, and the fact that she's a Natural Asari, then her father... is ARIA FREAKING T'LOAK!

I grab my chest as I feel as if the name itself would give me a heart attack.

Oh, crap! The fiction has become reality! SON OF A BITCH!

I feel as if I need to scream my head off to get the coincidences to stop happening.

Why?! Calm down! Calm down Scorpio, Dylan... no I'm Scorpio, but I'm also Dylan. WHY AM I ARGUING THIS?!

Taking a deep breath, I let it out and shake my head, mentally blocking any thought about the implications until a later time when I can properly freak out.

I think my heart is going to burst, or maybe that's just the Asarian food I had for lunch in the cafeteria.

I had a nice talk with Jeilus about eezo exposure and my biotics while Rilana was out, apparently if I digest enough eezo rich foods then my nervous system back-fires and I loose control of my biotics for a short period of time. It can also cause hallucinations and morning sickness if not treated properly.

Makes sense, I only started having hallucinations after I started eating the native flora.

Standing up, I wince from the pain in my shoulder.

Damn, that Batarian had good aim.

I roll my shoulder and pull off my right glove to inspect the strange cuts that started appearing after the fight.

I didn't even hurt my hands.

Tracing the red marks on the outside of my hand I gasp as they burn and glow as another line is cut by an invisible knife into my skin, it doesn't bleed. It just stays red like the others.

What the hell is happening to me?

I look around to see that no-one saw me have my mini freak-out and pull my glove back on as I think I see someone at the end of the hall.

What the-?

I blink and the shadow is gone. I feel great unease as I walk towards the room next door.

I hid the marks from Jeilus when she scanned me, but she still found them. I'm seriously not sure what to do. And she had no explanation for them either.

The door opens to Seila, laying on a hospital bed with a new mask and Tel, the male Quarian, to her left, holding her hand. I notice the Black masked Quarian to my right, leaning against the wall in the shadows and tinkering with her blood-red omni-tool display. She looks up and nods respectfully to me as I enter and I nod back, remembering her skill in taking down the Turian and the butcher of the Batarian.

No reason to piss her off, no reason to speak to her either.

I continue in and round the bed to Seila's right side and sitting in a chair sitting there. "Hey Seila, how are you doing?" I ask carefully.

Her head rolls over to look at me and I can see her frowning, "Hey, where are your wings? You don't have wings anymore? Your the Dark Angel. You need your wings!" She points an accusing finger in me face and I carefully set her arm back onto the bed.

I look at Tel and ask, "What type of medication did they give her?"

He seems to frown and looks at the shadowed Quarian in the corner, "Mein there gave her enough tranquilizers to kill a Krogan!"

Mein? Huh.

Mein shrugs, "I was sick of her whining so much for a broken nose."

I shake my head as Tel stands abruptly, fists clenched angrily, "You almost killed her with an overdose!"

Suddenly Seila grabs Tel's arm and pulls him down onto the bed so they were face-to-face and says dreamily, "You're always SOOOO serious, and I LOVE it when you're serious!"

Tel pries his arm from her grip and climbs off of her to sit back down and take her hand, "I agree, but our guest doesn't need to know that."

Seila looks over at me and gasps.

"What's wrong?" I ask, getting a bit uneasy.

"THE GETH HAVE RETURNED!" She screams before waving her arms dramatically and passing out.

Tel brushes the back of her hand and says, "Oh Seila, what am I going to do with you." He then shifts her into a comfortable position and tucks her in.

I step back and look at the opening door to find Jeilus walking in sighing while muttering, "I should ask for a raise for all the shit I have to deal with daily." She looks at us and says, "Seila needs another anti-toxin treatment so can Tel help me wheel her bed down to the first floor? All the nurses are apparently humping the walls for something to do in the break room or something and no-one wants to help me." I let out a quick laugh and Tel silently nods as he picks up the apparently portable monitoring equipment.

"Do you need any help?" I ask.

Jeilus looks at me and asks, "Have you ever seen a naked Quarian before?"

I blink, "Uh, well no, but-"

"Then I don't need anymore help." She says quickly as they cart Seila's bed out the door and down the hall.

