Sinking Dread

Subject Iota had never been a heavy sleeper but when she did sleep her dreams and memories always flooded back to her reminding her of all she had experienced, but then again it was the same for all Protectors or so she thought. She was severely fatigued from the weeks of searching for Omega, who in turn never stayed in one place for very long. It was like trying to catch a ghost. The Brother was legendary among the Sisters, Iota had always looked up to him while in her training stages to become a Big Sister, here was this mysterious Protector clad in advanced armor excelling in every aspect of his training, and even helping train some of the Sisters, she remembered the sparring matches with him, she also remembered how tough he was on her and the other Sisters. She couldn't blame him none of the Sisters could, they had heard rumors of His and Mother's time in Andrew Ryan's Prison.

No one knew the entire story, no one dared to ask. Rumors where all they had to go on, Rumors of Torture, starvation, she even recalled mother mention that the Guards would strap a straight jacket on the boy, brake His legs and leave Him in solitary confinement for months on end with the only source of light being that of a small window in the door that was only opened to dispense food through.

She could only imagine what it was like, and even then She knew She couldn't fully comprehend the experience, after all how could she? Iota had never been through such an ordeal. That was why he didn't hold anything back while sparring, if the Sisters messed up or dropped their guard Omega would quickly remind them of their mistake with a well placed jab or kick to the ribs, a painful experience to be sure, but they learned from it and applied it in actual combat, and it no doubt saved many lives.

The Sisters had a great deal of Respect for their male counterpart, they learned that he would always come running when they needed him the most, no matter what enemy they faced, they also learned not to anger Omega, this lesson was learned after one of Mother's scientists started yelling and pushing a Sister in training after she broke his coffee mug on accident, as soon as the man touched the girl, Omega lifted him off the ground with one arm and snapped his neck, Iota was watching the situation play out from across the room with her Sisters, she could still remember the sound his body made as it reached the floor, Omega simply starred at the Sister through his helmet then walked out of the room like nothing had happened.

. . .

Iota could feel herself slowly seeping back into the real world so far away from her dreams, slowly she began to hear the sound of running water, The tired Protector sat up from her position and began rubbing the sleep from her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the dim light of the room and began taking in the environment around her, the river to her right, the tree she was resting under, the various traps set in all exits of the room the way only a Protector could set them, the soft green grass beneath her and the scent the air carried. She knew exactly where she was, Arcadia, it was by far the most peaceful thing left in the entire City, the dim lanterns that hung forever illuminating the tranquil Garden, not too bright but not too dark either it was a wonderful balance of light and dark that was impossible to see anywhere else in the City, but how had she got here?

That's when she remembered she wasn't traveling alone anymore, where had Her new found Companion run off too? She tried to pick up His scent in the air but found nothing, probably because the vents in the room were still pumping air to the rest of Rapture, she could feel her heart start to beat faster and her eyes darting across the room searching for Her only known Ally in the world, she let out a small questioning screech but heard nothing, She then stood up and gave another worried call for Omega, Now Iota began to panic.

Had something happened to Him?, had he abandoned her? her fears were quickly layed to rest though as she heard a deeper responding screech from the distance a little ways. The young Protector started breathing again, and before her brain could tell her legs to move she had already grabbed her cracked helmet and begun searching out her lost companion. The sweet feeling of relief soon turned sour when she finally found her lost Partner, He was sitting on his knees starring at freshly buried mounds of dirt in neat rows save for the last which still had yet to be filled making eight all together, Iota made her way to them until she was standing beside Omega who was still just staring blankly at the mounds, Iota didn't understand what she was seeing, why were there Big Sister helmets on top of the piles?, they were cracked, scorched, and some still had blood stains on them, Her eyes shot open and she dropped her helmet and fell to her knees as she remembered the security footage of Omega carrying the body of a Big Sister, this must have been where he was taking them, it was also the reason she couldn't find any sign of her Sisters when she returned to the City. Was this what he had been doing before she found him?gathering the fallen Sisters and burying them?

