[Co-Author: Butterfly123199 FOR ANGST! And I take the blame as well!]
Few days have passed since. Small and meager missions were thrown here and there. Trinity decided to go check the sewers for himself as his personal mission while Jak and Dax went off somewhere.
Trinity eyed the pendant on his neck, staring it with his head in the clouds as he was about to walk out. "I'll be off."
The smell of hover car fumes and pollution from the city greeted him like an old friend. The noon fog of the Slums crept around every corner of the sector. No one was around this dead-end as usual, 'Hopefully stays that way.' He searched around for a zoomer to borrow.
"Goin' somewhere?" A voice rang from the UG entrance.
Elise was standing with her arms crossed, her eyes slightly narrowed towards her partner. Though, a smile never left her features. She couldn't help it, even if she wanted to. She held up a pair of keys that were looped around her fingers. "Mind havin' a tagalong?"
Trinity tucked in the pendant under his red, worn bandana. "Sure, why not." He stepped up and hopped right into the driver's seat.
Trinity revved up the Zoomer as it came to life, the engine sputtering slightly from overuse.
Elise hopped into the seat beside him, brushing back her short waves. "Where we headin' to, Trinny?" She asked softly.
'Come on, guys.. where are you?' She asked for Dawn and Beth.
"The sewers for a little investigating. You don't need to come to a rancid place for a little scope out or something I'll be doing, you know?" He fired up the engine and drove off out of the supposed dead-end. "Do you want to drop by the Oracle or something?"
The skies were dreary and heavily clouded today. The crisp air kissed their skin. Trinity's mask still had bits of gold dust in the edges.
"Nope." She grinned at the feeling of the cold air completely waking her up. The sun was high past the clouds making it about past noon. Not that she minded. It was enjoyable to see the streets so empty. "Just wanted to spend some time with you. That so bad?" She pouted playfully.
"Please don't tell me it's because of those few days ago." He looked to the side, away from El, feeling heat rise into his face again. "Why am I even following this traffic? Hmph." He drove around the vehicles, but didn't go at ludicrous speeds like they usually were during missions.
"No!" She was quick to blurt out, her face flushing a harsh pink. "I just want to..." she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're the only one not making fun of the haircut anywho - need to get away from those jackasses for a bit." She was quick to think of half a lie. In a way.
Trinity chuckled. "And I'm over here with the braid. I'm going to take a little shortcut, hold on."
He flicked the hover switching zones to fly past other zoomers and over civilian's heads! The slight jerking made the pendant slip and jump out from his bandana as they made their way to the sewers.
"Sorry!" He yelled at the people ducking when he zoomed past. The jerking movement was surprisingly not as sloppy, perhaps the chase and adrenaline made driving turn messy at times.
"Woah!" Elise tightly gripped the sides of the zoomer. "Geez, I forget you're a racer.." She cursed under her breath. "Put some ice on that!" She yelled back to the angry woman they passed.
"Why the sewers, Trinny?" She asked yet another question. She didn't know why she was so talkative, but she hoped it didn't annoy him or something else along those lines.
"Once a racer, always a racer." He chuckled at that. "As for the sewers, you got the info from Erol, metalheads are there." He spoke as he drove around the corner to park.
It was always shocking how Trinity could drive calmly, then turn the little road trip into a completely exhilarating ride where the vehicle could feel like it's about to bend and warp itself.
The area around them was quiet, almost no one was driving through that particular area. There were a few patrols, but they were almost all too tired to even pay attention to names or faces. The short girl jumped from the zoomer and looked around.
"Haven't seen this place in a long while." She almost scoffed at the memory. "So what's the plan? Are you planning on taking out all the metalheads? Or just scouting exits?"
"Was going to do both solo, in all honesty."
They both headed into the elevator lift that leads into the subterranean system of Haven City. The metal around here looks more and more grimier they visit.
