Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks or any of its characters. I do, however, own my own characters and plots.
Chapter 31
Luchas had emerged from the collecting dust and steam of the hallway, and this was the scene that was before them. From what Repton could see, Farida had tipped over after the Leacher had stripped her body clean of energy, and she remained very still. Nakoto looked down at her with a stunned expression, and she was just as still. Frozen.
Luchas backed away when the Leacher in Corvid's blaster started to react violently. It had finally met its limit. The sound tipped it off —a loud, growing shrill. Corvid should've just thrown the whole blaster away, but he was a fool... instead, he wanted to spare it and take out the ammunition. Before he could throw away the stone, it exploded in his hand. The Enforcer let out a loud curse and pressed his forearm at his stomach. Luchas reached for him but the younger man pulled himself away from him.
"Don't touch me!" he barked. "It's nothing..."
Derik, waving about and coughing, approached Corvid as well. "An exploding Leacher can deal heavy damage at point-blank," he said. "You will need to have that checked immediately. And look at you... it's obviously hurting you. Let me see it."
Corvid's teeth bore, but he allowed the young doctor to look at it. Luchas inched forward, but not by choice... Seth had pushed past behind him, and when the Cyclonian turned, Seth was advancing toward the two Raptors. Nakoto's face was still rigid, her eyes strained wide and unbelieving. Her hand had reached out and grasped Farida's shoulder uncertainly, and she shook her. No response from the younger sister. Seth bent down to investigate; his fingers pressed against several points in Farida's neck, searching for a pulse. He checked her wrist, and still nothing. He even turned Farida over and pressed his ear to her chest. Nakoto watched with what Repton recognized as fear. Tears still stained her face. When Seth rose again, he slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"...she's not breathing... no heart beat..." the Eye picked up. "...she's dead."
Corvid swore. "You call yourself a doctor?" he shouted at Derik. "How do you think that's going to help?"
Nakoto's hands went up to cover her mouth, then transferred to the sides of her face, up to cover her temples. Her chest swelled rapidly, implying she was having trouble regulating her breathing. Seth reached over to her as she hyperventilated. Her eyes were shifting fast as well, but they always returned to her sister's motionless body. Repton watched her with utmost attention, feeling his stomach sink unpleasantly. He didn't like seeing her like this...
"Calm down, I'm trying to see it!" Derik shot back heatedly. Luchas had thrown a look in their direction, and from the corner of the Eye, Repton could see the Enforcer trying to stand off threateningly while cradling his arm. Derik threw up his arms in frustration. "Well, it serves you right! Using that stupid Leacher. First you miss and hit Nakoto, and now you've killed the other!"
"I didn't miss," Corvid spat. "It was her own damn fault for taking the hit. She didn't die, so why are you complaining? And the real target is dead, so what? Good riddance! Now there's only one Raptor to deal with."
"You are the worst person to employ as an Enforcer..." Derik shook his head in frustration. "You're supposed to help everyone! Race should have nothing to do with your duty!"
"Oh, it has everything—"
A scream shut him up immediately, and both he and Derik turned to Luchas. Luchas in turn looked back into the room. Nakoto was clutching her head tightly and screaming bloody murder. Seth brought himself closer to her and placed his arm around her shoulders, but she shook herself violently from him. She had tried to get to her feet, but her first attempt only had her trip unsteadily. She stood up, looked down at Farida again, then pressed her fists over her eyes, letting out another heart-wrenching cry. Seth had stood up to follow her.
"Nakoto, it's alright—" he started, touching her again. She removed her fists from her eyes and smacked his hands away, stepping back. She bore her teeth, her face contorted in misery.
"My sister is dead! She was everything I had left! How... how could I have been so blind to see it? Why couldn't I take my own advice—? No!" Seth tried to comfort her again and she hissed. Her back was toward Luchas now, and the stab wound looked absolutely ghastly. Repton wasn't aware that the spade was still inside; the blunt end that used to connect to Farida's tail blended so well with the blood...
"I was never there for her!" she wailed. "It's my fault she was like this! But now I can never make it up to her, because now she's dead! Gone! Kill..."
