Queen's note: Mom's awake… also, storm. Sorry got this chapter in the wrong place. Fixed now!

Garnets

Chapter Five:

Run For It

It was so oddly empty now that Riggs was gone. Lily sat on the floor, staring up at the dark ceiling as she felt the sound of the storm more than heard it from where she was. Just above the junction of the locked down lower side of the platform and the upper section where her home had been.

"Please come back," Lily spoke, aware of another movement below that was not the storm. It had her shivering and rolling to sit up with a thick swallow. She had hoped staying near this spot would help keep 'mom' calm and asleep until the last minute.

It had been an hour since the Slayer had left with Riggs and the last of the supplies from the Platform. Lily had said she should be the very last to leave, but she almost wished she still had her bed and blankets.

Lily yawned, looking down at the granola bar near her with a water bottle and the medicine dispenser. She wanted to eat, knew she should eat something, but just did not want to. Lily opened the bar anyway, so there was something for her to eat.

She had skipped her normal meal time. Was up later than she was used to, and just could not nap.

Twelve hours. It took months for her family to get settled here originally. A good few months to set things up to try and be self-sufficient after the end of the world and just twelve hours for everything to be broken down and moved through an unknown portal.

Lily picked at the legging she had on, the long sleeves were nice now that the heaters were on a lower setting. She was tempted to pull her shoes off again, but she kept them firmly on. They were the best she had for running or just moving on the surface decking.

Irrationally, Lily wanted to hold one of her three cats. Then she hoped if she was left here, that the Slayer would be nice to her cats. All three were very socialized and imprinted on people. The tan tabby, Dani, would need a lot of attention, and not just from her sisters.

"Please don't leave me," Lily said, hiding her face in her hands, not sure who she was talking to. As she could hear whatever her mother was changing into below moving again. It was quiet after a slither-like vibration, making Lily wonder how big her mother had gotten. She was starting to regret coming down this far, maybe she should have stayed in the kitchen.

Was what was left of her father back to feeding her the other possessed? Was he able to understand something to distract her?

A chime had Lily looking up, almost surprised that the supple lift did in fact open to let out the armor form. The Slayer scanned the old offices before spotting Lily sitting on the floor and heading over. It was odd how at first there was almost no sound before he seemed to let a few steps become heavier.

Lily sat up, that part that the Slayer had given her falling from her lap as she made a motion for him to stop.

The Slayer froze as he heard and felt the floor under them creak and something below gave a low, long hiss.

Lily picked up the part, water bottle and mask. Moving quietly to the massive man. "That's… mom."

The Slayer was standing very still, almost as if he was not a living thing for another good six seconds before a big hand reached out. His right hovering near the large rifle on his leg, while pulling Lily to him.

He glanced between the lift and the stairs, debating on what to take.

Lily motioned to the lift, speaking but her voice lower than her normal. Making sure the mask was pulled tight to stay on her lower face. "That's a normal sound here."

The Slayer gave a deep snort, but he did nod. It was incredibly tempting to just keep going down, to face whatever was there. Yet if Vega was right about the mass, although he would survive, Lily would not last in the crossfire.

It was incredibly hard to rain in his own self control (more than he wanted to admit) as The Slayer stood back in the lift. Letting the girl touch the upper level button. The lift gave a happy chime, then a second after the doors opened.

"Wut?" Lily could not help blurt out, voicing the moment of confusion for both of them as the lift dropped. Lily turned pale as she looked up with wide eyes. Had things unlocked with Riggs being gone? "This isn't supposed to happen, the lower levels are all looked down-"

The Slayer leaned forward, hooking his arm around the smaller human and pushing her behind him in a single smooth motion as the lift stopped with a chime. He was aware of Lily needing to grab his armor and right leg to stay up right as the doors opened.

It was seemingly pure reflex to reach out and snap the neck of the possessed that was lingering by the door. Before it could make any sort of sound. It was more than possible the thing had run into the call button down here.

He heard Lily suck in her breath at the same time as the now not so muffled movement of something large was heard. The Slayer crouched, his rifle up in hand as he used his own bulk to shield the girl-

He froze.