The two grimaced at the smell, but neither bothered to complain. They knew they'd become nose blind to it in a few minutes. They stepped in and the metal elevator began to lower them into the rancid place. The place was lit up, unlike the first time Trinity had been there with Jak. They stepped off the elevator and into the underground dirty maze.
"Metalheads must be nose blind.." She grumbled, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "We're gonna need one hell of a shower."
He examined the necklace gift, "Why'd you give me this, really?" He took out his Snipertron, checking the scope if it was clean.
'Mm... Something's odd around here. Or maybe it's just me.' Trinity studied the two paths.
"Hm?" She looked at the necklace dangling around his neck. "Oh." It was a dark violet, almost black color. "I just... did." She swallowed away the nervousness in her throat. "I thought Jak would've told you." She huffed softly. She pulled her pistols from their holsters.
'Any input on this, girls?'
...
"I'll take that as a no..." She growled to herself.
"Jak? Hah, he went off to do his own thing before I even managed to get out of bed." Shouldering his sniper rifle, Trin walked ahead cautiously.
Something about this place seems a little too quiet, only the running waters and dripping droplets echoed throughout the pathways.
Elise managed a small chuckle at the mention of the boy's actions. "Ah.. well, let's start off with this." She hummed softly, "What color is it to you?"
Trinity took a moment before answering, speaking quietly as to not disturb the creatures lurking around. "Black, why?" He checked the corners, the lights blinking from the older missions Jak and Trin went through.
Her whole world stopped for a moment. She felt her mind begin to shut down and her chest tighten a dangerous amount.
"B- Black..?"
He heard the shallow footsteps pause, "El?" Trinity glanced over his shoulder. Confusion crossed his hidden features at her stiffness, but she had to snap back when a looming shadowy blob dripped down, hanging from above Trinity. He felt a chilly prick in his nerves when Trin noticed Elise's change in expression-
Elise stared at the shadow, nothing but fear striking in her. No one had ever seen her like that-
Except those who were there for her first experiment.
"What..." she swallowed. "You're... joking.. right..? Right?!" She seemed to snap desperately.
"N- no?"
The shock from Elise made the situation all too fast for her to comprehend, the blob had reared its 'head'.
One tiny orb blinks to life, then another, another one, and then a fourth one… More and more until there were many beads of glowing specks.
"Hagk?!"
Black spidery limbs curled around Trinity's torso and neck, trying to yank him up! Trinity panicked and went for his Dark Dagger, glistening with violent powers. He tried to stab whatever was hanging over his shoulders.
Trinity kicked and wrestled against its entanglement! When he craned his head up, his heart skipped a few beats.
There were many, many, dark figures crawling across the ceiling of the sewers. Elise couldn't help but look up with wide eyes, her Phalanx Pistols rattling against her shaky grip. All of the shadows suddenly had endless speckles of dots, most notably, the recognizable green skull gems.
"B- Behind!"
Elise let out petrified breaths, her pistols dropping to the ground. Her hands wouldn't even stay still. Hearing the scathing breaths behind her didn't ease the fear.
"No..."
The creature began to raise its claws, preparing to strike the fear writhed girl. It let out a devious and malicious growl and bared its claws.
His breathing became labored, became hard, his head was spinning because of it. The long legged claw of the metalhead creature thrusted it into his stomach! The masked man croaked out a restrained yelp, dropping the Dark Dagger! His breath was cut off short, higher and higher he ascended into the ceiling to soon join the others. Trinity's continued struggle lost its strength, his vision began to narrow to a point, the corners of his view being clouded by black.
'No...'
Trinity couldn't help but have his eyes about to roll back as his legs stopped kicking around as much. Whatever the creature had punctured his torso with, it was laced with something, he knew it, he knew, he knew because it made him want to sleep. Sleep...
'I can't hold it in anymore.'
His heart jumped, jostling him awake like when someone's about to fall into deep slumber. His heart beat around frantically through his ribcage that it almost hurt, like some caged animal.
Elise suddenly snapped out of her trance at the sound of the beast's second vicious growl. She ducked underneath it's swing and frantically sprawled to her feet. She watched Trinity and felt her held back cries finally explode.
