Ninja stared at the ground. She had cried, she had screamed, she had fought. And now, all of the energy seemed to be gone from her body. It wanted to stop. Stop functioning, stop hurting, stop existing.
And yet, here Ninja was, existing. She got to exist, while Nora did not. And so, she kept doing it. Just kept standing, and staring, and existing.
"Hey, love," the ginger woman gently said to her. She seemed uncertain whether or not to touch her. Ninja did not care either way. She did not care what happened next, in general.
"We should get you cleaned up, and then you can get some rest. Would you like me to help you get into the shower?"
Ninja paid just enough attention to notice the tub in front of her. She decided she was in a bathroom. She looked down at her soiled, ripped clothes. Two days of sitting in a warehouse had not been kind to her favorite dress. Oh, well.
"I brought you some of my clothes for now," the woman said.
When Ninja did not react, she sighed sadly and carefully placed her hands on her shoulders. "On second thought, how about a bath?"
Ninja eventually managed to nod to the suggestion of throwing the dress away. The ginger woman drew a bath and helped her undress, then get into the tub. Afterwards, she gathered the ruined clothes and left Ninja alone in the bathroom. She also left the door ajar, probably fearing that Ninja might do something stupid. But she did not plan on doing anything like that. She was too busy existing, after all.
The wall she was facing had a painting of a sunset hanging on it. Ninja stared at it as the hot water soaked into her skin. After a while, her hand wandered up to her braid.
Nora would have told her it was a mess. She untied it and used some soap to wash her hair. After cleaning up, she stepped out of the dirty water and wrapped herself in a towel.
She pulled over the clothes; thin sweatpants and a sweater, which fit fine. Then, Ninja snuck out of the bathroom, and over to the next door. In the living room, a couple of people were sitting with their backs to her, talking.
Ninja snuck into what she found to be an office with a sofa. She felt this would suffice, crawled onto the sofa, and curled up into a ball.
For a moment, Ninja wondered how much longer this existing would have to continue, before the pull of sleep dragged her down and away forcefully.
Fletcher sat in the living room and stared out the small window with the small, see-through crochet curtains. They were a small, one-story building that did not offer much space or privacy; a safe house that Fletcher had taken them to.
Outside, the ocean was throwing calming waves over a white, sandy beach. In this part of the world, the sun was just on its way towards the horizon.
He had bought this beach house a while ago. Although, that was not entirely true. Technically, he had gotten it for saving someone's life. The man had been so grateful, he had believed only something as big as a house could suffice as a thank you. And so, this old, South American heirloom now belonged to Fletcher. he had not bought it as much as he had, as they said; earned it with his own sweat and blood.
It was a story he liked to tell. Or, at least, it was a story he would have liked to tell. But Fletcher had decided for this unlikely place to become a safe house. After all, who would expect Roarhaven mages here?
And so, Fletcher never told the story to anyone. He felt that was a pity.
He looked over to Nuce, who was sitting on the second sofa, at an angle to him. None of the others even knew which country they were in, exactly. Fletcher wondered if Nuce was the kind of guy one could tell a secret like that.
Lying sideways on the same sofa, Betty had her head resting in Nuce's lap and was dozing out the earlier shock. He was passing the time by sticking his finger into her curls and letting them wrap themselves around, to then pull away and start anew. It seemed to be a very entertaining task, the longer Fletcher watched.
"How do you get your hair to do that?" Nuce eventually asked.
It took Fletcher a moment to notice he was being addressed. He blinked at him, then shrugged. "Hair gel. Switched to the magic kind, a couple of years ago... Got it from a drug store downtown, it's a bit complicated to use but definitely worth figuring out."
Nuce snorted bitterly. "Do you know any industrial grade kind?"
Fletcher smirked and nodded to the mess of dark blonde curls on his head. "Your hair looks tricky."
"That's one word for it. One time, I tried to straighten it? I looked like a scarecrow."
Fletcher laughed as quietly as possible. He lifted a suggesting hand. "I could try to style it some time."
Nuce nodded. "Please, give it your best shot. But if everything fails, I've been thinking... four."
He frowned. "Four what?"
"Millimeters," Nuce smirked. He lifted up a curled hand, placed it sideways onto his own hair, and pulled the fist over his scalp, "bzzzzz."
Fletcher mustered his headshape, then pulled up an agreeable shoulder. "You could pull it off, I guess."
Nuce grinned but before he could reply, Diamond joined them in the living room. She was carrying a cup of tea and threw the men friendly but tired looks, then crouched down in front of Betty. She opened her eyes to slits at the movement.
Diamond smiled but watched her worriedly, and Betty sighed and slowly struggled up into a seat. Nuce lead her up and Diamond kept the blanket around her shoulders with one hand, then handed her the tea with the other.
After a couple of small sips, Betty sighed and looked at Diamond with heavy lids over sad, sober eyes. "How is she?"
"Pretty shaken up," Diamond replied softly. "Sleeping now."
Betty exhaled, then looked down at her tea. "I shouldn't have come with," she whispered admittedly.
"You'll be alright," Diamond smiled warmly, and pet her knee. "You're stronger than you think. And if you want to talk or cry about it, you know the address."
Betty sniffed and closed her eyes to a small smile that soon disappeared again.
"How about you sleep here tonight, and then go back home tomorrow?" Diamond suggested.
She shook her head and looked at her again. "I want to know she's safe first."
Diamond did not seem entirely content with that reply, yet nodded.
"Are you ok?" Betty asked her.
She sniffed bitterly. "Ask me again tomorrow morning."
Betty smiled thinly, then nodded to the terrace door. "I've got you."
Diamond smiled back, then mustered Nuce and Fletcher, who had been listening quietly. "Are you guys alright here?"
"We're good," Nuce replied. "You go."
She patted his and Betty's knees as she got up and turned to walk towards the glass door. They watched her step out onto the sand and walk along the beach, straight ahead.
Valkyrie entered the living room through the front door, carrying bags with food. She just caught a glimpse of Diamond before she left their line of sight.
Valkyrie blinked at Nuce. "Where's she off to?"
He shrugged. "Away."
"What on earth happened..." Valkyrie muttered to herself as she slid Skulduggery's hat back and forth over the mattress with one finger.
"We were played! That's what happened!" Skulduggery frustratedly proclaimed, as he paced back and forth in the small bedroom. They had retreated to the creme-colored space, as the living room of the beach house was crowded with other people.
Valkyrie felt empty again, and she decided that the dread had been better. At least, then, she could have been sure that she was still capable of feeling anything.
"They set the trail, we knew they did, and we still charged right into it," Skulduggery angrily continued.
"And what would the alternative have been?" Valkyrie challenged. "We leave both of them to rot in a warehouse?"
"If we hadn't taken the bait, they wouldn't have needed the girls."
"And then, they'd be back in slavery!" Valkyrie snapped back. "Is that supposed to be better?"
"We don't know if that was where they were taken from," Skulduggery argued, as his voice yet calmed at her point.
"Oh, come on, Skul, don't play dumb with me. You saw them." She raised her hand towards the door. "We both know they took them out of a 'club'. And as sad as we might be about Nora, we got one of them out. And I hate to remind you, but that's one more than last time."
He stared at her for a moment, and she waited until he nodded. "You're right."
Valkyrie took a content breath. "Thank you."
Skulduggery snatched his hat away from her and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"I need to talk to Diamond."
Valkyrie lifted her shoulders contritely, "she kind of... walked off, earlier."
Skulduggery put on the hat and opened the door. "I know," he replied and stepped outside.
Valkyrie found herself frowning lightly as she watched him go.