She suddenly grew very still. She even stopped breathing so raggedly. Her head rose up as she stood there in silence. Then, her hands clenched very tightly, so tightly that they started to tremble. Her Claws were curled so compactly that the blood and residue from her wounds dripped down to the floor. With her, the Leacher had not stolen everything, because light began to return to her bio-weapon. With what seemed like all the effort she could muster, she choked out the last word with so much anger that Repton's scales prickled.
"Killed...!"
Luchas was wise to do what he did. He saw it coming. He only had a split second to react, and he did it. He reached inside and caught the lever-like doorknob of the metallic door, and as he did so, Nakoto turned around, her face twisted with an even more beastly rage than before. Luchas swung the door toward him as Nakoto ran toward it in a sprint, and when it closed, the whole thing quaked from her impact on it. She roared furiously on the other side. Derik appeared at Luchas' side.
"Help me keep it closed!" the Cyclonian beseeched. The task was more difficult because he was pulling rather than pushing on the door. Derik went to his other side and grasped over Luchas' hand while placing his foot on the door frame. The handle had tilted in response to Nakoto's attempt to open it, and the door jumped in her direction before the two humans managed to pull it back.
"Calm down, Nakoto, please!" Luchas begged. Nakoto responded with a monstrous snarl.
"Calm down? Calm down? That bastard killed her! Corvid, I'm going to tear you apart!"
Not assured by that answer, Luchas turned his attention to Corvid, who was standing by with a bewildered look on his face. "Run, you fool! You have no chance against her in the state she's in!"
Corvid looked towards the door, which was pried open again. Nakoto had slipped her Claws through the crack and began pushing it open more easily. She stood at the edge and snapped her teeth at Luchas in an attempt to startle him, but he didn't falter as he might've a few weeks ago.
"Back away from the door, Luchas!" she seethed. "Back away or I'll spill your guts properly this time!"
Luchas, with Derik's help, jerked the door back to their side, which crushed Nakoto's hand. She howled angrily, dragging her Claws across the metallic door and leaving silver scars in it. Luchas addressed Corvid once more.
"What are you waiting for? Go!"
"But she was hit with a Leacher at full power!" Corvid exclaimed. "She was stabbed in the back! She's lost gallons of blood by now!"
"Do you honestly think that's going to be to your advantage?" Nakoto squeezed her hand back and let the door shut, the latch falling back in place. One could hear Seth on the other side, raising his voice to get Nakoto's attention. Luchas and Derik reinforced their grip on the door handle, and Luchas continued with more urgency: "She's impervious to anything and everything but her rage! Get out of here while you still can!"
"Luchas..." The Cyclonian looked over to Derik. "What about Seth...?"
"Seth isn't Nakoto's prime target. He'll be fine." Corvid was still standing there stupidly, and Luchas was losing his cool fast. "We'll do our best to calm her. Just get—"
The door thundered in a strange way. Nakoto had let go of the handle long ago, seeing as the doctors were gripping it in the opposite way of its engaging. There was no hold on it stronger that would have it tilted diagonally, as it had previously. The force that shook the door wasn't strong, nor was it at the centre of it. There had been a short emission of light when the door shook at the other edge of the door, where the door hinges were... A second one followed, closer to the bottom.
Before the two humans caught on, Nakoto kicked the door open her own way. The hinges had been obliterated, so the door was completely free. The humans had no support. Derik let go of the door while Luchas remained, but soon he had to let go by the risk of getting trapped under the slab of metal. Nakoto ploughed through the space, and her exit had been so strong and sudden that Repton felt his heart jump slightly in alarm. She breathed in her freedom, then turned her loathing gaze immediately to Corvid. Derik and Luchas weren't in her interest. She easily evaded the door she tackled as it fell back against its previous home and demolished the frame a little. Nakoto's voice rumbled in her throat, and she started advancing toward the Enforcer with bloody intent. Corvid counted his options very quickly and finally decided to run.