Lily grasped at his lower back as both saw and realized that the wall ahead of them was moving. Not a wall at all but originally an observation window to the lower submarine bay. The windows had long since been broken, glass shattered across the former lounge space in front of the lift.

Pearly pale, with a oil-sick like rainbow shine, each scale was a good foot wide, with a few bigger ones spaced out as the serpent like coil moved. That distinct shifting of scaly slither was heard clearly because it was so big. At the very least as large as the Slayer was tall, moving smoothly despite a yowl of a possessed out of sight before it was cut off with a crunching sound.

Lily could see the coil of muscle tense and brace against the window frame. There was a glimpse of a titanic-like outline through another window. She gripped the edges of green and black, not quite holding the packs. "...she's bigger…"

It was not even loud enough to be a whisper, but the crunching stopped. The lift doors were moving again with another chime, closing as the big coil was being lowered.

The Slayer was shifting to hit a button as he caught the glimpse of a human-like face. It was the same oil-pearl like color, just enough human features to set aside from the Khan Maykr, but almost as big as that old annoyance.

Glowing yellow and green eyes peered over the coil as the lift doors closed. The Slayer saw the green shrink into slits at the last moment.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry- she's mad, I'm sorry." Lily whined as there was a reverberating hissing sound as the lift rose. She yipped as the slayer twisted to grasp her shoulder and pull to the front, with no discernible effort hefting Lily up to his center of gravity. Rifle slapped back onto his leg to use his right hand, as soon as the lift stopped at the floor they had been.

The Slayer all but ripped the sliding lift doors off with a protest of shrieking metal and dove through the opening as the lift started shaking.

Something like a dying guitar and scream came from the lift as it was wrenched back downwards. An alligator-like roar and banshee screech echoing back upwards as the demigod was back to his feet and running. It took far more attention then he would like to admit while running to not crush the smaller form clinging to his front as the Slayer launched himself upwards half a flight of stairs at a time.

Lily was scrambling at his chest plate at first when manhandled, by the time he had cleared two sets of stairs did she have the sense to wrap her legs around the thick middle. Coughing as she tried to hook an arm around the Slayer's neck or over top a shoulder. So not to be completely crushed as he moved.

The young woman was not expecting him to move this fast or be so agile given the turns. The arm wrapped around her might as well be a support bar. It was dizzying and confusing, and Lily was suddenly so thankful she did not eat a big meal for dinner. Her right hand caught a hold of the Slayer's raised collar ridge in his armor, helping to brace herself to hold on.

There was another screeching roar from down below as everything shook around the Slayer. He could feel Lily shutter at the echo of a human tone of the sound. As if the sea platform itself was being shaken as the lower second of the stairs was ripped through a new opening.

A very long, colossal arm snaked through the widened opening. The just as big hand blindly grasping around the stairs, fingers slim and long with black oil slicked claws. It was a left hand that was missing its ring finger, and almost the same color of the coil except from the bright and dark red fluids on the digits.

The Slayer jumped to the next level as the twisting stairs were yanked and pulled it away from the walls. His free hand caught the bottom edge of the doorway to a more familiar area. He had to curl around Lily, his left arm loosening to be able to reach up and protect her head.

The stairs he had been on a few moments before was scraping down his back. Lily was thankfully not able to completely wrap her legs around him so they were barely touched by the twisting metal. The Demigod reached back, shoving hard enough to warp the softer metal of the stairs. He had to slam his fist into the concrete of the wall to make a more solid hand hold. Freeing his right hand to reach in and repeat the process to get himself up and over the edge.

The Slayer did not stop or linger to look back. His right arm wrapped around the human he was carrying, following the path he originally came as everything was shaking again.

This time he had a more or less flat stretch.

"I cannot open the portal inside the work bay," Vega warned the Slayer, "Whatever you just woke up is disrupting my targeting system. You need to get the tracking component installed again, or get out into the storm."

