Pairing: None really
Chapter Title: Terms
Point of View: Jace
Author's Note: Hey all, sorry that it's been awhile. Here's my next chapter! I hope you enjoy it, k? Thanks a lot for reading!
Warnings: Hints of murderous tendencies. A trifle bit of insanity.
I was sitting at the foot of the bed when she began to waken. "Yumi?" I asked. She groaned, reaching to rub her eyes and stopped when she felt the pressure.
"What the...?" She sat up, looking at the handcuff chaining her wrist to the headboard. She looked at me, face pale and dark circles ringing her eyes. "Jace?" she asked.
"Hi," I mumbled. Carra had eloquently informed me earlier that I was to watch over Yumi while she and Bryna prepared everything. Just my luck that Yumi woke before she was supposed to.
"What am I doing here?" she demanded, tugging at the handcuff. The frame groaned but held. I was mildly surprised, the thing had to be fifty years old at least. Maybe sixty. Her face suddenly took on a look of remembrance and she sat up straighter. "Carra..." she whispered.
"What?" I asked, distracted. A pale light crept through the dirty windows, leaving fading shadows on the ground.
"Carra, she was at my house. She did this. Where are we?" I suddenly realized that she thought I was here against my will as well. Maybe I was, I'd lost sight of what I wanted over the weeks since Bryna's diagnosis.
Carra chooses now to glide down the stairs, as silent as ever, feet barely touching the ground. She smiles at us. "Yumi, what a pleasure to see you awake and talking. May I get you anything?"
"What do you want?" Yumi demanded, glaring at the other girl.
"To know if you desire anything to eat or drink while we wait."
"Wait for what?"
"You got a hold of them," I asked, half rising. Carra glanced at me, eyes smouldering, a glare that could kill.
"What's going on?" Yumi demanded. Carra ignored her, looking back upstairs, her head tilted one way, then the other.
"It is time. Leave us," she said, glaring at me. I stood shakily, going upstairs, hearing Yumi spouting off questions. Carra ignored her still.
Inside the kitchen Bryna was brushing her hair. She was dressed in a white dress, face paler than usual. "You okay?" I asked. She glanced up at me slowly, eyes glowing eerily from the lit candles littering the table, shelves, and counters. Her hand paused momentarily in it's downward trail, fingers pale as snow, wood dancing a dark red tinged brown. "Bryna?"
"I am fine Jace," she whispered. Her eyes focused on the mirror in front of her and I swallowed. "Do not be nervous Jace, the time has come," she continued on. She set the brush onto the ledge and ran her fingers over the mirror surface.
I couldn't help but shiver. It was all to out there for me. I hadn't agreed to this. "Bryna?" I asked again, not sure of what else to say, not liking the quiet.
"Everything has been taken care of," she murmurs. "The Goddess, Màthair, will see that nothing goes amiss." She stands and turns to the basement door, a smile on her face. She sounds like Carra now. "They are coming."
I turn as the door creaks open, Yumi is dressed in her normal attire, a gold chain with a large ornament of gold and sapphire hangs around her neck, and Carra is wearing a paler blue one. It's as medieval as the rest of her clothes. Yumi has a resigned look on her face, I wonder what Carra told her. I go to speak with her but Carra stares at me, eyes narrowing to slits.
"We're ready Jace," she says. Her voice sounds like a hiss. I don't move and her eyes narrow even more. "Lead the way." Yumi gives me one last hopeful look but I turn, leading them out the back door, toward the forest.
"Don't worry Yumi, it won't hurt. You actually have very little to do with this. We just...need your friends," Carra murmurs into her ear as we trudge on.
"What?" Yumi demands. She spins to stare at Carra but Carra pushes her on.
"They will get the message. They will come. They will."
"Carra," I start but she glares at me and I fall silent, leading on. We arrive at their altar and wait as Carra does her ceremony, crushing rose petals in a bowl and turning them to powder before sprinkling them on Bryna. "This is pointless!" I finally exclaim.
She lunges at me and I grab her wrists. "It is not pointless. Not if it saves my sister," she hisses. She glares at me, eyes wild and red hair tangling around us.
"Stop it Carra!"
"They're here."
We stop and look over as Yumi's friends make their way to us. The one with glasses looks unsure while the purple one, Odd, looks ready to fight. He can be my guest and have a go with Carra. She steps back, smiling widely and spinning in a slow circle.
"See Bryna, see Jace, the Goddess has answered our prayers." She grabs Bryna by her shoulders, laughing wildly. Yumi looks faint. "You will be well again Bryna!" she exclaims. Bryna smiles back, twirling faster with her sister before Carra pulls away, staring at them.
"Where is the other?" she demands, eyes narrowing again. Grey fires smoulder at them in the semi-darkness.
"In the hospital," Odd replies. He looks at me, then Yumi. He's gauging, seeing if he can rescue her. I won't stop him.
"No. The girl." She pauses, arms outstretched, head tilted back. I wonder if she's having a vision. "Aelita..." The name is a breath of air on her lips, but I watch as the two boys stiffen visibly.
"She's back at the dorms," the blonde replies finally. He shifts a little. "What do you want?"
"We need her. And the other one." A smirk twists her features, she looks like a demon from one of the Renaissance paintings I'd seen. That, or a malicious pixie. "Ulrich," she purrs. Yumi and Odd match complexions.
"Why?" Odd finally asks. He looks intrigued, I feel sick.
"Simple really," she replies. She steps back lightly, she always had a dancer's grace, so that she is now in front of the altar, the candles glowing around her, flickering in the twilight breeze. Her hair dances around her face as she continues to smile, eyes burning bright. She's making sure they can all hear her, that they can understand her perfectly. She always loved an audience.
"With Ulrich's death, Bryna lives."
Author's Note: Dun dun dun...