Nakoto wouldn't give him a chance to get far. Corvid not being able to open the door right away only benefited the Raptoress. He had collided with the door, remembering that it swung outwards rather than inwards. He was in the midst of pulling it when Nakoto was upon him. Without hesitation, she grabbed the back of his head, yanked it back, and smashed his face into the window of the door. Spiderweb cracks traversed the entire surface. Corvid let out a cry of pain in response, muffled. Nakoto pulled his head back and smashed it again, and with the returning momentum threw him to the ground, back into the hallway in Luchas' direction.
Seth was shouting something on the other side of the wrecked door. He was trapped in the room until the slab of iron was removed. Derik was there, trying to find a good grip on it, but his attention was diverted by Nakoto's actions. A look of panic covered his face and he looked to Luchas.
"Stop her!" he shouted. He got to shift the door slightly, but it slipped back into a more difficult position to lift.
Wherever the fear had gone for the last few minutes, it seemed to be back now. Luchas couldn't respond. He could only watch. Did Nakoto's threat finally sink in? He reached up and grasped the centre of his shirt, over his heart. He was probably thinking back to that time, all those years ago, when his body was sliced up like a frog in dissection. The image now may have become even worse... Nakoto, fully-grown... he would not have survived a hit from her this time. Neither would Corvid...
Corvid had landed on his back hard, with his head thrown back. From what Repton could see, his nose looked completely fragmented, and blood seeped out from his nostrils in all directions. His mouth ripped open in gasps, shaken sounds of pain. He tried to pull himself together, but the vengeful Nakoto was towering over him. She fell to one knee, bringing herself closer. Corvid forced his arms up, wounded or not, to keep her away. With her left hand, Nakoto collected his wrists and held them firmly aside. She raised her Dragon's Claw and drilled it toward Corvid's head. He jerked it out of the way, and her Claws plunged into the marble floor, making the broken tile edges rise jaggedly. She growled in vexation and pulled her hand back. Blood streamed from it as it went, splattering on the broken pieces of flooring. She tried again, curling her Claws into a fist this time. The last attack had clearly hurt her, but she wasn't letting any of it faze her. But again, Corvid's head evaded the attack at the last second. More tiles shattered.
Corvid's arms had slipped out of Nakoto's grip and were hindering her desire, and much too close to her face. Without warning, she opened her mouth wide and clashed her teeth down on his good arm. Corvid shouted as Nakoto's jaws squeezed more tightly. Her head jolted, increasing the Enforcer's pain. Then, a hiss vibrated in her throat, her jaws loosened, and with a quick snap, she clamped them even harder. Repton heard Corvid's bone fracture... the young man screamed in agony.
"Luchas!" Derik shouted again. "Stop her!"
"Na... Nakoto," Luchas started, but his voice didn't carry at all. Nakoto didn't look up. Her flaring eyes only had sights on Corvid. She let his forearm roll out of her mouth, his blood dribbling from her teeth. She spat out much of it to the side, but her tongue lapped against her canines, tasting and collecting the remainder. Corvid instinctively brought his arm down to the centre of his body. Now he had two arms that seemed out of commission.
"You were wrong, Corvid..." Nakoto said lividly. She stood up, somewhat wobbly. When her balance was in check, she reached down and grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck. She had plenty of strength left as she picked him up and slammed his back into the wall, pinning him there. Drained by a Leacher, stabbed by a spade, losing so much blood... it didn't matter. Nakoto was so angry, she couldn't feel anything but that. Her body was unrelenting. What if her anger subsided then? Would she die shortly after? Such a dark thought, one that Repton admittedly didn't want or like.
"Luchas, what's going on?" Seth's voice rung out. Derik had succeeded in moving the door in order to create an opening, but it was still too small and too high for Seth to pass through. Luchas turned his attention to the two doctors.
"You were wrong," Nakoto repeated over Corvid's cries. He was being held with his feet a good foot from the floor. "We, Raptors... we don't burn so well. Our scales, and our bones... they all remain. All of it."
Corvid was so absorbed in his own well-being that he didn't seem to have heard her. Her face twisted and she rammed him in the stomach with her free hand. She gnashed her teeth. "Scales and bones! Do you hear me? Do you understand me? Scales and bones!"
"I... I can't..." Luchas stumbled. "I won't be the one..."