"TRINITY!" she screamed.
'I have to. I have to. I need to. Stay alive, alive - wake up, wake up!' Trinity could feel the pit of his stomach instinctively protest against the toxin, he could feel himself slipping away again. His breathing under his mask could be heard, he was having a breakdown, he didn't know what to do.
Should he let it go? Let what go? What is there to let go?
Should he die?
Should he kill?
'Kill, yes, kill...' He could feel the time slipping away from his grasp, the sand in his hourglass running out fast.
As the creature snapped him up into the darkness, Elise still screaming for him to come back, she trained her eyes on the guns, scrambling for it! But she knew he might accidentally do a friendly fire, her mind was swimming as the pool of blood shined where the same spot Trin was.
All of the sudden, a screech of pain erupted from up above.
Elise's eyes were darting, watching the darkness scuttle around, she couldn't tell what was happening.
*SCREEE!
A body dropped to the ground, mangled and bloodied, she almost lost it but it wasn't Trinity's the moment she saw the dark violet blood and a skull gem bouncing to the ground.
Then another.
And another.
The corpses of what looked almost like a Hosehead Metalhead variant began to pile up around her. Their terrifyingly long spidery and needle-like legs curling up as they were ripped open.
Elise gazed up, this time, there were six long tendrils dripping down from the ceiling. The glowy eyes and orbs of the Metalheads created a circle around something, she became confused.
Elise felt her entire body freeze up again.
'Peek-a-boo.'
The deep voice haunted her...
It wasn't warning her like it was before.
It was taunting her..
She couldn't breathe.
"T-...Trinny?"
The Metalheads shifted further away, making a bigger circle around the figure. There was no sound except for the dripping waterworks, the clicking of the creatures, and Elise's breathing. There was a shadowy limb stretching out towards the ground, leaning more and more out from the bleak vastness. The figure uncurled itself, the tendrils twitching suddenly swam upwards as if to hold onto something.
For a split moment, the dark electricity crackled across the ceiling. Within a brief second, it highlighted all the figures. Elise could've sworn she saw the one humanoid figure up there, but it was too fast for her to process through her hysteric mind.
The legs reached out towards the ground, and the silhouette dropped into the floor below with a dull sound.
Like a spectral cloak of black, it enveloped the figure.
Elise's eyes broadened in fear as it stood up straighter, the cloak twitched again. Then it unraveled the dark blanket, El now knew that those were the same six long tendrils - they stretched out more and more.
Slowly she realized they weren't just extra claws, they were black leathery wings.
Elise didn't know how she could possibly get even more horrified - she didn't know whether it was because of Trinity, or the fact that his dark alter ego was much more different than the rest of the DWP subjects.
His labored breathing was louder than ever before.
Looking up to face her, Elise could see his metallic mask was shivering like a hungry beast.
Then finally...
Were his eyes.
Two piercing, cold irises gleamed bright like molten metal. They were orange.
She took a closer look at him, at his fingers. They weren't pale ashy white like anyone she met, they were blue-grey. The darkness and wings made it hard to notice, but he sported two obsidian horns. They had curved in a zig-zag way backwards like a lightning bolt.
"Ragh..." The misty air seeped out from his mask.
He lashed out! Black claws extended and cut through the air so fast and hard that it whistled around them!
Elise wanted to reflexively shield herself!
But then he zipped past her, black electricity missing her only just!
"AWAY."
Elise was quick to jerk away, covering herself with her hands when the lightning struck. She looked to the side, her eyes tracing the dark dagger.
"W-..."
The poor terrified girl could hardly form a sentence.
"W-Why didn't..."
"Cover me." Trinity's tone was like fragmented pieces of different voices. She couldn't tell if it was normally like that in his form, or if the collar was being disrupted by the dark voltage running through his body. "Now." He slashed away the spider-like enemies, one hand still holding his injured side. It was no longer bleeding as profusely as before.