Iota counted eight graves, but there were only eight Big Sist- that's when she realized the last grave was for her, The young girl looked at Omega who just stared at her emotionless, she shakily pointed to the empty grave then gestured to herself, he nodded, she then pointed to him with a questioning expression as if to say "what about you?", He gave no response instead he just stared silently at His Harvester. The Female Protector began breathing heavy as she started to fully understand the situation, Once Omega had found and layed all of the Sisters to rest he was going to kill himself, She could now feel the true depth of their loss, they were the last remnant of their once great Family. It felt like her entire World had been flipped upside down and inside out, like her beating heart was stolen from her chest and trampled on the ground in front of her, like all of her previous wounds had been opened up and filled with salt. In that moment it seemed like her entire world was falling into Oblivion, and all She could do was grit Her teeth and sob, the weight of Her failure crushing her completely, Her vision blurred and Her chest felt like it was going to explode, Iota did the only thing she could to keep from losing herself all together, curling up into a ball she continued to weep only stopping when she felt the warmth of someones hand on her arm, it was Omega.

When she looked at him the only thing he could do was bow his head and close is eyes in apology, it confused her at first then she realized that she had not been the only one to experience this, he had also experienced this terrible dread, but He had suffered through it alone, this made the Sister weep even more She suddenly wrapped her arms around him and buried Her head into Her Partners chest desperately holding on the the only piece of Family She had left, She didn't know how much time had past, hours, days, She no longer cared, She only sat clinging onto Omega for dear life, and all the while he simply sat there expressionless, just holding her, being there for Her in Her time of need.

Once Iota had collected herself she sat back next to Omega and began wiping her burning yellow eyes, She had cried so much She simply couldn't cry anymore, the two Protectors sat in silence for a while with the only sound being that of running water, and Iota's runny nose sniffling here and there, it wasn't long before Omega had started fiddling with something on His belt, when Iota took a closer look She remembered the rings he had collected from the dead Splicers earlier, he took a few out of the pouch and began holding them in mid air with his Telekinesis, after that he began adding the blue fire from his Incinerate to super heat the shiny precious metal, Iota watched intensely as he began molding the molten blob into a recognizable shape, when he was finished it revealed a golden Butterfly, the same symbol as the Family, after it had cooled He handed the newly made statue to Iota and then dumped the rest of the rings out in between them, She held the trinket close to her chest with a sorrowful smile then placed it on top of a grave below a bullet dented and blood splattered helmet, then she began copying Omega's technique and constructing her own tiny monuments to Her fallen Siblings.

When Iota had finished She placed the last Butterfly on the seventh grave, she looked to Omega who was standing in front of the only empty grave in his small cemetery holding Iota's helmet, on Her way over to Him She grabbed his helmet off of the ground where they had been sitting before, when She made it to him She saw the faintest hint of a smile on His face, She could only imagine how he felt not having to bury the last Big Sister, He looked as close to happy as possible for somebody in His position, She then examined his extremely damaged helmet all the cracks, burns, bullet indentations, and scrapes not to mention the large gash in the front still thick with dried blood.

After finishing Her examination She looked to Her Companion as He did Her and placed His helmet atop His head in it's rightful place, Omega held up His left hand as if meaning to hand Her something, Iota questioningly held up Her hands waiting for Him to drop whatever He had for Her, He opened His hand and a small golden Butterfly with a chain to match fell from His grasp and into Iota's hands, She looked at the piece of jewelry before smiling and putting Her new necklace on, once She had done so, Omega lifted Her helmet with His right hand and placed it carfully on Her head. The two Protectors having placed the others Helmets onto their heads made a silent vow to each other in the beautiful Garden among the Dead, a vow to stand beside one another no matter what may come, to shield each other from the heartache and dangers of the world, they had to, they were all they had left.

A/N: Sorry if the font is messed up i tried to fix it as best i could but i don't really have a good writing document so just bare with me lol.