"Then help me out!" Seth cried. "Help Derik get this door out of my way!"
The Cyclonian took heed of the young man's order, and he set at work at once. Whatever Nakoto was doing couldn't be seen, but Corvid's painful gasps could be heard. She may have been choking him slowly now, probably figuring that killing him too quickly would not satisfy her. Together with Derik, the Cyclonian pushed the door to the side. The crack became wider and wider, until eventually Seth slipped through. His glasses were askew, and his eyes wide and alert. He turned to the scene immediately.
"Nakoto!"
For once, she ripped her eyes from her prey and directed her leer to the young doctor. She didn't look like herself anymore. She didn't even look like she recognized who called her by name. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the Enforcer's throat, and he was clutching them with his hands. Once Nakoto's attention was diverted, he reached down to his spoils bag slowly. Seth made his way over to them, but he stopped dead in his tracks when Nakoto growled at him, baring her teeth threateningly.
"Stay out of the way," she commanded. "I don't want to kill you by accident."
"Nakoto, this isn't you. Please stop." Seth's pleading was soft, but they only made Nakoto's eyes narrow. "You've got to."
"I won't stop until this scum of the Atmos stops breathing!"
"You'd never kill anyone! Don't you see? You're not yourself right now... you're having a break-down. I know... I know how much pain you're in. I know. Let me help you!"
"No one can help me! Why don't you see it?" Nakoto shook her head aggressively and shouted louder. "Farida is dead, and nothing can bring her back. Nothing you do will ever fix this. And I know that killing this pig won't give my sister life. I'm not doing it because I'm hopelessly naïve. I'm doing this for myself. I want vengeance, and no one but myself can get it for me!"
"Nakoto, no—" Seth stopped mid-sentence when Corvid retrieved what he was looking for. With a trembling composure, the Enforcer turned the Paralyzer's knob to full power, and the blue lightning thickened immensely. Nakoto had heard the charge, and she looked down, but Corvid had already slammed the teeth into her side. Nakoto's reaction made her grip on Corvid disappear, and he dropped to the ground, reaching for his throat. The energy of the Paralyzer pulsed through the Raptoress' body more rapidly, and she was rooted to the spot.
But it still wasn't enough. Even at full power, it wasn't enough. Corvid had started crawling away, and he got to his feet when he covered some distance. He started running away desperately with a gimp when Nakoto reached over to the instrument and pulled it out of her. She threw it down, letting out a sore hiss. She turned her eyes to the fleeing Enforcer.
She was breathing very deeply when she turned her attention to her stab wound. Why she decided to look at it now was beyond Repton until after he watched what she did. With her Claws, she dug into herself, an uncomfortable sight. Repton didn't know what was doing. With gritted teeth, she pulled her fingers out, grasping something... an object. Through great effort and pain, she pulled out the object, and from its glow, Repton realized it was Farida's spade. That was inside her? And she was still able to go on? Now that the blade was out, blood flowed much faster from her, but she took no heed of it. She turned her eyes back to Corvid, who still hadn't reached the exit.
She flipped the spade in her hand, grabbing the point, and with a flex of her shoulders and built-up movement, she hurled the weapon after Corvid. It whistled through the air, a reverberating sound, and then plunged into the back of Corvid's leg. He howled as he plummeted to the ground, short of the door his face had rebounded against before. Nakoto's aim was... incredible! How could she have such accuracy? And yet she uttered a curse, as if it wasn't her intention... The momentum of her attack made her teeter to the opposite wall, and she rested there before approaching Corvid. However, she stopped when Seth ran past and turned to her, his arms spread wide.
"I won't let you do this," he told her firmly. "I won't let you do something you'll regret."
Ever since Nakoto pulled out the spade, Luchas had been acting very anxious. He kept looking back into the room where Farida's body remained. He leaned into the crack of the door, peered in, and with one last look to the situation, he squeezed in. What was he doing?
Nakoto's roared out in frustration.
"I don't want to hurt you, Seth! Corvid is the one I want!"
"I can't let you get to him! You're out of control—"
"Oh, of course. That's totally uncalled for a specimen, isn't it?"
