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She pauses when darkness greets her.
"Deez?" She hesitantly steps into the cabin, "you better not have left."
"She's sleeping, Captain."
Her brow furrows as she turns towards the sound of Faustina's voice.
Which sounded like it came from her desk.
Except she didn't see anyone sitting in her chair, only something dark draped over it.
"Faustina? What's going on?" She walks over to find several sheets and blankets pinned together to form a cover.
"Honestly Captain, I'm not entirely certain."
She kneels down beside the chair and carefully pulls the cover away from the opening under the desk.
Deez seemed to be sleeping in Faustina's lap with a nest of blankets surrounding her.
If the situation wasn't so bizarre, she would have said it looked like fun.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm alright," Faustina smiles weakly before her eyes drop to Deez, "it's her I'm worried about."
Ice water fills her belly, "what's wrong?" She asks as she tucks the covering into a drawer and carefully inches her way under the desk to sit across from Faustina.
Faustina sighs as she tenderly brushes Deez's hair out of her face, "I know it feels like another lifetime, but I have no doubt you remember the day Hades came searching for T, back when you first took us in."
How could she forget?
The constant fear that she would mess up and hurt T, possibly even kill him.
The strangeness of trusting an adult, even one as strange as Yensid.
The fear she felt when she found herself in her uncle's shadow, and all she could do was pray he wasn't there to steal Deez away.
Or kill T.
"I remember."
She nods.
Sea gods, it did feel like another life.
"He used his soul gaze on you that day, didn't he?"
She shivers at the memory of Deez screaming her lungs out, begging him not to hurt her.
And then the instant replay of her life as it flashed before her eyes.
"He did."
But what did that have to do with Deez?
"I'm a bit unclear as to how or why, but-" Faustina grimaces before she pulls her eyes off of Deez to meet her gaze. "I'm terrified she somehow may have-" She moves and gently clasps her hands over Deez's ears, "developed a similar ability."
"So she can look into souls?" She shrugs, "that doesn't sound too bad."
Not that she'd want certain parts of her life watched, but at least she knew Deez was not her father.
Faustina shakes her head, "If that was what she developed, I'd agree. The problem is, I believe her ability is a lot more macabre." She bites her lip, "assuming I strung it together properly, that is- Which I can only pray I did not."
"What happened?" She asks as she leans forward to take Deez's hand, "or at least what do you think happened?"
She would deal with misunderstandings later.
Faustina was really starting to scare her.
She takes a deep breath, "and do we need the guys?"
Faustina's silent for a short moment, "I wrote to Yensid after she drifted off, requesting his aid, as for Harry and Gil, that is wholly up to you, my Captain. But as it stands short of awareness and comfort, the damage has already been done."
She looks down at Deez.
Her choice, huh?
Gil and Harry would want to know, but it would be easier and faster if Faustina only had to deal with one set of interruptions,
She'd fill the boys in later, let them get their work done before they started worrying.
"Tell me."
"Of course, my Captain." Faustina sighs, "and solely from my, hopefully horrid understanding, I believe she may have-" she shuts her eyes as she takes a deep breath, "God have mercy on her, she may have inadvertently soul searched all those, innocent and unholy alike, that were lost that night."
Her heart skips a beat before she feels it pounding like endless waves in her ears.
Soul gazed… Everyone?
She looks down to find the hand holding Deez's shaking with the strength of her grip. Luckily, it was Deez, so she doubted it even registered.
"Why?" She swallows hard against the sudden dryness before she tries again, "What makes you think that?"
Faustina's eyes sweep over Deez in concern, "her description of the-" she pauses, "sacrifices. How they laid, who was by who. The names- Who participated, even T and I didn't know that." She takes a deep breath, "she mistook herself for another at one point. The terror. The depth of her sorrow. All of which struck concerningly true. I don't know how else she could possibly have known that of which she was speaking. T nor Yensid have given details, nor have I. There was just so impossibly much that she had no ability to know- No desire."
Her eyes lock on Deez, and for the first time she can make out the lines of pain on her face.
Why would she suddenly get a new ability?
And how did she soul gaze in her sleep?
What was she supposed to do?
She knew Deez was always working towards developing her abilities, and while recording the stories of the dead sounded right up her cousin's current, there was no way she was going to be able to control this power any time soon.
And they were all in a fight for survival, racing against an unknown number of clocks trying to wind down to their doom.
"Captain," Faustina takes a deep breath, "I've had nothing but time to try to think of how to help-"
Her gaze jumps up hopefully.
If Faustina had time to think, had she come up with ideas?
She was still stuck on the fact that Deez was being forced to relieve ritual sacrifices.
Her Baby Girl.
Faustina bites her lip, "-and I believe in this one instance, which you may demand me to dismiss if you so desire, it might be for the best for us to inform the others, but not broach the topic unless she has the inclination to do so of her own volition."
She wanted to disagree, but she couldn't.
This situation was beyond her ability to understand.
Her god blood was so diluted, but Deez?
Deez was half. So she could end up with half the abilities of the gods.
And if something this, horrific, was one of those abilities?
She had no right to force Deez to talk about it.
None of them did.
"I'm sorry I didn't confer with anyone before making the request, but I've asked Yensid if there is any kind of enchantment he could create to dampen the memories so they're not as vivid or forefront."
"Don't be sorry, that was a good call." She slips out from under the desk to grab her notebook.
When she opens it she finds several pages of Faustina's spidery script detailing to Yensid what she'd experienced with Deez.
Well fuck, she was going to have to get to Gil and Harry before they read this. She'd rather it come from her before they got all the details.