She picked up one of her guns, and was quick to obey orders. She didn't dare make anything too sudden, or anything too intimidating for that matter. She was still shocked and definitely still scared.
'Holyshitholyshitholyshit!'
BANG
One
BANG
Two
BANG
Three..
But the more they took down, the stronger the others would get. It was almost as if the live ones fed off of the dead one's eco.
She aimed yet again and..
Click!
Click!
Click!
"Shit..." She cursed. She was out.
Trinity was picking them off left and right, muttering small heartless snickers of despicable laughter. His movements were all so erratic, Elise couldn't predict if he'd go for her next. Yet for some reason, he doesn't, even when her six o'clock's left wide open. "You're all so weak." He chuckled.
Another one of the metalheads tried to pounce on El!
"RAGH!" three sets of jet-black lines flashed right by her eyes, making her flinch, thinking it was over - but again. He didn't aim for her, as the wings impaled the spider then threw it into the ceiling. "Learn to control it. Not fear." He sneered, as if the thought of weakness was disgusting to Dark Trin. As if it was the most revolting thing he could imagine.
He dug his long nails into another, lifting it, and tossing it into the sewer waters.
"Only the pathetic and weak-minded get killed by their own selves!" Growling, he unleashed a fury in rage, ending up tearing into the metallic walls when the Metalhead spiders skittered away in fear.
One by one, each one of the creatures were either killed, or they fled. But Trinity-
He wasn't done.
As the rest of the creatures whimpered and cried as they fled. But instead of letting them go, Trinity went to go after them.
"No.." Elise called.
He didn't listen.
She was quick to tuck the dark dagger into a makeshift holster. "Trinity... stop!" She yelled.
He growled, waving the petite girl away.
"TRINITY!" She snapped and harshly pulled the man back by his bad arm. She didn't intend to hurt him, but she sure as hell did.
"THE WEAK... HAVE NO PLACE HERE." Dark Trin spoke slowly, as if he was hypnotized by a greater evil. He sneered and hunched over, ripping his arm from her grasp.
Elise watched as Trin's claw scratched up near the pool of violet substance from a carcass. He reared his head back and let the blood of the Metalhead drop into the gap of his mask, still breathing raggedly like a rabid animal.
Elise stared right back at Trinity, her breathing slightly jagged with a bit of fear. "You can't- " She breathed out. "Stop - this isn't you..."
"Why? Because I act like this?" Trinity unfurled his wings again, they shuddered in anticipation. "My truest nature- you can't even IMAGINE!" He growled like a wolf. "This has been me for years, there's no difference."
He spat with venom in every word.
"I'll kill all the metalheads, kill, kill them all."
"This is NOT you!" Elise snapped in reply. Why was she even arguing? Why didn't she just use the dark dagger?
...
Why did she feel so scared..?
"I know you- you're not like this..." She took a hesitant step forward. "Just let me- "
One side of the wings that seemed to be stationary and floaty, but all of the sudden it lashed out! Creating a big gash on the floor in front of her to stop her from moving forward.
Trinity's heart and mind was still racing, something ached in his chest. "I AM like this you fool! I've hid it for as long as I could!" Something about this was frustrating, irritating, and hurting him. His mind was a hurricane with negative emotions, "If you're so willing, go KILL ME NOW!" He roared out.
Elise flinched at the sudden movement, but angrily waved him away, almost as if she went to claw, but she wasn't in her dark form... not yet at least.
"Trinity... don't do this." She spoke, her tone warning. "Please, I know my Trinny is still in there... you're still there." She shakily reaches her hand out again. This time, she didn't place her hand along the dark dagger.
She was either too terrified to even show that she was reaching for it, or she was too trusting of the man..
She didn't know which option was more foolish.
He wanted to just walk away from all this mess. But he only retreated a few steps. "I am here- why can't you understand." He gritted his teeth, fangs drawing blood from his lips and making it leak a few drops from under his mask. The golden irises seemed to glow brighter, "I'd rather die than make the same mistake again."