"What... what are you talking about?"
Luchas had stopped beside Farida's body and knelt down. "She's still..."
He reached down and pressed two fingers fixed against the Raptoress' neck. Repton didn't know what good that would do, since Farida was clearly not breathing. Her eyes were still open, and the Rogue doubted she had blinked at any time after she was hit with the Leacher. Her teeth were still glowing, but that could only have been the aftermath... However, Luchas stayed persistent and kept his place. He took much longer than Seth to inspect. He was waiting...
"All I am to any of you is a specimen!" Nakoto accused. "Why should you be any different from the Cyclonians who tortured me? I'm just a prototype meant to be contained!"
"I would never see you as anything less than a person!"
Waiting...
"How much of an idiot was I to believe I had friends here?"
"Nakoto, I will always be your friend—"
A thud from outside could be heard, followed by Nakoto's hissing. Derik shouted in response. Luchas' fingers twitched for a brief second, but he kept very still. Repton could imagine him so concentrated, probably with a bead of sweat running down from his temple.
"Then you should accept what it is I want. You should be sharing my feelings. You say you understand, but how is that, when you're trying to stop me?"
"Please, spare Corvid. I know he's absolutely wretched. I know he's done a terrible thing, and he should definitely pay for it. But not this way..."
Luchas seemingly forgotten how to breathe, and soon he took in a large intake of air.
"I knew it," he murmured. He bounced back to his feet and ran to the hallway.
When he came out, Nakoto had just thrown Seth out of the way. His course had him crash into Derik, and it brought the two doctors down. Nakoto looked down at them darkly, a hint of betrayal lingering in her eyes, but she faced Corvid once more. He had been clutching his bloodied leg, sobbing. When he saw Nakoto turning to him, he dragged himself up the door, trying to swing it open.
Nakoto had seized the spade from his leg and yanked it free, to which the Enforcer screamed. She lifted him from the ground roughly and forced him into the wall. Curling her fingers in his hair, she craned his head back, exposing his neck. She planned to slit his throat like the swine she viewed him as. Repton prepared himself for the gore she was about to exercise, but before she could run it across his flesh, Luchas was there in an instant. He grasped her arm, and she turned on him with a ferocious glare. Luchas, most likely terrified, had to force all the air out of his lungs to exclaim his next sentence fast enough:
"Farida is alive!"
The look on Nakoto's face then! "Do you take me for an idiot?" she snapped. "Seth examined her. She's stopped breathing, her heart's stopped beating! There was no life at all in those eyes! Because of this fool!" Nakoto shoved Corvid against the wall hard, and the Enforcer whimpered. He was just a boy once more. "His Leacher stole her life away!"
"Nakoto, please listen to what I'm going to tell you—" Nakoto had shrugged him off, but he reached for her again and held on more tightly. Her eyes were cold steel. "I know what's going on. Farida isn't dead. Her heart's still beating. But Seth wasn't lying, because it's very easy to assume she's dead."
"Then what disproves it?" Nakoto's voice cracked a little. Luchas most likely counted his blessings.
"Come and see. Let Corvid go and come with me."
For a long moment, Nakoto's eyes pierced into Luchas, trying to break him and any possible lies he was feeding her. The man stood his ground however, and tried coaxing her to come. Eventually, she closed her eyes in exasperated contrition, and she let Corvid fall from her fingers. He slid down the wall and curled at her feet. He was definitely crying. The spade also fell near his head, spinning unsteadily for a while. Nakoto turned his back on the Enforcer and followed Luchas back to the room, past the two doctors on the ground. They were watching with wide, anxious eyes.
Luchas inched back in through the door's crack, but Nakoto wouldn't have fit. She grabbed the edge of the door and heaved it aside, a task that would've taken the humans much more time and effort to do. Her breathing was becoming much heavier. When she was in the room, Luchas went up to Farida's body and knelt down beside it. He looked up at the other Raptoress imploringly.
"Do you see her teeth?" he asked. "They're still glowing. And the spade she used on you... I saw that it still shone as well."