I stand there and sigh for a moment, wishing I could help someone out. Pulling up my mask I shrug and sit down cross-legged in the spot where the bed used to be and close my eyes to meditate. I focus internally and quickly form a biotic sphere the size of an orange over my lap.

For some reason my biotics are becoming stronger the more I use them, Jeilus says its from all the practice, but they feel more then stronger. They feel... stabilized, and easier to conjure at a moments notice. It still burns like hell when I use them but whatever, I can live with that.

Bending my vision of the room to my biotics, I start practicing something I noticed over the last week or two.

Whenever I close my eyes, I can still see biotics, when I use them I can still... well... feel them I suppose. It's been a bit sureal, and haunting how quickly I'm learning these powers. It's becoming a bit too much to handle.

I internally blink and pulse my biotics slightly, creating a form of echo-location around me, allowing my senses to pick up on the smallest de-

"What are you doing?" Mein startles me, nearly breaking my concentration.

I open my left eye and look at her as she leans against the wall to my left, arms crossed, her eyes completely hidden from behind her black mask. I close my eye and say, "I'm channeling the Dark Energies of the universe to pro-long my biotic abilities in intense physical warfa-"

"I'm asking for the short version." Mein interrupts.

I sigh, "I'm bioticly meditating."

I feel her push off the wall and I feel her silent steps move around me one, twice, and once more before she sits down in front of me. Opening my eyes I see her tilt her head slightly,"What did you feel when we killed that Batarian?"

I take in a deep breath, remembering it perfectly, even though I don't want to. "Rage, anger, devastation, sickness, happiness, solidarity, peace, chaos, release, and hilarity." I open my eyes and let out the rest of the breath, "Why? What did yo feel?" Her head lifts slightly and I can feel her smile at me.

She giggles innocently, "I just felt relieved that we were gutting them and not the other way around. Although I do LOVE some good knife-play, really gets the blood flowing..." I watch her carefully, "Out of their hearts!" She giggles and I feel a twitch of a smile on my face before disgust fills my gut.

"I personally would rather go for-" She cuts me off.

"I know what you like, your prized knife has more than enough evidence on it." She smiles at me again and starts crawling across the ground towards me, "Do you know how it feels to be inside a Submission Net?" My concentration falters as she gets so close that I can see her eyes through her mask, "It's horrifyingly exhilarating."

I blink from behind my mask, "Maybe I should try that sometime. It could be fun!" I laugh to show I was sarcastic and I hear her giggle in her strangely maddening way.

She places a hand on my arm and I have a lot of trouble concentration. She moves her gloved hand down my armor, "Well... maybe we could do it together some time, add some cuts to the mix? Maybe some S and M?"

I stare at her for a second.

Is she really asking me if I enjoy-?

"I don't have the time to add 'voluntary torture' to my to-do list." I nearly growl out.

She stops her hand on my thigh and moves her mask within an inch of my own, "Feisty! I'll enjoy pleasuring myself to your memory later." She smirks from behind her mask and winks at me before standing and walking back to her corner as I shake my head.

I have no idea what just happened.

Shaking off the weird feeling I have in my gut, I form another biotic ball of energy and start up my meditation aga-

"How long have you been touched by the Dark Angel?" I blink once before opening my eyes and looking at Mein through my HUD.

I watch her as she just leans there, expecting an answer, "What is the Dark Angel? Seila said I was one and now you're saying I was touched by one."

Mein tilts her head and watches me watch her for a second, "You truly don't know? The taker of lives? The bleeder of souls? The fucker of children?" Her voice wavers strangely as she says 'children'.

I frown at her for a second before understanding, "I am a servant of those who have seen death and know his might?" I quote from a book I read in high school.

She nods and takes a step out of her corner once again, "You know his words? Hmph, all he ever got me was pregnant."

I watch her as she walks left and right in front of me as I meditate, "Pregnant?" I ask, a bit confused as to how a concept of death could impregnate someone.

She stops immediately, "Figure of speak, you know? He allowed me to give birth to my true self." She hugs herself an turn a bit with bright elation. Her arms are thrown up and she shouts, "ALL HAIL THE SOUL EATER!" She giggles at her own words and plops down beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

I stop meditating and look at her as she hums a strange tune that seemed to portray the very act of killing someone. "I've witnessed his work, yes." I whisper quietly, not sure why she even asked.