His wings stretched out completely, all impaling the metal tunnel they were in. Then retracted.
He cracked his neck, the pendant swinging around. "Prove to me how strong you've gotten. Or was I too damn soft to the prisoners that they don't have the WILL to do it?" He chuckled, louder than before. That statement somehow sounded like what Erol would say.
Something about those words made every ounce of fear in her shift into nothing but rage and hurt..
And everything started to build up again. The torture, the heartbreak, the betrayal, the anger she never knew she felt for Trinity, it all just came loose.
"I'm..."
She gritted her teeth and threw the dark dagger aside.
"Not..."
She didn't even bother to hold back. She began to transform.
"WEAK!" She viciously sneered, just before she fully transformed.
She stood in front of him, her empty eyes somehow showing emotion. She snarled, her short steps turning into full on sprinting towards the male.
She jumped up! Her claws raised to strike down!
"RAAHG!"
Trinity narrowed his eyes, vaulting to the side. "You swing so wildly." He taunted, having his wings curl to the opposite side and made her look and slash instinctively to where his tendril was. The claw hit nothing but black mist, the electricity however made his wing numb.
The feral girl skidded across the ground, anger and frustration only growing more in her. She scurried back up to her feet and charged at him.
Did she have a plan? No.
Should she? Maybe.
She was risking everything at that point. Their friendship, his loyalty... her life.
He charged right at her, sliding under her, and his wing wrapped itself around her ankle, making her almost trip! But thanks to her swiftness, she managed to catch herself and jump away.
"You got reflex, but your strategies are pitiful!" He sneered again. "Do something different!" Trin crossed his arms.
She panted softly, a stern glare on her face. She merely snarled at him, swiping her claws. She seemed to be...retreating?
She was backing away step by step, her eyes never leaving his.
She stumbled over the metalhead bodies..
And ran!
She began to dash far into the sewers, not even bothering to look back at the other beast behind her.
"Run, run!" Trinity growled, giving chase. "Like that'd do ANYTHING! You're just wasting TIME!" He sprinted, yelling as his claws streak the tunnels before him.
There were long corridors, many of which were familiar to Trin. He briefly paused as Elise ran, her ears perking up as she realized his running stopped.
*crreak...
The metal walkway yawned.
"Watch your step." He scoffed, standing in a regal way, pacing as if waiting for something. He glanced below, seeing nothing but darkness. His instincts and memories say otherwise.
The short girl hissed, heavy breaths escaping from her. With each new step she took, the creaking became louder and louder.
'What are you even doing..?'
Her ears pinned back at her own thought, followed by a wolf-like whine.
She didn't even know anymore. She didn't even know at the beginning. It was just a big game of cat and mouse between them, due to her own failure. She broke the only rule she has given herself. And she still is.
She's afraid..
"Are you afraid of me, or your other self." He stated rather harshly.
She didn't bother to snap at him that time around. She stopped moving, seeing as the creaking wouldn't stop.
And for the first time...
"Trinny..."
She spoke.
Trinity's wings seem to not flare out anymore and dropped into looking more like his black cape. "Prove to me you can control it. That you don't fear it as it is a part of you."
Elise slowly looked down at her black clawed hands, her expression dulling from anger.
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing would escape. She winced at the scratching from below, but tried again.
"No." She growled lowly. "This is his - weapon..."
The metal gave way, breaking upon her weight! Sparks showered the murky walls, the low growls wept louder and louder as she fell!
He scorned at her, jumping down to join her. Grunting as he landed with the electrical currents rippling around him. From Elise's point of view, she saw the black webs of his wings spread out, but it seems that it doesn't help him fly.
'Use the dagger damnit.'
She laid for just a moment, her vision blurred from the impact. When she came to, she forced herself to roll aside to avoid clashing into Trinity.
'What the hell is he doing..?' She thought, hopping up to her feet.