"So what? A side-effect," Nakoto responded impatiently. Her throat was raspy now, after all her screaming. Anger didn't dominate her face as much as it had before though. Sadness and bitter regret aged her. "It will die soon enough."
"But you're wrong. It won't die because she's not gone yet." Luchas set his hand on Farida's chest, in the centre. "She's gone into reserve. Her heart rate is much slower now, to give her body more time to recuperate. It's her body's last resort... she's very much alive, and if we give her time, she will wake up."
Nakoto's eyes weakened, but still remained strained. "How do you know this?"
"I know because you've gone through this process many times before... when..."
Nakoto's eyes shut tightly when Luchas trailed off. But then, after a long silence, she laughed tiredly.
"Alive..." she whispered. Her muscles twitched, then completely relaxed. The Claws at her side began to dim. "Then... I..." She reached over and put her left hand on her wound. "...what I've done..."
When her Claws had gone out, she crumpled. She fell to her knees, but she accomplished staying upright. Repton still leaned in, disquieted. Luchas jumped up and went to her side much like he had with Farida. Nakoto looked at him with dodged eyes, but they were unfocused. Her pupils were uncomfortably dull. Luchas took her shoulders and eased her down, and although she resisted at first, she obeyed. She lay down on her left side, opposite of the wound. Luchas turned to it, and then to the door, where Seth and Derik arrived. Seth was kneeling by Nakoto in an instant with an alarmed look on his face.
"Is it over?" Derik ventured. "Is everything... okay?"
"No, it's not over yet," Luchas said solemnly. "We have patients who need immediate medical attention. Corvid and Nakoto are on the verge of death from blood loss. We need more hands with this."
"The elevator's broken... We couldn't possibly carry them up the stairs..."
"Then we'll have to call additional help here! Go and round up any doctors who're willing to help."
Derik looked stung by Luchas' order. Was he in disbelief that a Cyclonian was ordering him around? No.
"Who do you take us for?" he returned. On the way out he made it loud and clear. "Real doctors are always willing to help!"
Nakoto had closed her eyes, and her breathing was rough once more. Luchas turned to Seth, who was trying to remove her hand from the stab wound. "You know she's lost too much blood. She'll need a transfusion."
"Do you think that will be enough?" Seth asked. His voice was starting to shake. Something in his composure was starting to break. Luchas nodded.
"I'll see what I can do. She'll need to have any blood that's hemorrhaging inside drained, and I'll do my best to suture—" He stopped talking because he realized something suddenly. "I don't... I don't have any tools—"
"Here!" Seth jumped up and ran out into the hall. His footbeats receded, and as Luchas waited, he pulled off his gloves and took out a new pair from his pocket. When he was finished with that, Seth was coming back with a first-aid box in his hands.
"I know you're limited to what you have in here, but please, do what you can!"
"I will do my best," Luchas replied. "I will also check on Corvid. Please hurry with the necessary tools and Nakoto's blood!"
Seth nodded quickly, and with one last look at Nakoto, he got up and ran for it. Luchas looked at the contents of the first-aid, picked up a manual tube and pump, and went to remove Nakoto's hand.
"Leave me... alone..."
He stopped momentarily as Nakoto brought her eyes to him. She looked so diminished now, reduced to an inch of her life. And yet she was refusing help from him. Was she confident that she would survive, or did she actually want to die? Somehow, Repton knew it was neither. The look the Raptoress had in her eyes held a deeper meaning. Even in her seemingly-last moments, she still saw Luchas' hands bloodstained, and she didn't trust them. She feared them.
"This isn't like the Oasium Project," he told her soothingly. "I'm trying to save you."
"No one can help me, Luchas..." She shook her head, and the corners of her lips twitched downwards for a second. Her voice was overcome by strong emotion. She gasped in a shaky breath. "I need help. But no one can do it. No doctor in this building can. Just... leave me."
Luchas set down the drain in the box as if he was absorbed in his own business. Nakoto watched him, and her eyes slightly widened when he started unbuttoning his lab coat. When he removed it from himself —the Eye was pinned to the breast of his dress shirt, so it stayed in position— he clutched two sections of it and started tearing it at the seams. He was ripping the material into long strips, setting them on the first-aid.
