Chapter 13
I sprinted forward, ducking beneath the blast sent at my face, hopping over a second then leaping past a massive third. The moment my foot touched the ground, I pulsed the energy within me, releasing it behind me. This accelerated me forward rapidly in an ad-hoc charge that was necessary because that third blast exploded viscously right behind me. Even with my rapid response, I still felt the pressure wave impact me from behind, my barrier flickering from the impact even as I kept moving forward.
I sprinted towards Aria with muscles fuelled by biotic energy, closing in even as she charged up another attack, I don't know what. I made no efforts at dodging, waiting until she launched her attack. In that last moment, I pushed the energy remaining in my barrier into another bastardised charge, this one pushing me up and to the side of an expanding wave of chaotic energy. Even with me dodging to the best of my abilities, the trailing edges of the attack still brushed across my skin, leaving behind an angry burning sensation.
Ignoring the pain, I flipped in the air while travelling over Aria, keeping her in my sights while I pooled more energy around me into my arm. I landed arm first, releasing a shockwave at Aria that she was forced to dodge. She did so by jumping up, her barrier flaring in strength right before it met the leading edge of my shockwave. It somehow allowed her to surf the edge backwards until she landed once more on her feet, the remaining energy in my attack only pushing her back a metre, leaving her unarmed.
"Seriously?!" I shouted at her, frustrated. Aria's taught me many things, but there is so many little tricks and tips that her experience has brought her that it's impossible to know them all. Aria takes advantage of this in our spars, using my lesser experience to her advantage even when it should be impossible for her to do so.
"Yep!" Aria laughed, her face flushed as she grinned fiercely at me. "You'll have to do better than that!" she taunted smugly. I growled deep in my throat, but she was right. We've fought a countless number of times now over the span of years. I haven't beaten her once, despite my constant improvement. I hadn't noticed that at first, but it was obvious when Aria started to fight back actively, considering she actually moved around the battlefield now. It was less obvious after that, but I know I've continued to improve. I can see it in the way Aria's breath now came heavily, not as heavy as my own but still, in the way sweat beaded on her skin. The way she had to take a break after our fights. I'm not capable of beating her yet, but I will be, I will settle for nothing less.
I doubt that will happen today, but there is something else I'm currently aiming for. Aria has yet to be injured by me, aside from the one time I lost control, and I aim to change that. I've been working on a plan for a while now, testing out her responses to different manoeuvres and I'm finally ready to try it. All I needed to do was tire her out first, and I've done that.
In this small lull we've had, I've been drawing upon more energy, letting it surround me. I performed the motions for barrier, but never actually let it happen. Instead, I'd been concentrating on keeping my aura around my skin as best I could, I just hope she's tired enough not to notice. Aria isn't really the most intelligent fighter, preferring the brawl. I'm the same way, but just like she is more than a brawler, I can attempt some deception.
I let more and more energy into my aura, the aura's brightness increasing, until I could no longer keep it contained. My aura exploded around me, surrounding me in blue fire that snapped, cracked and hissed around me. It's a bit hot, but I have enough control to keep it from burning my skin, at least when spread out like this. It's in this final moment that I gave up on subtlety, throwing as much energy into this as I could while Aria wasn't stopping me. She would have already realised I was up to something, so let's see if I can make it count.
I brought my hands together, before rotating them away from each other and extending my arms, my aura beginning to swirl around the epicentre of the rotation as if a vortex was present. The further I rotated, the greater the suction. As I finished the rotation bringing my hands together, the energy finally condensed into an intensely bright ball of potential. I screamed from the effort required, my stance set firmly as I thrust my hands forward.
I threw the singularity directly at Aria, who had begun charging up an attack of her own that she soon aborted, seeing the danger. I would have begun charging up another attack with whatever energy I had left, but something was different about this singularity. I'd thrown a decent portion of my still growing reserves into this attack, I'd never put so much energy into one attack since the proto-flare years ago. Throwing it knocked me onto my back, my body shaking and my head throbbing from the recoil. I struggled to my feet even as I kept my eyes on Aria, watching for her reaction. She had charged a strong barrier around her first as a precaution, before charging away from where the singularity was rapidly moving towards, the attack almost blurring before my eyes the speed was so great, yet somehow Aria was able to respond, charging away from the epicentre. She wasted some time creating her barrier though, probably in case I threw another attack at her, like that was going to happen. I'd used more energy than I initially planned, I could barely stand right now, that was my last attack.
