Hello Lovelies! In honor of Beyond Light dropping, I was trying to get this out yesterday, but it wasn't quite ready. Today will have to do but considering it's a lot faster than my normal update times I'm assuming you guys will take it. Lol.

Chapter 21 – Aftermath

The room was cold; that's all Ghost could think, cold and oppressive. Dimensionally, it wasn't overly large, but it felt cavernous thanks to how empty it was. It's not like it had expected a wealth of personal objects and decorating from the fallen—they just didn't seem the sentimental type—but not even a house banner? Off to its left, there was a pool just big enough for two full-sized adults, a pile of furs lay on the opposite side, and a few light tubes were scattered around. That was it.

The walls were the same dark rock as the rest of the cave system. The detectable scent compounds in the room were very faint like the captain did not spend much time here. Perhaps only to sleep, that was the only thing Ghost could assume the pile of furs was for. It seemed… lonely.

Worse yet, temperature wise, it was freezing. Ghost may not be able to feel the cold, but it could recognize the lack of energy in the air. It would have to monitor the female's health carefully to make sure prolonged exposure wasn't going to endanger her.

Ghost sighed, loudly. It didn't want to be here. It liked their home and thinking about their indefinite captivity was exhausting. For a moment, just a sliver in time, Ghost felt anger toward the female. It wasn't right and it immediately felt guilty about it, but there was nothing it could do. That sliver turned to a length and the length to minutes; how could she have done this? It had never liked this idea and now it felt indignant that she hadn't listened.

Of which, she knew. She was staring at it, not their new surroundings or their Fallen guards, just at it.

It hovered in the air near enough to notice her warmth, but not as close as was normal, and avoided her gaze. "I'm angry," it acknowledged, not knowing what else to say in that moment. She had no way to know the Fallen would make such demands, but still.

I know.

"At you," it clarified.

I know.

"I will not stay here forever," it blurted out forcefully compared to its quiet admissions from moments before.

I know.

…

Ghost sighed again. Being angry alone served no purpose; at least they had to figure out how to exist here before they were face to face with more fallen without a plan. They also needed to figure out what this meant for their way of life and how long they were willing to stay here. "We should talk about everything that just happened, especially that captain."

Clean first.

"That's probably a good idea. Who knows where those two have been? I don't fancy trying to figure out what to do should you contract some sort of alien STD," and the words came out with bite.

The female's only response was a cocked head.

…

"What?" it said with too much inflection.

Ghost…

"Its fine. I'll get over it. Go take your bath." The female didn't linger despite the confliction it felt from her. She walked and stripped her garments simultaneously, sinking into the pool quickly. Although her face never showed any discomfort, it was fairly certain the water would be like ice. It would check on her later.

For now, Ghost moved to the pile of furs, burying itself in them as though they could shield it from the world. It peered out at the vandals feeling a bit like a lost puppy. The vandals in question had taken up positions either side of the door, weapons still in hand, and had divided their attention between itself and the female.

Ghost wanted to be angry at them, at their very existence, but its curiosity piqued unbidden, warring with the anger. It hadn't noticed before because it was too worried about everything going on, but the vandals' physical attributes varied: longer arms, broader chests, more detailed armor, coloring differences, height differences, scars, injuries. These two were as different from each other as they were from Lykrosis and Kreesis.

Distracting yourself, it heard as the female approached finished with her bath, quite expeditiously it might add. Whether for its benefit or just to escape the cold, it didn't know. Probably some combination of both. She hadn't reclothed herself, instead carrying the folded garments in front of her.

Its anger flared instantly, was she going to proposition more of them? However, that burning was doused just as quickly when it realized she'd be wearing the same clothing for a while; this had been nothing more than a scouting mission when they had first set out from the ship. "Not intentionally," it mumbled feeling guilty again. "The first chance we get, we should ask the captain if they have a couple sets of… furs or something you can wear. Those clothes are going to get grimy pretty quick in this place."

Agreed. She knelt next to the furs but did not disturb them. Ghost?

It looked toward her and found an outstretched hand. There was an immediate sense of longing. It new it would feel comforted just by touching her, but it wasn't quite ready yet and said so, "I'm not ready. Come, "and it rose out of the pile to make room for her, "There are enough furs to lay on and pull over you. I know you must be cold."

Yes. She slid between the furs and ended up lying on her side with her head propped up on one hand. Once she settled, she simply stared at it seemingly indifferent to the presence of their guards or their situation.

"How are you so okay with this?"

Desired outcome.

"You knew this would happen? You wanted this?!"

Interaction, agreement, yes. Confinement, no.

"Then again, how are you okay with this?"

Necessary. Ghost… I must heal.

"I know," it replied quietly feeling guilty for the hundredth time in so few minutes.

Why so upset?

"How can you ask me that? We are stuck in this place surrounded by enemies with no access to any of our things. We both know you are not going to eat their food, this agreement is going to be hanging by a thread every second, if we can even trust them to keep their side of the bargain, and I'm going to go stir crazy in this place with nothing to do all day," it vented. "I liked our lives the way they were."

Not truly captive.

"I know we could leave easily if we wanted, but for how long? They may already be fortifying this place to a point where even you can't escape."

There was no response to that, only a feeling of skepticism. It wasn't conceited though so Ghost didn't think it was about her ability to escape. It felt more like she was skeptical about its reason for being upset. Why she would think that way, it didn't know, so it left that subject untouched.

