Chapter 14: Living In The Sky
Maya happily obliged, leaning forward and catching Lilith's red lips in her own. Liliths were gentle and guiding and Maya couldn't suppress the sigh escaping from her throat. The red head flicked her tongue against her mouth, causing Maya to inhale sharply leaving Lilith the opportunity to catch her bottom lip in her teeth, causing her to shiver. She parted her lips more to allow Lilith entry.
Her hand had left her breast and was now entangled in Liliths hair, the other on the bed holding herself up. The kiss was soft and slow, as though Lilith were trying to pour all of her feelings into Maya and vice versa. The arousal was slowly ebbing away, for which part of Maya was thankful. She wasn't sure what was going to happen next, her body already felt as though it was on the brink of exploding. She needed to approach these feelings slowly, and she hoped Lilith felt the same.
They parted for air and Lilith stared deeply into her eyes. Maya swallowed thickly, her head was spinning. The feeling of Lilith's nails caressing the back of her neck caused her to tremble.
Lilith chewed her lip, her eyes blazing. "Do you.. want to stay here with me?"
Maya nodded shyly. Lilith shifted herself up and Maya stood. "Wanna go to that dresser over there and hand me a new shirt? Top drawer."
Maya went to the dresser, opening the top drawer and pulling out a loose fitting t-shirt. She helped Lilith slip it over her head, careful not to bump her bruise. Lilith pulled back the covers and shifted over, leaving a space for Maya to crawl in and snuggle up to her, placing her hand on Liliths chest as to not cause any unnecessary pressure on her abdomen. She breathed deeply, happy to be here with the Siren.
"Thank you," she said.
"Pfft, shouldn't I be thanking you?" Lilith said playfully.
Maya grinned into her chest, "thank you for sharing your story with me, and listening to mine. I've never told anyone before. I was afraid, sometimes I still am. I'm so thankful I have you in my life, I never thought I could find someone as amazing as you. And thank you for…not rushing me I guess? I'm still trying to navigate through these strange feelings. You make it easier. Or maybe harder since you're the one causing them," she laughed.
Lilith laughed with her, "I have very strong feelings for you Maya. I want to be there with you on your journey. Every step of the way."
Maya just snuggled deeper, planting a light kiss on Lilith's neck causing a low hum of content to vibrate through the red heads chest. Liliths hand went to her hair and she ran her fingers through it lovingly.
Maya drifted off to sleep in her lover's arms, and no more nightmares came to her that night.
She awoke to sunlight pouring through her eyelids. She figured it must be late morning, but seeing as they didn't have a brief until tomorrow she snuggled deeper into the warmth of the blankets. She lay for a few moments before realizing where she was. She shot up and looked around, Lilith nowhere to be seen.
"Lilith?" she called sleepily. She heard footsteps behind her and saw the Goddess herself standing in the bathroom doorway with a toothbrush sticking out of her lips. Lilith gave her a smile and a wink before heading back to the bathroom to finish up.
Maya felt her own smile grow as she fell back onto the pillows, feeling like a schoolgirl. Lilith came back out and sat on the bed, leaning down to give Maya a soft peck on her forehead. "Good morning killer. How did you sleep?"
"Fucking fantastic. Lilith, you look so good! Are you feeling better or something?"
Lilith chuckled, "I am feeling more than one hundred percent to be honest, I don't know how. It's like I healed at ultra speed. I'm actually gonna head down and talk to Zed about it, if you want to join."
"Yeah of course, I'm just gonna run back to my place and freshen up and put on some decent daytime clothes. I'll be back in a few!" she jumped up from the bed, swooping down to give still-sitting Lilith a kiss on her lips.
Lilith was surprised at Maya's boldness, her face almost splitting in two in a wife grin. Maya's cheeks were dusted pink as she headed out the door. Lilith's eyes lingered where Maya had stood, her own face growing warm. Fuck, am I in love?
Maya had returned to Dr. Zeds dressed in her traditional monk garb with her electric blue hair flowing freely. Lilith had waved her down from her window and told her she would be right down. She came sprinting down the stairs just as Maya walked in.
Dr. Zed had been in the middle of bottling a mysterious brown liquid at his desk. Maya did not want to ask. He did a double take when Lilith came down the stairs, "Jesus Christ girl look at you. How in the hell are you outta bed so quick?"
He stood up and rushed over to Lilith and began to check her vitals. "If I didn't know any better I'd say nothing ever happened to you!"
He studied Lilith's stomach which found the bruising to be nearly gone. "Remarkable…" He then turned to Maya. "The only explanation I could come up with is that its gotta have something to do with your blood. You must be quite a show on the battlefield little girl."
Lilith looked confused, "wait, your blood?"
Maya bit her lip looking to Dr. Zed, "uhhh, yeah? You needed it Lilith, you were going to die! That's uhm…that's okay right?"
