Chapter 8: The mounting darkness

A/N: So, I was gone from like 7:00am-6:30pm all day at a gaming tournament. It was fun, but jeebus it took a lot out of me. My team won, and I got a decent sum of money to to pay for rent n' stuff. I stick to my half-promise of daily chapters though, so here is one I should've saved for when I was refreshed b-cuz character development n stuff! Am I using letter slang properly? I still get mixed up occasionally when I try to use it, but puns are puns. What are the chances someone connects the dots between my hint at a project in the A/N and another member's hint at a project in their A/N? Only time will tell. Engelska är förvirrande. Jag försöker få det rätt, och det är alltid kul att prova något nytt. Ha fun med detta genom Google Translate.

(POST UPDATE A/N:) Fixed some stuff. Same old, same old. Expanded the opening flashback.

"You need to start taking this seriously Izzy, Cyrus said-" "Why is it always Cyrus!? Why can't I be measured as my own person, and not be expected to be something I'm not!" Izzy said shakily, the girl from before crouching next to him. "I'm not Cyrus, and he is not me. Why can't they see that Lightning?"

Lightning blew stray strands of hair out of her face, before sitting down and patting the ground, beckoning Izzy to join. "I don't expect you to be Cyrus, Izzy. I do however expect you to give your best despite that." Lightning smiled and Izzy looked at her with a mix of sadness and anger.

"The worst part is that they are right… I was never even meant to be part of this program in the first place. I'm filler, and nothing more…" Izzy was on the verge of tears, desperately trying to calm himself. "What if I fail Lightning? What if I drag you down with me?"

Lightning responded instantly, her voice and eyes full of resolve. "If you fail, you can atleast say you tried. And if I wasn't there to fall with you, what kind of friend would I be? You don't have to change who you are, Izzy. Embrace it, and let it strengthen you. Come on, Richter called a meeting, and if we aren't there in ten minutes we get extra laps." She outstretched her hand, and Izzy gratefully took it, taking comfort in her grip. "Better?" She asked. Izzy nodded, and they walked off hand in hand.

"Delta!" Izzy's eyes snapped open, and fell upon a concerned Hamil, currently standing over him. Izzy just now took notice of the excess amount of sweat he was producing. "What's wrong?" Izzy asked, struggling to stand up.

"You're bleeding…" Hamil said quietly. "You also were thrashing around. You knocked over a lamp, and we heard it breaking."

"Apologies." Izzy said, holding onto a chair arm for stability. He reached up to his nose, and sure enough a small trickle of cyan blood was flowing down his face.

Hamil waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Are you okay?"

Izzy paused, not exactly wanting to relay the contents of his dream. "I'm fine, it won't happen again. Go to back to bed."

"But-" Hamil began. "Trust me." Izzy said, cutting him off.

Hamil lingered in the room for a moment before begrudgingly going to back to bed. As soon as he was sure Hamil was gone, Izzy collapsed onto the couch, rubbing his face. What was that vision about? He had to be the Izzy character, as he was the only male present. Then… who was Lightning? She obviously was a… close friend. And Cyrus… who was he, and why was he being compared to him?

For the first time, Izzy felt true hope blossoming in him; there could be other humans like him out there! He had to find out. Rushing away tomorrow morning wouldn't be the smartest plan; he still had no idea where to start. He had a start, and nothing would deter him from his goal.

oo0OO0oo

Al grinned before stopping down on the outstretched tentacle of an Octarian, the creature yelping in pain before Al yanked it towards him. "Say goodnight!" He sang cheerfully, before sticking an octo-shot replica in its' face and splatting it.

A shadowy figure sat above the makeshift arena, and checked off a name on the list of names sitting next to him. "Exeunt one potential captain…" it murmured, before turning to an octoling at his side and saying "Bring the next one in, we aren't stopping until we find a suitable commander."

oo0OO0oo

They day had gone by without anything noteworthy happening, and when the first licks of darkness had rolled around, Izzy was close to counting scratches on the ceiling for entertainment. With Hamil's permission, he rummaged around through his main closet.

After a bit of rummaging, he pulled out what looked like an acoustic guitar. The design was simple, a small black body, and five strings leading up the shaft. It was covered in designs of multi-colored ink splatters, and the tuners on the end had a small red LED on the end of each of them.

Pulling it back out, he was mostly interested in just making a few random string plucks. He unconsciously correctly tuned the instrument perfectly, so when he let out a fell belt, the calm melody surprised him, along with B, who poked her head around the corner from the kitchen.

Izzy loosened his muscles, and let his body play for him. He finished the song with a drawn out final note. Hearing a slow clap, he turned fully to face Hamil and B, who had been listening intently. A small blush rose to Izzy's face, as he coughed and carefully placed the instrument next to him before reclining into the couch.

"You're pretty good." Hamil said. "I've had that for a while now, but I couldn't really get the hang of it."

"Y-yeah." B said. "I don't think I've ever heard something like that before."

Izzy resisted the urge to raise both his eyebrows. To him, it was obvious B had a major crush on Hamil, but he seemed completely oblivious to it, or he was just attempting to hide it.

Hamil stood up and stretched. "Tomorrow I'm bringing you to see two people that I think can help with your predicament, Delta. If that's okay, of course."

"As long as they are sworn to secrecy." Izzy half-joked. Izzy had no idea what he was in for.