She rests her head comfortably on my right shoulder and sighs happily, "I wish only for everyone to know his beauty, I wish they could see his world."

His... world...

"What do you mean by 'his world'?" I ask, remembering something from my dreams.

She snuggles closer, "The world of his creation, of darkness, of blood, of ends..." My eyes widen as she starts rocking us left and right gently.

Oh god, I've been there! Why have I been there? Neril... I'm going to have to have a long talk with that bitch when I get home!

"I've been there..." I barely whisper.

"I know... I can see it in your eyes... but you're powerful... you can see it through THEIR eyes!" She whispers gently. I swallow as the pain and severe suffering I witnessed and felt from... that pla-

No! I am not going to remember that!

Shaking my head I take a deep breath and push Mein off of me, she stays seated while I stand and walk away.

She's wrong I'm nothing like her, I'm-

"You can't escape the truth Scorpio." I hear from behind me as I reach for the door controls.

I pause to say, "I'm not a murderer Mein, I kill when it's necessary-"

"But you enjoy it," I feel her arms on my shoulders and I close my eyes, trying to get her words out of my head. "You enjoy killing them, don't you? I know you do..."

I spin around angrily and grab her by the throat with my right hand as we fall to the ground, "I am nothing like you!" I scream in her face. "You are a murdering psychopath! I kill people who need killing!"

She simply wiggles slightly and lets out a shaky, excited breath, "I am nothing more than a witness to his power, so are you!"

No I'm not! I was a victim!

I feel my grip tighten around her throat unconsciously, "You are a sick, perverted animal! I stop people like you! I's KILL people like you!"

She smiles, I can feel her smile, "You ARE me!" She gently places a hand over mine and pulls down the glove, showing the red cuts as they glow violently. I stare at them in shock and fear. She unseals her right glove and pulls it off to show a nearly complete symbol etched in blood red on the back of her hand. I gawk at the symbol and take her hand with my own to compare, I can't see any differences other then one was just starting and the other was almost finished. The Prothean symbol for Death...

No... Nononononono! NO!

I jump off of her and back away. "NO! Nonono!" My mind won't stop spinning.

"YES! You see? You are me!" Mein giggles madly from her sitting position as she finishes sealing her suit and injecting antibiotics into her bloodstream.

My back hits the door and I slide down it, still staring at the glowing lines.

Why? Why me?

"Why is it always me...?" I whisper quietly. Tears well up in the corners of my eyes as I remember how many people I've killed.

Five... I killed five people without hesitation... I...

YOU KNOW WHY I CHOSE YOU.

I shake my head, not wanting to listen. "You have no power over me."

"I have no what? Power? Is that why you kill people Scorpio? So you don't loose control?" I grind my teeth in aggravation as I hear Mein's voice wake me from my thoughts.

"I kill people that-" I shut my mouth, not wanting to give her the satisfaction.

She doesn't care, she's trying to send me over the edge. I need to talk with Neril, and soon.

*Whoosh*

I yelp as my back support fails and I hit the back of my head on the hard floor, "Oh..."

"Having a nice little crisis I see," Opening my eyes I see Jeilus and Tel staring down at me. "Could you please get off the floor so I don't run you over? It takes forever to get blood stains out of this coat."

I blush from behind my mask and quickly jump up to get out of the way while rubbing my head, "Sorry, sorry."

They wheel Seila, still asleep, back into the room and I join Mein in the shadowy corner, getting out of the way while they set everything back up.

"Call me when you realize your true self, we can hunt together." I hear Mein whisper to my left.

My omni-tool lights up with hers and I reluctantly accept her contact information. "Thanks." I bite out. She smiles wickedly again.

If Neril can't give me the answers I want then Mein is the only other option. She's the LAST option I wanted but there you have it.

Sighing out of exasperation I walk out of the shadows and notice Seila even more passed out then before, completely limp. "What the hell happened to her this time?"

Tel looka at me before sighing, "Seila woke up mid-detox and before I could even get a word in Jeilus here tranquilized her with something that'd make Mein's home concoction look like a headache pill!"

"Hey, you really need to forward me that recipe." Mein asks Jeilus as she finishes placing the monitor back on the wall.

