Vee was thrown into her cell unceremoniously, where she laid flat on her stomach, defeated.
She didn't know how long she had been stuck here, but the days of her crying after each session were over, now only a strange numbness remained, almost like her last few months in the Emperor's Coven.
She had thought the meals she was getting were a good indicator of time, but they were never even enough for her to use it to measure the time passing.
It didn't matter anyway. She just wished it would finally end.
She leaned back against the wall of her cell and sighed, the collar scraping against her throat as she moved her neck.
If not for Nine, she had no doubt she would have told the Mogs about Eda and her portal door, but Nine's encouragement and his warning's about the Mogs brutality kept her from saying anything.
The concept of it all ending was starting to look like a better option as the days passed though, no matter how painful it would be, and she knew it would be. The Mogs never did anything without being as cruel as possible. Maybe they would throw her into that bubbling green lake at the bottom of the cave. Or maybe feed her to those beasts she heard that were near constantly howling.
'No,' She thought, taking a deep breath, 'I can't do that to Nine. We will escape this place. Together!'
The proclamation felt hollow, but it would keep her going. Even if only for a few more days.
She heard the telltale sound of a rock slide into her room, and a small smile fixed itself to her face. This. This is what truly kept her going. He had stopped going to sessions awhile ago, apparently, Sandor had finally died, so they had decided to put Nine into solitary confinement permanently.
She looked at the rock, and her eyes widened.
'Vee, guess what? I think today might be the day. I hear someone out there, and they're not Mogs. One of them is definitely Loric, the other I'm not too sure about. They're looking for the Loric's chest. If they find his, they find mine, and hopefully, they'll figure out I'm still breathing. I'll keep you posted.'
Vee couldn't help it. A small sob fell out of her mouth as hope welled in her chest. Was this it?! Was today the end of it?!
Another Rock. 'Well, they figured out the chest belonged to a Garde that was still alive, and they just fucking killed one of the Mogs beasties, I can respect that.' Vee let out a small giggle.
Before another rock could slide into her cell, she heard the field outside her door disengage, and she instinctively cowered. That always meant a session. But no Mog entered her room.
She heard a loud crash, and footsteps in the hallway.
She heard the sound of bending metal, and her door was ripped away to reveal a muscular black haired boy with brown eyes. He was wearing only a pair of shorts, and on his ankle, she could see three circular scars, and another scar on the opposite ankle. The scars Nine had described to her so many times.
Vee let out a laugh as tears leaked out of her eyes and she rushed forward, wrapping the boy- Nine- in a hug.
Nine seemed to flinch at first, then relaxed. "It's good to meet ya Vee." His voice was different from how she imagined, but no less comforting.
She laughed, a large smile on her face. "Good to meet you too Nine!"
They just stand there for a few seconds, reveling in finally seeing someone who wasn't a Mog or one of their twisted beasts.
"Hey, Vee, we got Loric company on the way. They have my chest."
She smiled and pulled back, "Well… l- let's not keep them waiting."
Nine smiled at her. "First, there's something I've wanted to do for a long time." He grabbed both sides of her collar and ripped it off of her.
She reached up to the mark on her throat, tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you."
He smiled at her. "Don't mention it, Vee."
Her and Nine went out into the hallway, and saw two boys, both of them around the same age.
One of them is noticeably thinner than the other, with short brown hair. He looked at Vee with a small tilt of his head before shaking it and rushing towards the two.
"Do either of you know a man named Malcolm Goode?! Forty years old, brown hair? Is he here?! Have you seen him?!"
The other is taller and much less skinny. With dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. His eyes immediately landed on Vee. Which made sense. On earth, her Basilisk form was rather…. Unique.
"Just tell me! Do you know my dad?! Malcolm Goode?! Please!"
Vee shied away from the shouting, flinching slightly. "I'm sorry, I don't. But that doesn't mean he isn't here, we are kept pretty isolated from each other."
The blonde haired one spoke. "What are you? I've never heard of any aliens like you."
Nine walked forward and grabbed one of the chests. "She isn't an alien dipshit. Well…. Are extra dimensional creatures aliens?" He shook his head. "Whatever. Doesn't matter. We can talk about philosophy shit later. For now, we have Mogs to fight." He opened his chest and looked up at the blonde. "I'm Nine, what number are you?"
The blonde looked at her in shock for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Four."
Nine grabbed a rock out of his chest. "Hell yeah, good job surviving Four." He olds out what he pulled from the chest. It was a tiny red rock. "You got one of these?"
Four looked at the rock with an embarrassed expression. "I don't know, maybe."
Nine puts the rock in his fist and squeezes. Between two of his fingers, a spotlight appears. He points it at a door, and suddenly, they can see through the solid steel door. He smirks and throws it to the thin one. "Are you Human or Loric?"
The thin one struggles to catch it before sputtering out, "I'm human, my name is Sam. I can't use these things."
Nine got up and pressed his thumb to Sam's forehead. "There. You've got ten minutes to find your pops before that shit runs out, so get started."
It was happening. It was really happening!
Nine spoke up from where he sat down, digging through his chest. "Mogs are coming through that door." He said, pointing to a door at the far end of the hall. He got up, holding a staff and tucking a string of beads into a pocket. "What legacies you got Four?"
"Uh, Fire resistance and control, I can talk to animals, and that's it so far. You?"
"Antigravity, that sharing shit I just did with Sammy, and super hearing. I can hear for miles."
Four looked at Vee, "Do you have any powers?"
"I can shapeshift, but only if I absorb magic first. It's not too useful in a fight unless the enemy is using magic to fight."
Four looked at her with wide eyes. "Magic. Real magic?" He shook his head. "There's time for shifting my worldview later. Here." He handed her a Mogadorian rifle. "It's better than nothing."
Vee hesitantly grabbed the rifle. It was heavy. It felt…. Wrong. But, right. It was weird.
A banging alerted them to the Mogs coming through the steel door. She heard Nine shout out from beside her. "Fuck yeah! Let's get this party started!"
What followed was one of the most exhilarating and terrifying few minutes of Vee's life. Second only to the escape from the Emperor's castle.
Every second she and the rest were only inches from death. Boulders were being thrown around, monsters killed, and shots were constantly raining down on them.
She was just randomly shooting, trying her best not to hit the rest of them. She had never even been in a fight, so she was trying her best.
Sam was much better than her at it. His shots were actually aimed for one.
The two main power houses were of course the two Garde.
She could tell Nine was having a blast taking out all of his pent up rage and aggression out on the Mogodorians. He was probably having to much fun doing it, but she couldnt' really blame him.
Compared to the living meat grinder that was Nine, Four was much more controlled. Taking out massive monsters with balls of fire and throwing everything he could lift with his telekinesis.
It quickly became clear they could not fight them all, so they began retreating as quickly as possible.
At one point, Sam was nearly separated from the main group, but they managed to get him before he was cut off from them.
Then, suddenly, it's over. They are outside. They escaped. The Mogs stop chasing them.
They made it.
They don't stop moving for a while though, getting as far as they can before stopping at an old abandoned cottage for the night.
Vee didn't care about the cobwebs, or the hunger for magic she was starting to feel as the adrenaline wore off.
Because she was finally free.