"Well," he started, his voice strained from his work. "How about a friend? Can't a friend help you?"
Nakoto's eyes turned glassy. She started blinking rapidly and looked away, settling her head on the ground. Her ribs swelled as she breathed in one long breath, and then she slowly moved her hand away from her side, a sign of permission. Luchas, tying the shreds of fabric together, slid it under Nakoto's body and fastened the link tightly around her, creating a tourniquet and hopefully barricading the nearest artery. He peered closer at the wound and set to work with the draining.
Nakoto had fallen completely silent at one point, which made everything uncomfortable. She was just as still as Farida. Luchas stopped with his work and checked on her pulse. After long, agonizing moments, Repton heard him sigh with relief and he returned back to his work. Her blood-flow had definitely slowed down, but Luchas still worked with a degree of vigilance. With a small hand-light, he looked down into the wound and checked if anything was punctured... he leaned back with a shocked air, still reaching over to some rubbing alcohol and swabs.
Help arrived much faster than anticipated. The voices of the doctors echoed down in the hallway, many encompassing bewilderment and horror. Seth rushed into the room with what he was entrusted to bring, which was a more advanced tool set and a bag of Nakoto's blood. The dark liquid sluggishly flowed from the inner walls as it was set down on the floor.
Seth took one look at Nakoto and his face took on the essence of dread. "Is she—?"
"Not dead," Luchas responded. He sounded very tired. "She's gone into reserve as well, which is very good. It gave you enough time to return. But we can't let that bring our guards down. Her life depends on this transfusion."
"What about her insides? Were any of her organs harmed?"
Luchas shook his head. "She was very lucky. It's either Farida missed by accident, or on purpose."
Whichever one it was, it was a mystery for the time being. Seth started working immediately on setting the transfusion. A needle was fastened to the end of a long tube, and with delicate care, he ran it into Nakoto's arm. He rocked the blood slowly, easing the blood back to whence they came. Luchas in turn started cleaning the wound.
"The power of a living crystal is phenomenal, isn't it?"
Seth looked at Luchas, eyes like stone. Luchas shrugged his shoulders modestly. "Nakoto is clearly above our level, even the level of others of her kind. And not only because of her power. Her body is... much more sophisticated, if I could use that word. It knows what to do when something like this happens... her system slows down accordingly while her body fixes the problem. Her regeneration rate is much faster than others as well. The lacerations that Farida's spade had inflicted inside her are disappearing as we speak. There is little I need to do in that area... she's just as amazing as she was when she was younger."
"That's hard to believe," Seth said in response. "Her hand is still in terrible condition, and it's been a week since it melted down."
"As you've seen, external wounds take much longer. However, her insides —anything close to her bones— are dealt with instantaneously. Like any body, it works hard to make sure everything's alright."
"But she can't produce more blood fast enough, right? That's why we have to help her."
"No, she can't. In this case, she overexerted herself."
Seth cast his eyes back down. "...she was actually going to kill him, wasn't she?" he whispered. "She was going to kill Corvid..."
"Nakoto's anger got the best of her. She's never exercised it healthily until today, and I suppose it just... consumed her." Luchas' hands jumped up for a second. "Oh, that's right. I said I would look at Corvid..."
"The others are looking after him. His wounds are treatable, but I don't know about his mind."
"How is he?"
At that moment, Corvid started shouting, answering his question unintentionally;
"No... no! Get out! I have to get out! Let me go! The Valkyrie... keep her... keep the Valkyrie away from me! What are you looking at? You think I'm crazy? What are you looking at? The Valkyrie will get you too! They are real! They are real!"
Luchas reached over and picked up a needle and steel thread, silent as the doctors outside tried to calm the Enforcer down. Corvid was reduced to sobs once more, and eventually they fell silent, too.
"I see," he murmured, pushing the needle through Nakoto's flesh. She was completely unresponsive to that and everything around her. "If I may say so, I do emphasize the pain and terror Corvid is going through, but it was something he deserved to feel. I certainly deserved it all those years ago."