The two of them sure as hell weren't alone down there. Within the darkness, a few dozen metalheads had been woken from their slumber. And have it be, they were not happy about it. Even a few of the creatures from earlier had been down there with them.
Every single one lined up, and surrounded the two partners. With all the commotion there was earlier, the creatures were smart enough to know why their allies fled.
Their augmented group only caused more of a problem. There was plenty more than there was earlier.
Trinity whipped them to bits using his wings, keeping them at bay. "All startin' to annoy me."
'He's distracted.'
'Perfect.'
She gritted her teeth as she stood to her feet, the dark dagger glowing brightly in her hand. She knew she was losing part of her dark self, so she needed to make it quick.
She raised the dagger...
And jerked it deep into his already-made wound!
The weapon hissed and began to glow a sinister purple color, raging bolts of lightning feeding into it! The dark electrical currents crackled from both Trinity and the dagger, sending it towards the Metalheads and killing them!
Trinity roared out, "AAAAGH!" His voice screeching so high Elise couldn't tell if it was the collar's malfunction.
His raven-colored claws retracted, the wings that shot up as a reaction slowly dropped down. It's ghostly tendrils and webs solidified back to his original cape. His horns shrunk down and Trin's dull blue skin faded back to a pale white.
The dark being grinned with slight triumph. She chuckled, her tone no longer holding malice, but sorrow. Her skin slowly faded back to its original shade, horns shrinking down and claws shrinking as if they were never even there. Her eyes slowly fixed themselves back to their dark brown color.
An aching pain ran through her body from the multiple falls, but nothing too drastic. Him on the other hand though, was a whole other matter.
She grunted as she kicked a body of a metalhead away. "You said do something different..." She mumbled.
"That hurt- " He laughed, unmoving from the floor. "For once you outwitted me..." He looked at the wound, but it didn't hurt as much as his heart.
She stared at him...
And then busted into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. She leaned against the wall, hunched over as she laughed hysterically.
"Y-You're such an idiot!" She managed out in between laughs.
"And you- are unexpected." He groaned and laid on the floor, not caring if it's mucky. Trinity banged his head on the ground too hard, "Ow." Trinity sighed, staring at the dimly blinking lights scattered throughout the subterranean maze. "...Damn."
"Oh and you're not unexpected?" Elise slid her back against the wall until she finally sat down. "Damn, you couldn't show me another way?" She groaned tiredly.
"N- no, no one's supposed to know about this." He felt sleepy, "I've gotten sloppy..."
Elise tried to process everything Trin had said, or most of what she could during their scope out.
"I'm not no one..."
She slowly stood to her feet and walked to stand over Trinity. She held her hand down at him, a few wounds scattered over her body. The most noticeable feature was her hand coated with his blood; the same hand she was reaching out to him.
"I'm your partner." She grinned. She hoisted him up and wrapped her arm completely around his waist. "Why did you hide this for so long?" She made him wrap his arm around her shoulders so she could help him walk. "Did she know..?"
"No. She didn't know."
Trinity's voice was stiff. 'Someone else.'
Trinity stood up straight, still clutching his side as he opened one of his packs for green eco and fixed the wound up as best he could. Elise lending a helping hand throughout the process.
"Don't tell anyone." He said in a dark tone. His eyes held unexplained sorrow. "Not Jak, Daxter, Torn - no one."
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Elise winced at the sight of the wound. "But what excuse are we gonna come up with this time?" She was quick to yank out the dark dagger when he had gone to reply. "Sorry.."
Trinity moved away, still gritting his teeth, his lip bloody from before. "It's fine, I just, they can't know." He moved his fingers to graze his mask. His pale skin having a blue tint again, "They can't." He blurted it out, "My first partner was dead because of that. Knowledge like this will throw things off its course, understand that."
Elise saw the blueish tint and pointed the dagger at him again. "Don't do it, I still have this-"
"That's just me damnit, you don't believe me?" His pointy ears dropped and he brushed her off. "It's not some other voice in my head - I can remember every Yakow crap mess that just happened." He crossed his arms and sighed.