"I've got to go tell the boys." She bites her lip as she stares down into the cave like fort Faustina created.
Deez always found small spaces when she was upset or blank, so it made sense that this had been a comfort.
Even if only slightly.
"Once we all talk I'll send Gil in here so you can speak with Yensid and return to the herbs, if you still want to work on that."
"Understood Captain."
Yensid frowns before he leans back against the bolted legs of the desk chair, "and you're as sure as you can possibly be that Hades did not mean her any harm?"
"I am." She nods.
And honestly, she wasn't sure where she stood on that.
Her relationship with the god had been nothing short of tenuous in the beginning.
She'd truly never intended for Hades to know it was her-
Had even gone out of her way to drop letters and forgo proper penmanship.
She honestly didn't even think he'd give the short updates much mind.
But then, he'd outed her and she hadn't the gall to lie so unabashedly to a being that could kill them with a flick of his finger.
So, what had started off as reports had quickly shifted into banter.
And then from banter into-
God help her if her family ever found out-
A companionship of sorts.
She knew better.
Thought herself smarter.
But in the end, she couldn't ignore the underlying desperation for interaction-
She'd lived there for too long.
"I trust your judgment, you are not an easily fooled young woman." Yensid says as he tugs at his beard, "in any case, for now, I think it might be best to move forward with the assumption that either theory could be correct. Either this is indeed an unfortunate new power that our Deez has come to possess and will require assistance in mastering, or the strangely more hopeful concept that her father shared these memories with her through the natural bond all gods have with their offspring."
Yensid closes the notebook to Hades, clearing all messages, before he slips it onto the desk above them.
"I very much appreciate your candor on the matter." She sighs as she runs a hand through her hair.
"Of course," Yensid says with a nod before he opens his bag and pulls out an old, dust covered book, "as for protection. I believe with Gil's help we can make a trinket that should do the trick."
"Would it be too much to ask for you to enchant two trinkets? One now, and one later?"
Yensid's look of confusion immediately shifts to understanding, "ah, you would not wish to rob the artist the time he needs to create."
"If the request isn't too bold."
"Not at all, my enchantment will help, though it will be incomplete. Gil's ability to focus his intentions into an object is most beneficial, and ultimately amazing. I would never be able to accomplish his form of magic. I doubt many would."
"I would imagine with something as wild as magic, that the more specific the intention, the more efficient the spell."
"Correct. And with spell casting, it is difficult to focus solely on the intention when one must also keep a constant vigilance on the rest of the spell casting process."
"There does seem to be a theme surrounding self-discipline in weaving."
"If I ever have the chance," Yensid's lips curve slightly into a smile, "I would enjoy conducting a study on the effect life under the barrier had on those with magical inclinations."
"Oh?" Her eyes sweep over him, "and what theory would you be trying to prove?"
"I would attempt to prove the casters and wielders of the Isle are subtly more powerful, and go about discerning the cause." He glances up at her over the book he's paging through, "your abilities with herbs and cures, for instance, are just as fascinating as Gil's form of enchanting."
He couldn't be serious.
"Are you still on that?"
"I am. And I have proof, which I am more than happy to share with you once we are able to secure peace of mind for our young Deez here."
She shakes her head.
Stubborn man.
"Would an extra set of eyes help? I know I'm not entirely sure what we're looking for, but I can bookmark anything that's in the general area of what we're seeking."
Yensid grins as he pulls a small pile of books from his bag and sets the stack between them, "I would welcome your aid. Anything that mentions memories or unwanted thoughts should work to start."
She nods as she takes the book on top of the pile, "understood."
The sooner they had something, the better.
She'd lived only a fraction of that night second hand, and it nearly drained her of hope.
But Deez?
If she was understanding it properly, and she was praying she wasn't-
Deez had lived that night a concerning amount of times, from several drastically different perspectives-
She swallows.
Was Deez being forced to live dozens of lives?
Just thinking about the depths of that concept was making her anxious to the point her stomach was turning.
There were so many-
And, god help her, as short as their lives had been-
Each one wracked with their own personalized hells: abuse, neglect, thirst and hunger-
All of those sacrificed had suffered greatly.
And to be forced to experience those unique hardships firsthand-
Dozens in seconds-
She couldn't imagine.
Didn't want to.
And she didn't have nearly the capacity for compassion and empathy as the younger girl did.
Chills run down her spine as one dismal scenario after another flashes unwelcomed through her head.
This would change everything; Deez was pivotal to their success.
They needed her unwavering optimism to compete with the weight of reality that were their odds.
Without that light to keep the growing darkness at bay-
Then everything would be for naught.
She knew it wasn't fair.
That putting that type of pressure on Deez was cruel, but she couldn't change the facts.
If things were ever going to change-
If Uma ever were to rule-
Deez's hope was the key.
And for the first time, that terrified her.
Dudes, my dudes,
I'm so sorry for the lack of notes. I shit you not when I say this is our ninth version of this book, and I needed a break from reading it for a minute because I was going to go nuts-
My bad.
That being said, I'm happy that I came back and read this chapter.
I've been out of it for a minute and Dark has been sick as fuck. She has several auto-immune diseases, and I'm just not in the best place when we can't write…
That being said, she is starting to feel a bit better so we're going to have our first writing sesh in like 2 weeks tonight.
Supes excited.
But back to you,
How are you liking the book so far?
What do you think about the characters we've added?
The plot?
There's a lot fucking happening and we've written it so much, we're praying it's up to snuff, but for real, this is turning into a struggle, and we could really use some support and love from you guys. I know it's a big ask, but we really would appreciate it.
Much love and appreciation
-Twisted