Lilith just lunged at her, embracing her in a fierce hug surprising her. She slowly returned the hug, resting her head on Lilith's shoulder.
Lilith sniffled, "God Maya, I don't know what to say."
"How about thanks?" grunted Dr. Zed. Lilith just gave him a playful punch in the shoulder.
Maya smiled at the exchange. "I'm gonna go see if I can find Axton, let him know about the good news."
"Right on, I'm gonna go take a look at the power core," Lilith responded. "we should probably get to changing it sometime today."
"Be fucking careful with that power core Lilith," Maya said sternly. "I don't trust it."
Lilith waved a hand. "it was powering Wilhelm was it not? And he sure seemed to have a decent amount of power. I'm sure it's fine. I'll see you later okay? Maybe we can have dinner," she winked.
Maya tried to force a smile but she couldn't shake her bad feelings. She hoped Lilith was right.
She stepped out into the sunlight and made her way back to the HQ. Just as she was about to open the door when Axton came through it, startling her.
"Shit man! I was just coming to look for you."
"Hey Maya, what's going on? Wanna come with me to Moxxi's for a bite?"
"God yeah I'm starving."
They started in the direction of Moxxi's. "How's Lilith doing? Dr. Zed echoed Roland saying she's miraculously healed or something?"
"Yeah, it's the strangest thing…I guess it has something to do with my blood though."
"Well I guess all that matters is that she's better!" he exclaimed, clapping her on the back.
The reached Moxxi's and took a table, ordering a pizza. "So," Axton said, taking a bite, "you slept at Lilith's last night huh?"
Maya blushed, her thoughts going back to Lilith's milky breasts. She never wanted to forget the feeling she had last night.
"Yeah…we didn't-uhm…we-we,"
Axton laughed, "relax Maya, I didn't think you did. I'm really happy that you're happy though. So are you guys like a thing now?"
Maya wasn't entirely sure what a "thing" was. And she never asked Lilith. Were they a thing?
"Uhm, I'm not sure? Should we be?"
"Well I think only you two can answer that, but you seem pretty close to me. Do you like her?"
Maya smiled at the thought, "of course I do, it's more than that. Way more than that. She's all I think about, I even dream about her. I want her to be the thing I see the moment I wake up and the moment before I go to sleep. When I'm in her arms, it's like the rest of the world just…falls away…"
She looked to Axton who was grinning like a maniac. Ugh here we go.
"Maya!" he said excitedly. "don't get me wrong, but I think you're in love!"
Her ears began to burn, "Love?!" she huffed. "I wouldn't even know what that feels like Axton."
His eyes softened and his smile turned reassuring. "enjoy it Maya, there isnt enough love left in this world. You deserve it."
She smiled back at her friend, thankful for his words. She was still in doubt of herself, she knew she had strong feelings for Lilith, but was it love? What was the difference? How would she know?
Love?
Axton looked to his watch. "Hey, Roland gave me that power core to go swap it with the old one. Wanna come?"
"ugh, fine."
"What?"
"I just have a bad feeling is all," Maya said firmly.
"Me and Roland had a look at it, it's just a regular power core. Besides we need it in order to keep the shield over Sanctuary.
"Fine, after you."
They met up with Lt Davis at the power station. Maya was feeling anxious, and so she voiced her concerns. "Listen Davis, we don't know for sure what this core is gonna do. Its property of Jack's, you don't think it's possible it could be a trap?"
"Look, as much as I hate using Hyperion tech, that core you brought us earlier is nearly burnt up." Lt Davis replied. "Axton, why don't you pop it out."
Axton went to the station and pried out the old power core. "Now shove in that new core you found harder than a shiv in a truxican sternum. Sorry, old Crimson Lance saying."
Axton installed the new power core. It came to life with a few sparks. Maya unsung her SMG, glancing around worriedly.
"Okay I think were in bus-what the hell!?:
The shield protecting Sanctuary suddenly surged.. The three of them looked to each other in horror.
Jack's voice came over the echo, "you know, I think it's time to tell them our little secret. Angel's working for me."
Angels defeated voice responded, "Lowering Sanctuary's shields Jack. Executing phase shift."
Maya couldn't believe what she was hearing. Angel was working for Jack the whole time?! It added to the list of things she had to be pissed about. All this time she had thought Angel had been there to help the Crimson Raiders, when in fact she had been plotting against them. Just how much info and planning had fallen into Jack's hands thanks to her?
A sudden explosion hit the top of the stairs they had been standing on, sending rubble and debris crumbling around them. Maya and Axton had hit the dirt, shielding their heads from the falling cement. Maya looked to where Lt Davis had been standing. He was deduced to nothing but a pile of ash. "Axton!" she screamed. He got up from the ground and grabbed the back of her shirt hauling her to her feet. "LET'S GO!"