"But to try and kill him... no one's got the right to take life away. Nakoto's always believed that. And yet..." Seth shook his head. "I don't know. She's always faced everyone with a calm, happy face. She always tried to look at the bright side of things. She never let out any destructive feelings out. She's been down from time to time, but the degree she was keeping back... I never realized..."
Seth's sentence trailed off, but it lasted in silence for only a few moments.
"...you're right about that," Luchas sighed. "Nakoto really believes that no one deserves to feel any pain comparable to the pain she's gone through before. This leads to her character... a character that cares far more for others than herself." Repton remembered back to the campfire, recounting Nakoto's words. Luchas' fingers weaved professionally even as he spoke. "Nakoto's not the type to call others for pity. She's not the type to put her own needs over other's. I believe she kept to herself because she didn't want to worry any of you... it seems like her, doesn't it?"
"Only too clearly. Nakoto... "
"Tonight, when Farida was shot, I guess that was just too much. It pushed her off the edge and broke her to pieces. This... this is probably the start of something very important in her life."
Seth looked up. "Important in what way? Nakoto's not a bad person, but she'll be accused for attempted murder. She'll be testified, punished..."
"I'm not talking about her outburst. I'm talking about her relationship with Farida. You saw how devastated she was when she thought Farida was dead... now that she's alive, Nakoto has a chance to face her past and make something beautiful out of it. She won't be alone anymore."
"She was never alone to begin with," Seth murmured softly. Luchas hummed.
"Things run much deeper than we know, and I could definitely not describe exactly how it is. For the time being, let's just focus on helping her, her sister, and the Enforcer who foolishly got in between them."
Seth nodded, and they continued on quietly, Luchas weaving and Seth overlooking the transfusion. When it seemed like they were done, other doctors had finally decided to come in and help them. They all moved cautiously, as though they expected one of the Raptors to wake up and lash out. Luchas backed away to let the other doctors closer, and the Eye captured both Raptoresses in the same frame. Anyone would think they were dead, but they weren't. It still looked tragic; in a poetic kind of way, the two sisters were seen together and united in death.
Even though everything seemed to be alright, it took Repton a while to relax and lean back. He knew that Nakoto was in reserve, but the sight of her now unnerved him. He had never even seen her in slumber, so this vision of rest was new. When she wasn't breathing like that, it was easy to think she would never open her eyes again. The look of serenity on her face now didn't calm his own feelings, despite how beautiful she looked.
Repton rubbed his brow and sighed. He had to admit it now... he cared for Nakoto. He couldn't deny that he was far more concerned about her welfare than he would've been if he was just a witness. It was just... it bothered him that she had to go through so much hurt in a span of only a few minutes. First, being tortured by the sister she realized she always wanted to be there for. Second, having that sister taken from her, not for the first time, but the second and seemingly last time. Third, losing her mind, and losing herself. Luchas may have been right, that something good could come out of all this, but... even if suffering was apart of life, nobody wanted to go through it, and Repton definitely didn't want Nakoto to go through it.
He cursed himself for getting too close to her, and yet the only regret he felt was that he could do nothing to help her.
He covered the Eye up and slipped it back into his pocket. Cyclonis would probably be looking for him now, since things have calmed down. Repton commenced strapping on his armour slowly. He was lost in thought, sifting through his memories of what just happened. He could still hear Nakoto's screams echoing, both of anger and sorrow. When he was done, he checked himself out in the mirror and straightened his shoulders, to look presentable. His face was still solemn, but who would ever link that to what just happened, or to the confusion he felt inside his heart? He stepped out of the washroom and made his way back to Cyclonis' chambers. He would wait outside, looking like an obedient dog, but obedient was not the word that fit.
Traitorous dog. Lovesick dog.
Those sounded about right.
End of Chapter
A/N: Well here you are! I planned to post this on Christmas day, but I thought it would be an even greater treat to get this to you on the Eve. Some of you might actually read it on Christmas Day, but it's still an update! :)
I hope you like it, and please review me your thoughts. Those would be a really nice Christmas gift! That's all I could really ask for of you :) Thanks again to MysticShadowDemon for revising~
Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year! 3
~Vixen