The Slayer slid to a stop in the work bay that had once held the tanks of live plants and the guinea pigs were. The giant of a man firmly but as carefully as he could pried Lily off his chest and set her down. Not reacting as her hands came back to grab at the front of his chestplate, but smoothing his own hands down her sides to find where the locator 'chip' was.

Both seemed to realize at the same time, where it was.

On the floor of the lift, or shaft after the lift had been ripped down and he had roughly pulled Lily out of the way.

"I don't think mom's going to give it back." Lily said, the exposed part of her face pale. Gasping for air as she finally freed a hand to hit the dispersing button to get a dose of medicated air.

"I do not think 'she' will either." Vega noted to the Slayer, dropping a navigation point outside on the platform, "The portal will open about here. Be aware that miss Lily will be at considerable risk to any of the atmosphere outside of the platform. And that creature is moving."

The Demigod flexed his hands, frustrated for a moment. Then stooped lower, bending into Lily's personal space as he wrapped arms around her again. She yipped, but it helped put her in a better stop on his front against the armor.

Something big screamed almost right after the yip.

"...she might think you're kidnapping me?" Lily offered.

The Slayer tilted his head, using his free right hand to sign. I am.

Lily stared up at him, hazel eyes meeting the blank visor for a good few moments. "...wut."

The vibrating rumble that came out from the Slayer was too much like a chuckle as he made a firm sign. This time not of human make, but Vega recognized it as Argenta. Mine now.

"What?" Lily demanded as there was no given translation, having to grip tight to the green armor as the bigger man started moving again. It was more than a little hard to keep balance, but proved to be not needed.

Those iron bars- pardon me, the arms holding Lily in place were not letting her slip free.

Her back was definitely going to be sore after this craziness. Lily tried to hide her face as they arrived all too soon to one of the outer doors.

The Slayer, Doom Marine, whatever the title, he did not have a 'slow' setting when things were happening. Grabbing the outer frame of the door, he shifted to kick the huddle gray from right over the railing. Watching as it was promptly swept away by a larger wave.

The apocalypse was not gentle with many things, including the typhoons and hurricanes.

The Demigod tightened his grip on the wall, making the metal bend under his hand. Yet made sure to only adjust the younger human's spot. The water was draining from the lower exposed levels and none of the bigger waves seemed to be coming. Yet there was a glimpse of something pale in the dark water.

Maybe they should have waited for the storm to pass, but that glimpse of pale pearl in the dark waters had the Slayer launching back to movement. He needed to get to the highest levers of the shipping dock. Almost where he originally arrived.

That alligator-scream came from below as the 'mom' tried to find how to get fully free of the lower platform. Perhaps it was some lingering trace of being human and a parent. Of wanting to protect her child, blending into the demonic possessiveness. Fear of her child being taken mixing with the rage of an intruder that was doing the taking of what was hers-

Power rippled and pulsed out from below, the creature frustrated at getting stuck in the structures too small for her now as they were made for humans.

The Slayer almost miss-stepped, head jerking to the side as he recognized the feeling. A warring instinct to launch at the 'small' summoning portal opening to catch whatever was called off guard. Yet also hyper aware of how fragile his passenger was.

"Bring me my baby!" The demonic words roared from below as the first portal spat opened, spilling out a handful of confused hell creatures. They jerked and twisted as the new being took control of them, sea glass like growths starting to form on them.

Lily gripped tighter around the Slayer's neck at the voice she almost recognized, "Were those words?"

He gave a small nod and he pulled the rifle up in his right hand. The Slayer had to be a lot more 'nimble' so to say, dodging to keep his living cargo… living. Staying alive?

Time no longer seemed to want to flow correctly, more so for Lily as she braced against the Slayer. What should have been a five minute jog to the western dock seemed like nearly an hour. Trying to make herself as less of a burden as she could, looking up and behind him as he was soon starting to nearly wade through the 'lesser' hell creatures. There were really none of the bigger monstrosities that were on the mainland.

Thankfully.