"Nicely done Angel! Now, let's kill ourselves some Vault Hunters!" Jack sneered.
They ran down the eroded steps and toward Sanctuary. Up in the sky, Helios loomed over the town.
"WHAT THE HELL DID SOMETHING GET THROUGH THE SHIELD!?" came Roland's panicked voice.
Scooters voice came through next, "The shields down Roland! Oh man, somebody start getting everybody underground!"
Maya and Axton ran through the entranceway to Sanctuary, the scene before them was utter chaos. Citizens ran screaming through the streets, explosive attacks causing the ground to quake and split. Smoke plumes were popping up all over the town, and there was blood and debris filling the streets. They ran as fast as they could through the alleyways towards the square, trying to avoid being trampled along the way.
"Everybody, I have a really bad idea! Scooter, get Sanctuary in the air. Roland, get me some Eridium!" Lilith said over the echo. Just what was she planning?
"Pretty sure we cant do that without killing everyone in the city, we ain't ready to fly Lilly!"
"YOU GOT YOUR ORDERS SCOOTER!" Roland bellowed.
"Meet me in the center of town Maya, Axton!"
They arrived to find Scooter fiddling with one of the boxes outlining the town square. It was hard to hear over the mayhem and gunfire erupting around them.
"Okay, uhh, if we cycle the ignition primers, I-It'll get us somewhere!"
Maya sprinted to one of the ignition primers, while Axton ran to another. She tried to focus on the task at hand and not the screams of women and children around her.
"ALRIGHT WE'RE PRIMED! EVERYBODY GET READY!"
Roland messaged Maya's echo, "I'm pinned soldier! You gotta get that Eridium to Lilith!"
Maya ran back towards the HQ while Axton tried to help people to any shelter he could find.
She ran upstairs to find the ceiling of the HQ completely carved in, Roland was struggling under the rubble. "Don't worry about me!" as though he was reading her mind. Lilith's voice screamed on the Echo, "I need that Eridium, get moving or we're DEAD! Get back to the center of town!"
Maya collected all the Eridium that had fallen from Roland's arms and sprinted back down the stairs, "ILL BE BACK FOR YOU!" she called over her shoulder.
She ran back out into the chaos to the center of town where Lilith was waiting. She appeared to be phasing the large structure in the middle of town with great difficult. She was perspiring and out of breath. Maya handed the Eridium to her.
"I've never used this much before, you might want to hang on to something!"
Maya was about to respond but Axton had come up behind her, pulling her to a crouch. "HANG ON!" he yelled.
There was a great flash of purple light, Lilith had nearly disappeared in its glow. She felt a great tremble beneath her, when suddenly, it felt as though her feet were touching nothing at all. She put her hands in front of her face, shielding herself from being blinded.
Her feet touched something hard and she nearly fell over. What, snow?
The cold air was cutting into her face, she glanced to her right and saw Axton next to her. But they weren't in Sanctuary anymore. Somehow, they had been teleported back outside of Sanctuary's walls.
"What the fuck just happened?" Axton demanded.
"Maya!? Axton? I'm so, so sorry that wasn't supposed to happen, we've got to get Sanctuary out of here, I'll see you on the other side though I promise! HIT IT SCOOTER!"
On the other side? What the fuck is happening?!
There was a low rumble, the earth shaking beneath their feet. They watched with wide eyes as Sanctuary was literally coming out of the ground in the distance.
"Holy hell, she's phasing the fucking city!" Axton exclaimed.
"That's the best you got? A flying city?" Jack laughed as Helios continued to pummel Sanctuary. "What could you chumps possibly have that makes you think you have a chance against me?"
The city was alive with a tremendous purple glow, before there was a great surge of life and then it had just vanished. The entire city, gone.
It was silent save for the howling wind swirling around them. Maya just stared at where Sanctuary used to be, her mouth hanging open before twisting into a face of disgust. She told everyone how she felt about that power core. She told Lilith, Axton, Lt Davis multiple times about the dangers of using it. No one listened. Not even Lilith.
She could barely contain the rage that began to rise inside her. She bit her cheek until she could taste blood before turning on her heel and walking away from the rubble.
"Maya?" Axton tried gently, before following her a few steps behind.
Lilith came over the Echo, "Maya? Are you okay? I'm so sorry Maya but I had to-"
Maya didn't hear the rest. She unclipped her echo device and hurled it as far as she could. She didn't want to hear Lilith's excuses. She wasn't mad that she teleported them away from Sanctuary. She knew that wasn't her intentions. But she did intentionally ignore Maya's warnings, everyone did.
"FUCK YOU!" she screamed, giving the echo another kick sending it further. She stormed away toward Three Horns Divide. Axton, knowing better than to probe the Siren while she was in this mood, followed slowly behind her, picking up her forgotten echo along the way.