Jeilus scoffs, "Yeah, sure, right after I devour eight te'm roots." We all stare at her in confusion.

...

"Te'm?" She repeats.

...

"The root?" Nothing. Jeilus sighs, "The Asari equivalent of Krogan Ryncol? You know, the kind of drink that'll make you explode from the inside out?"

"That sounds like fun." Mein comments creepily.

Jeilus face-palm and mutters, "I'm too old to deal with these uneducated monkeys." She turns to me. "Scorpio, you haven't slept for over 39 hours, unless you want me to knock you out medically I am ordering you to go the hell home. You are no help to anyone here in your state."

"If he's getting knocked out, I call dibs on undressing him!" Main states enthusiastically.

I raise my hands defensively, "I... think I'll just be going home now." Both Jeilus and Mein pout. "Hey, hey! Nobody gets to tranquilize me without my saying! Are we understood?" Jeilus nods her head and Mein just stares at me.

I should go... hey now I know why Shepard says that all the time!

I shrug and keep an eye on Mein while nodding a goodbye to Tel, who ignores me in favor of keeping Seila from rolling out of bed.

Ok then...

I exit the room and look at Rilana's door as I walk by.

Should I talk with her? Is she even up?

Calling up my omni-tool I get the door to crack open two inches to I can look inside, I see nothing but darkness and Rilana sleeping on her bed comfortably.

I'll call her in the morning.


As I walk out into the parking lot I remember how I smashed my skycar into the community Center and sigh.

Fuck, now I have to deal with the ARTS again. FUCK ME!

Walking up to the podium I call one of the skycars and grind my teeth as I see how fast it comes in for a landing.

This is not going to go well at all...


"AHH!"

*BEEP* "You have arrived."

I practically jump out of the skycar just as it land, absolutely grateful it was all over.

Ok, NOW I need to find whoever programmed these damn things and kill them!

I stop in my tracks and take a deep breath.

All this recent death is messing with my head, I need a breather.

Rubbing my eyes from my sudden sleepiness, I walk into the lobby and take a deep breath to calm my nerves as I see Neril sitting at her desk.

Time to confront the witch.

Stomping up to the desk she looks up and smiles as I approach, "Why hello sir, welcome back!"

Her kind demeanor puts me off balance for a second. "Neril." I respond angrily.

She ignores me and looks down at her omni-tool. "What? Oh, I'm preoccupied at the moment, I hope you understand."

My biotics flare and I grab her shirt over the desk, pulling her into my face, "You have got some explaining to do Neril." I growl out.

She stares at me, face cold and uncaring, "I have no idea what you're talking about Kerik."

I smirk, "I'm not Kerik."

She goes wide-eyed for a split second before going back to a cold expression, "We must be alone."

I tighten my grip on her shirt, "Get in my apartment right now before I cut your head off." I'm shocked at how... murderous my voice sounds.

She nods and smiles wickedly, "You are quite persistent Kerik, I will help you understand." I let go of her and watch her brush herself off before walking out from behind her desk almost regally. "This is not what I expected." She comments while walking with me down the hall, "It seems our plans must be accelarated." We reach my door.

"What plans?" I ask suspiciously.

I don't want to be any part of torturing innocents!

She smirks as she effortlessly breaks through my master encryption and walks inside. "You must be confused, I would be." She sits down on my couch and pats the space beside her, "Please, sit."

I watch her wearingly for a second before sighing and sitting uncomfortably beside her.

This had better be informative.

She holds out her hand and I look at it, confused. She scoffs, "Give me back the Medallion! Obviously you have no idea how to control it yet."

Blinking, I reach into my pocket and surprisingly pullout the black medallion from two nights ago.

How did I hold onto it? I changed clothes three times!

Placing it in her palm I watch as its spikes thrust outwards and the inky black center starts to swirl once again. "Ah... much better..." Her skin ripples with biotic energy, light pulses of dark blue slowly building towards her palm. I watch as the blue tattoos that line her arms and face recede back to her palm and end in the same symbol I saw on Mein's hand. Only Neril's is finished, and constantly glowing. "This is our mark. The mark of the home realm. All life has it's mark, only a few can be blessed with its gifts." Neril speaks reverently.