"It's hard to believe it when I've never seen it before." She raised an eyebrow, but decided to let him push away from her. "You've got a tight grasp on it, it's almost unreal..."
Then a question dawned on her.
"How did you even get it?"
His hands crushed the gloves and attire he wore. "Same way. Just for t- too long." He said shakily. Trin's throat tightened in holding back a well of emotions.
"..." She gently placed her hand on his shoulder. She managed to force somewhat of a cheeky grin. "Welcome to the team." She joked softly. "But in all seriousness we need to get you out of here before you pass out and I can't carry you- "
"I can't hide it from you anymore though at the very least. I'm not going to pass out." He picked up the pendant that dangled around his neck, the crystal looking as if it was absorbing light all around it.
They were making their way to the giant elevator, Trinity letting his Communicator fly and display the map.
The rest of their trip together was silent. Not necessarily an awkward silence, but it was a bit uncomfortable and full of slight tension.
For once, Elise didn't bother to break the silence. She didn't have anything to say on the matter. Well, she didn't have anything to say that wouldn't be a counter to what happened.
Trin sat down as the elevator brought them skywards, back to the sweet surface where there weren't any Metalheads running amok with a horrid smell.
He was examining his left arm while they waited, feeling the prickly sensation. 'I'd hate to imagine the secret to break out.'
Elise stood in place, her arms tightly crossed over her chest. Her mind was buzzing with so much, she felt very overwhelmed. Especially after all that, and go top of all off; Dawn and Beth were still gone. 'Should I tell him about it?'
She thought for a moment.
'No. that's an issue for another time.'
In fact... they did need a small break. Just for a little while.
"Hey." She called him, "How about we just - relax? The green Eco seems to be doing your wound well, so why not?"
Trinity was running his fingers through the hair on top of his head, "Relaxing. Sounds about good right now." He took off his goggles while doing it.
She smiled, "How about something to eat, hm?" She grinned cheekily. "I know a good place, if you're up for it."
"Sure, if they accept takeouts." Trinity joked, he could feel two pointy bits on his scalp, hidden under the pale hair. He put on his leather accessory sitting right next to it like always.
"They do." She let out somewhat of a soft laugh. "Come on, big guy. You deserve a break." She was surprisingly taking in everything well, externally.
"How are you, really?" He stood back up, stretching a bit.
The elevator reached its zenith, the metal locks and cogs turned to open the door.
She stood silent at his question, but helped him just a bit when he went to stand. "Place isn't too far. I'll drive." She plucked the keys from his pocket without waiting for objection.
"Mm…" Trinity hummed instead of blurting out anything, he was injured, but his dark form kicked out the venom and he wanted to drive (the maniac of a racer he was).
The drive was actually pretty short. It was a peaceful trip as well. The breeze silently comforted the both of them. And for once, she wasn't rowdy when driving. Normally she'd hit everything in her in her path-
Trinity for once looked dispirited. He was staring off into the crowds of the downtrodden city folk, each trying to go on with their lives despite the oppression.
Even in the distance, he could see bits of the abhorrent prison skulking behind buildings.
He readjusted his goggles again so as to not ruin it and make it more comfortable. Some reason, he became more self-aware and insecure about himself.
'I hate this.' The voice echoed.
Elise took a short glance at him. "You feeling alright?" She knew it was a stupid question to ask. But she just needed to make sure he was okay... at least a bit.
"Mm... I hate having to lie about this. Honestly." He looked off into the distance, Haven's fog making him want to recall an old memory relevant to this. The look El gave him and how she reacted to when he showed himself back there bothered Trin. It triggered a long forgotten memory he wanted to push away, of course, he didn't say anything about it though.
"I'm sorry." Elise rolled her shoulders a bit until they popped. "For everything, I shouldn't have froze up.."
She couldn't help but feel at fault for what happened, but she had no control of anything else, though she wished she did.