The Slayer staggered as one of the new possessed-like things tackled onto his leg, almost tripping him with its body. Lily felt him growl through her own chest more than heard it over the storm winds. Something squelched out of her sight as he stomped, then jerked as Lily yelped as wet, hot and non-human hands grabbed at Lily's right leg.

Thank whatever was left of the gods she had good leggings on!

The arm pinning Lily loosened just enough as if the Slayer was about to do something. It was just enough to let the young woman pull herself up over his shoulder. Reaching for the stock she had seen back in the lift. Unlike the rifle in the Slayer's hand, this was a more 'normal' shotgun.

Probably looked like a sawed off in the Slayer's hands, but the familiar standard length to the woman. Lily may have burned lungs from the gasses that came with the demonic invasion.

She was also the adopted daughter of a space marine veteran, who also spent her life around the sea and boats.

It did not make her some invisible, semi crippled person, as the recoil hurt because she was not in the right position to safely fire. She could aim correctly though, and was pretty sure no buckshot hit the slayer's back side (or rump) as the lesser creatures were trying to climb up his back as he was distracted.

Everything twisted, moving too fast for Lily to keep up. Stopping abruptly as she hit the deck on her back. For a moment staring at the large red thing looming over her, like the skin had been burned off to expose muscle and lingering sizzling fat- bony growths on parts of it. The glowing yellow eyes widening as some seaglass-like growths were forming on its head.

Lily planted the butt of her stolen shotgun against the deck, firing as the creature was in mid motion to jump at her. Its momentum forcefully changed with the shot, and the woman cursed as she realized there were no shotgun shells to reload.

The young woman rolled, getting to her feet and hitting the dispenser to get a dose of medicated air as her lungs started to remind Lily she was not allowed to be as active as she once was. One of the waves below splashed a stream of water up to their level, finishing soaking the woman as she saw the Slayer living up to his myth. Legend?

It was oddly graceful, in a morbid way.

Lily watched one of the red creatures scream at the saltwater spray, only to be almost neatly cut in half by that large blade on the man's left arm. Gods, that thing was possible longer than her whole arm now that it was extended.

It should have taken longer, the same amount of creatures, possessed nearly did her father in. All too soon the cluster was a burning sizzling mix of… icky as the Slayer spun around.

Spotting Lily getting up and cracking open the shotgun as if about to reload, before realizing again she had nothing to reload. He was vaulting over the mess to land beside the girl.

"Sorry, I saw them coming up," Lily winced, taking the two empty shells out. Awkwardly holding them for a second.

The demigod started, then reached behind him to offer two new shells. Taking the chance to reload his rifle again, while watching that indeed Lily could reload too. Not nearly as fast as someone more experienced.

You shoot? He finally signed carefully to break the awkward moment.

Lily grinned back up at him, holding the shotgun in a way that would let him take it back safely. "Dad taught me, but I can handle smaller calibers better."

The platform vibrated under their feet.

Right, there was a hurricane.

The Slayer reached out, grabbing Lily's right arm out of reflex. He deftly took the shotgun and this time, as his arm blade was still extended. The demigod was a bit more pleased that Lily was able to hold onto his back on her own. The shotgun now on his right thigh, human on his back like… well she was a living backpack.

It was easier to run like this, as long as the Slayer did not make too sharp a turn or sudden stop. He could oddly feel the heartbeat in the arm wrapped around his neck, or maybe it was his imagination. Regardless it was another constant reminder without Vega, of the human life that was his responsibility.

"Wave!" Lily warned as she was now able to see the horizon rising to meet them as they nearly made it to the west dock.

Right.

Hurricane.

The demigod was many things, including oddly graceful when in full movement and combate.

...having sea-legs may not be in his well of skills.

The Slayer got up, hitting the decking in frustration as he reached back to confirm that Lily was not on his back. Looking around and coiled as a larger possessed was running full tilt at him-

Past him.

The Slayer realized this creature was almost as big as him, and clad in older blue armor and sea glass looking growths. Launching over the railing the Slayer was braced against to the level below.

"Miss Lily is on the level below you," Vega's voice warned at the same moment.

Well shit.