I watch her for a moment, seeing the strange feeling I can't explain in her eyes. I watch her experience the feeling happily, when I know that it is nothing even close to good. "You... enjoy that feeling? The feeling of death?" I ask quietly, still trying to comprehend what I just witnessed.

She nods slowly, staring into the black swirling matter of the medallion. "We know what is to come of us, and we accept that." She looks up at me, "Would you like to know the secrets of life?" She asks carefully.

I stare at her, asking myself the same question, but in different wordings.

Do I want to join them? Join their... organization of death? Do I want to see life as ending?

"No..."

She blinks and stares at me incredulously, "What?" She asks angrily

I cross my arms, "No, I'm not going to join your... organization just because you think I'm special. I already know I'm special, I'm partially insane!"

She glares dangerously, "I am warning you that you will pay dearly if you deny the gifts that we offer."

"I have yet to see ANY 'gifts' being offered. Unless you show me exactly what I'll be gaining by joining you I'm out!" I stand and start to walk towards the door to escort her out.

"You will not defy him!" Something sharp stabs into my neck and I grab at the syringe.

Pulling it out I turn around and watch as everything becomes blurry all of a sudden.

Wha-?

The sedative takes effect as I fall onto the carpet floor. "Oh, you will regret your defiance Kerik..." I barely hear her wicked words as all feeling leaves my body and the lights start to spin in my sight.

No... I have to... she can't...

A sharp screeching assaults my ears, knocking my thoughts away and forcing me to let the darkness in...


Blood... I see so much blood... just like before only, it's easily traversed. I swim forward, through the dark liquid and towards a bright light barely shining through its surface. Gasping for air, I surface and shake off the lingering droplets as I push towards the shore.

Where am I?

Thunder booms overhead in the dark clouds and I watch as orange lightning flies across the sky. It starts raining as I finally reach solid ground. I sheild my eyes from the rain and notice the blood start to pool around me.

What?

I hold out my hand to see its raining blood. I ignore it, knowing something had to happen soon for some reason.

"AHH!" I jump as a cream is heard from the ocean of red behind me. I look out and try to find the source before finding her.

"Neril.." I growl out the name as I notice her prone form drifting closer to the shore, using a severed leg as a flotation device.

She notices me standing there and paddles closer. I search around me for something, anything I could use to do... something. "Kerik! *cough, cough* Help me out here!" I turn back and find her being chased by a massive creature.

She deserves... Oh fuck it!

I run to the water and dive in, not wishing for her death to be on my hands. Lightning strikes overhead once again, showing the monster as Neril fights against the waves to escape its giant maw. "I'm coming!" I shout while panting at the exertion of swimming through the thick liquid.

"Help!" She screams.

I paddle faster, trying to get closer.

Have to help her, have to hurry.

"Hey!" I shout as the fleshy monster moves closer to Neril. It pauses in its movements ans turns to me. I look under the surface for a moment, and watch as its burning eyes watch me with... furious anger. I glare at it, not sure what else to do in my vulnerable position.

A loud groan sounds and I hear something whisper in my ear, "You will not deny us our meal Kerik!"

I grit my teeth and shut off my throat before yelling through the liquid, "Fuck off and go eat someone else!" It growls at me before diving deep and out of my limited sight.

Great, now I can talk with demon fish!

I resurface and cough out the blood I nearly swallowed before spotting Neril almost to the shore and swimming towards her.

She had better explain what the hell is happening to me, or I'll-

A huge splash throws me from the blood and I spot parts of the monster from the water diving through the air before both of us land back in the red ocean.

Fucking hell!

I surface and cough out another mouth-full of blood before looking around to find it threw me further out to sea. "Fuck you!" I shout as I spot it swimming away into the darkness that now surrounds me. I panic before lightning flashes and I can see the shore again.

This is totally insane.

I paddle and kick as fast as I can, feeling my lungs burn from the exertion.

Just... have... to... reach... the... shore...

Something bites at my arm and I ignore the searing pain, opting to kick faster and deal with it when I hit dry land. I look up and find Neril waiting at the shore with a...
"Oh son of a bitch." I cringe as I see the sheet of flesh that apparently represents a blanket in this reality.