Determined not to dwell, it said, "The captain was interesting."

Yes.

"He was very arrogant and aggressive, but uncharacteristically… controlled, I'd say, for a fallen I mean. I got a look around that room too and it was definitely some sort of work room. There were complicated in progress mechanisms in the few things I could scan. I'm wary of how intelligent he probably is; we will need to be careful in every interaction we have with him, not that that wasn't my advice originally anyways."

I like him.

"Of course, you do."

She smiled in response. Attracted physically, yes. However, Captain, noble, almost regal. Very respectful, of us, of females.

"I noticed that. I'm curious whether it was the idea of rape or of hurting a female specifically that offended him so much."

Perhaps both. Honor, highest importance to fallen. Many cultures, rape, hurting females and young, lowest acts.

"True, but the fallen always seem so brutal to me; the docking of dregs is an excellent example. Besides, they seem to have no problem killing females or children; they often attack travelers on their way to the city."

Situational?

"Maybe, but we should do our best not to offend him. His response was… intense; in fact, all of theirs was outside of your two. I wonder why they reacted differently." They were going to have to learn fast in this place or there were going to be a lot of mishaps. The fallen were so different from humans, and ghosts for that matter. "So, are you going to explain what happened with the servitor?" it asked remembering the strange pull on its light when the female had touched it. "I could feel the ebb and flow of our light. At one point it almost felt like you were… feeding it or something."

Not certain.

"For someone who didn't know what they were doing, you seemed very determined to do it."

Yes, was drawn to it. Servitor, like Ghost.

"Yes and no, I suppose. Could you feel it, like you feel me?"

No, but… want to.

"Hmm. We're not going to get another chance to see it if the captain has his way."

Servitor, captain. Who leads?

"Hard to say. We're not certain what the exact hierarchy is when it comes to servitors vs. fallen. However, the way the captain spoke about it, he said 'my servitor'. It felt possessive. It makes me think he is at the top. Or…" but it trailed off when a new consideration popped into its mind.

What?

"Well, just thinking about it now, perhaps their relationship is like ours. I am 'your' ghost, but I don't feel 'owned' by you. From what I've seen and know, the captain seems to be the practical leader whereas the servitor more of a figurehead, but behind the scenes they could be just as close. He did seem fairly stressed when you had the servitor contained, but that could just be because it is their only source of ether. Either way, if push came to shove, I bet the captain gets the final say."

Reasonable conclusion.

"By the way, did his shock pistol contraption actually collapse your shield or did you let it down?"

Let go, but shock would have worked.

"Yeah, we are definitely going to have to be careful with him. That was quick solutioning and even more efficient engineering to pull it off."

Resourceful.

"Indeed… You mentioned you found him attractive; are you going to proposition him?"

I don't know.

That surprised it. Ghost was almost certain she was going to say yes. After she slept with the other vandal it figured polyamory was something it was going to have to look forward to. "If you are so uncertain, why did you say yes to the other vandal, Kreesis?"

I don't know.

"Did you feel any different after sleeping with him too?"

No.

"Are you going to keep sleeping with both of the vandals?"

I don't know.

"Again, you sure are confident for someone who doesn't know a whole hell of a lot."

Trust.

"You know I do, but you better figure it out quick because I have no doubt he will be back for more." The female didn't respond to that, and Ghost was happy to let the silence linger. Enough had happened in the past few hours to keep it preoccupied for a while.

At the very least, it felt fairly confident the captain would honor their agreement, so theoretically they were safe for now. The major problem was the female's health; she agreed to this and yet they both knew she would refuse to eat whatever they tried to feed her. Ghost could only imagine what their idea of food might be, and each mental picture was worse than the last.

Feeling better?

The question caught it off guard, but the answer came easily much to its surprise. "Yes, actually I am."

Much to learn here.

"As worried as I am, I have to agree. It will be a fascinating case study; imagine what we might learn about them."

Yes, and she smiled at it again.

Its bleep of excitement about its ability to study the fallen so intimately was just that, a bleep. "What I said earlier still stands. I will not stay here forever."

The smile faded. Ghost, why so upset?

She was asking it again. It had been right; she didn't believe its words earlier. It didn't know what to say because they were the truth, at least part of it. The whole truth was something it hardly wanted to voice aloud. She had never agreed with it that she also would not stay here forever, and the implication of that was not lost on it.

The female had always been strong-willed, and they had had their differences of opinions, but it had always felt secure in their partnership. They were in this together and it had even decided to stay here because it would do anything it could to help. However, something about this experience just didn't sit right with it. For the very first time, it wondered if the female, in pursuit of her cure, would choose the fallen over itself and that made it feel small and alone.

Starting now, speak E'lik.

"Why?"

Her eyes flicked to the guard vandals and back. Agitated.

"Who cares? Let them worry. It's not like we're going to do anything anyways."

Must soothe them. Gain trust.

"I highly doubt that will be possible and again I ask, why do you care?"

The female smiled quietly at it and it knew that look, it was failing to grasp something of importance. Again, she presented it with an outstretched hand, this time accompanied by words. Words that had a comforting effect and made it understand all at once.

I will not stay here forever.

Thanks for reading and reviews are much loved. I hope you enjoyed although I know the chapter was a bit rushed since I put myself on a timetable to get it out. Hopefully, the content didn't suffer too much for it.

Fallen Language. Listed in order of appearance:

E'lik – Fallen language