"Listen, I wanna talk to you about this.." She turned her attention on the streets ahead again. "There's a reason I gave you the necklace - I never expected it to go this far."
"I didn't think I'd get caught so easily like that." He chuckled.
She managed to laugh at his comment. "I'm not as dumb as I look." She smirked and playfully glared at him.
"Is the color different to everyone? Makes me wonder if this is some Precursor relic."
"It's very different for everyone." She furrowed her eyebrows. "And I can't tell ya if it is. Daddy gave it to me for my 10th birthday." She shrugged. "He told me what it really could do when I was 14. I understood it quickly."
"Ah, the more I hear about him the more I'd love to know what'd happen if I'd met him..." Trinity relaxed on the seat. "What did you think the color of this was to me?"
The girl flushed ever so slightly. "Uh, blue." She chuckled nervously.
He gave a small genuine laugh to the side. "Guess I hid it too well?"
"Mysterious..." She smiled to herself. "Classic Trin, huh?"
The place she drove up to was a small restaurant, it looked very classic and southern. Most likely locally owned.
"Come on, I want you to meet someone." She smiled and hopped out the zoomer. She walked over to the other side to help him, offering her hand.
"M-meet someone?" He carefully took hers, a little terrified of hurting her. After all, his dark self hadn't awakened in such a long while.
"I think it's time you get your questions answered." Elise squeezed his hand softly, hesitating to let it go when he had gotten out. "You can trust her...more than you ever could trust me."
"I'm not so sure..." But Trinity didn't object as he followed her.
"Well, we're goin in anyway!" She tugged him slightly.
The two sauntered up to the building. Elise pushed open the door, a small jingle of a bell erupting from her action. A small, older looking woman came out from the back area of the small restaurant.
"Elise..?" The woman called softly.
She had long, salt and pepper hair. Her eyes were a bright green and her clothes were very simple. It was obvious she showed her age.
"Hey, Ma..." Elise spoke softly to the elder woman. She let go of Trinity and moved to hug the shorter woman.
Trinity didn't know what to say, albeit, nervous even. Instead he gave a slow and low bow, attentive to his wound he patched up.
Elise pulled away from the hug and motioned Trinity over.
"Ma.. this is Trinity.. My-"
The woman cut her off with a gasp. "Oh, Elise, you've finally got a boyfriend?!"
Elise was quick to flush a bright red. "MA! No! He's my partner!" She groaned, her face a bright red.
"It's lovely to meet you, young sir." She offered her hand. "Nicole Lee, I'm Elise's mother."
His ears were pink, "Lovely to meet your acquaintance as well, just Trinity. A- and not her boyfriend."
Trinity took the offering hand to return the kind gesture, even now he still feels a little awkward to others. Maybe it's because most people he's met are through some perilous mission.
"Oh, and sorry about this whole mess here - we were off doing something."
Nicole turned to Elise. "When are you gonna bring me grandkids?"
"Ma!" Elise waved her hand. "Never mind that..." she gently ushered Trinity to sit down. "He's got questions about daddy."
Nicole raised both of her eyebrows in surprise. "He knows..?"
Elise gave a simple nod.
Nicole sat in front of him.
"Ask away."
JV007 A/N: Oh my god. SUCH. ANGST! Now why did this Hip Hog crap of a chapter happen out of nowhere? Well… I got caught. THE PENDANT CAUGHT THE SECRET TWIST I HID FOR 5-6 YEARS FROM BUTTERFLY LOOOOL
DAMN!
I asked about this thing because I was suspicious of it - then I told her the color of the crystal was black, not blue, not even PURPLE- IT'S SO DARK IN COLOR THAT IT'S NOT EVEN PURPLE AT THAT POINT FHJDBFDSFHJSDFDS AND THEN WE BOTH EXPLODED! FHBJSFDSF
Butterfly A/N: Y'ALL. WHEN I TELL YOU MY MF HEART AND SOUL LEFT MY BODY- I COULD NOT FUNCTION
HOW IS THIS EVEN-
EE