Get over it, you're here, you might as well learn what you can.

I collapse onto the beach as I finally get to rest from the extreme workout. "Fucking *wheeze* Hell! *wheeze*"

I need to work on my cardio!

It takes a few moments for me to catch my breath, but when I do I sit up to immediately be wrapped by the skin-blanket. I clench my teeth to hold back my scream.

Neril sits next to me and I notice her skin was... alright. Not normal, but not as sickening as it was last time. "Thanks..." She says quietly, sounding a bit unsure what to say.

I wave my hand to dismiss the sentiment, "It was nothing, I couldn't let you just die out there could I?"

She looks away for a moment, seemingly listening to a distant sound I can't pick up. She worriedly turns back to me, "We have to move."

I frown, "Why-?" I hear the screaming in the distance, flashing my memory of the creature from last time to my sight. "Ok." I respond, now scared to stick around.

She stands and I throw the sheet of flesh away quickly, "Follow me." I look and she's running so I bolt after her.


I follow her off of the beach, into a burning forest, and up to a cave entrance, we stop and I beld over, panting from the length of the run.

Definitely need to do more exercising while I'm still alive.

I shake it off. She waves for me to follow and I feel... wanting... I feel like I want to see what's inside the cave for some reason.

She approaches a shadowed, hooded figure and bows to him, "Welcome back sister." The shadow greets with a deep and sinister voice. He looks at me, "Who is this? Another one for the pit?" I instantly freeze and look at Neril angrily.

She ignores my glare, "No, I believe I have found another of our kind wandering the beaches."

He looks me over and I cross my arms angrily. his eyes meet mine and I feel him smile, "Oh he is a strange one, fit for any position..." He looks at my bitten arm. "And willing to fight for it as well I see. Welcome to the order."

I tentatively nod, not particularly aware I had 'joined' anything yet. "He has not joined, he merely wishes to know what we are about before he makes his decision." I hear Neril state snidely. I glare at her.

The shadowed man shifts around uncomfortably, "Oh, well... alright, but the elders aren't going to-"

"Kerik?" I hear a calm, but confused voice ask.

We all look behind us and I see- "Mein?" I ask incredulously as I see her standing there, wearing tight black clothing, and no enviro-suit or anything.

She puts her hands on her hips and smirks, showing her sharpened teeth off as her glowing violet eyes burn holes into my soul, "Well, well. What do we have here? Are you visiting?"

I blink twice before saying, "I-I'm here trying to find out what's so great about your 'order'."

She smiles fully and slowly steps forward and out of the bloody rain. "You are a paranoid one aren't you?" She stops mere inches in front of me. "Well, take a look... I'm sure we have something you can do to enjoy yourself..."

I swallow and back up a foot or two to put some distance between the dark seductress and myself. "I'll give you a heads-up if I find anything."

She smirks and saunters past me, "Oh, I'm sure your head will be up before you leave the sanctuary tonight..." She winks over her shoulder as she draws a symbol on the stone wall. A flash of light hits us and she's gone, the bloody symbol running down the smooth surface effortlessly.

Whoa... she is intense... I'd better stay clear of her.

"Such a drama queen, *sigh* but she's an elder in the counsel so you might want to talk with her later." Neril says beside me.

I seriously doubt that.

I nod my head anyways, "So, how do we get inside?" I ask, now pretty curious as to what was behind the stone.

Neril grins deviously, "Just watch." She grabs hold of my injured arm and drags me to the wall. I groan as she bends my arm painfully to get at the still bleeding wound. "You cut deep..." I shut my eyes as she pulls her knife down the cut to create a gash. "Lift the wards of life..." Her bloody fingers trace an upside-down triangle into the stone inside a perfect circle. "Speak of ends... ner seelon se ill..." I pull my arm back and recognize the words from last time while I wrapped my arm to stop the bleeding. A deep ringing in my ears and a bright white flash awakens from the dark stone and I feel terrifying agony in my gut.

I hope I get out of here alive...


A/N If you already reviewed for the same chapter in the past (Pre redo) then you are unable to review a second time for the same chapter, please just send a PM to me with your review. Thanks! :)

(Update) Also I'm going to be taking a few days off for E3 so it might bee a few more days before ch. 12 comes out.