Time almost slowed down when the howling ball exploded above where Aria was once located. In an instant, the explosion spread out a dozen metres around it, the tell-tale gravitational swirl beginning, but then it stopped. The expansion halted, then reversed into a single point too bright to look at, pulling everything with it. This included all the spare dust and rocks around it, it even dragged Aria back a small distance despite her being more than 20 metres away at this point. Only a moment after this suction began, it exploded. A wave of noise, heat and light washed over me, throwing me tumbling back. My sight blurred before I finally came to a halt metres away, bruised and bleeding. I could only hear a faint buzzing, with some red in my vision as I processed what just happened. I was a couple dozen metres away yet it did that to me. What about – Aria! Please be All right. I didn't mean to do that!
I lurched to my feet, my body protesting vigorously. I Ignored it, limping towards Aria half blind and deaf. I found her on her back a dozen metres further than I last saw her, sprawled out on the ground. Oh no, please be fine. I shuffled as quickly as I could, pushing past the pain in my legs until I came up to her, collapsing to my knees. Her eyes were shut, and she was bleeding purple blood from above her eyebrow and the cheek on the right side of her face. She must have hit the ground with that side of her face.
"Aria!" I shook her, trying to get her attention. Nothing. I held my hand up, ripping off the gauntlet with my other hand before checking her vital signs. I sighed in relief, there was a pulse. I opened her eyelids with my fingers to find them dilated and after a second it focused on me. Aria then blinked a few times, before she returned fully to consciousness.
"Fury?" Aria sounded confused, a puzzled look on her face even as she pushed herself up. I helped her with a hand on her back until she was sitting up. I made sure to look her over for injuries while I did so. Unlike me, Aria wore her normal clothes to these fights, confident she wouldn't be hurt. How'd that turn out?
"Oh." Aria blinked once more, her eyes focused on something over my shoulder. I followed her eyes to see the crater my latest attack caused, I'm not sure I could just cause it a singularity. Where it landed, there was a small spherical crater, cracks in the ground spreading out a dozen metres further. The cracks was clearly from the explosion, but why would there be a spherical hole in the ground? Did I … did I just create a singularity? A true one, as in a fucking black hole!?
Aria began laughing next to me, gaining my attention as I turned back to her.
"That was great!" she cheered, exuberant. I know she hit her head but, really?
"Are you all right?" I needed to know. Aria waved her hand, using my help to stand before letting go. She stretched herself a few ways, groaning, but seemed stable so I let her be.
"I'm more than okay. I haven't lost a fight in centuries, and I've never seen that happen before." Aria beamed at me, pleased. I ignored the warmth that spread to my cheeks at the pride in her voice.
"It was a fluke. I didn't know that was going to happen" I only won by chance, it wasn't the true win I wanted. Aria wouldn't fall for my trick again. Pity that wasn't my plan either. The singularity was only the second part, meant to be a distraction. I didn't think I could throw that much energy into it at once though.
"Doesn't matter, I still lost. We need to celebrate!" Aria grinned, throwing her arm over me. She was still taller than me. She wasn't even that tall herself, I was just tiny. It was the facility's fault, there is no way I was naturally this short, I refuse to believe it.
"After we see a medic." The words pained me, I hated seeing them but I hated seeing Aria hurt even more. That will be our first stop. Aria looked like she was going to protest though. "And then we can … celebrate." I tried not to show my distaste for the word, I failed. At the least, my words seemed to satisfy her.
[POV: Aria]
"Come on, let's go!" I marched forward with Fury hovering around me. I'm not sure how to feel about that as while it's endearing, it's also aggravating as hell. I'm fine, Fury didn't do that much damage to me. There was no internal bleeding, just a few cuts on my face and plenty of bruising. There may also be a cracked rib that Fury doesn't need to know about, I stopped the medic from revealing that and got her to give me the good shit. Couldn't even feel it now.
I was always going to see a medic, but Fury didn't need to know that. It was a rather convenient way to get her agree to a celebration with me. The deception was rather minor all things considered, she would have cracked regardless. Fury can't say no to me, so celebrate we will, and what a thing to celebrate!
I have no idea what that was at the end there, but whatever it was had fucked me up. I put up my strongest barrier against it, and while it didn't crack it the explosion drained enough energy that my barrier didn't hold up to my impact to the ground. Being able to do that is … terrifying. Flare may be my signature technique, the one I created, but it's rather simple all things considered. I have spent the most time, bar none, on mastering my barrier. I have barely found people who can match it let alone exceed it. Sure, the barrier would have worked better if paired with an armour shield, but technology can only do so much at this level of damage. If that attack had hit anyone else, it likely would have killed them, and I wasn't even at the epicentre. I'm not telling Fury that she came so close to doing me real harm, it would crush her, but we are definitely exploring this technique. All I can currently say about it is that the energy requirement is insane. I saw how much energy she truly put into it, I thought she was creating another proto-flare at the time but instead she condensed it. I'm not sure I could do the same because while my control is better than hers, far better really, Fury has basically always had to deal with having too much energy for her to control. It makes this technique perfect for her, considering what the actual technique did it's going to need a good name. Learning how to control it will be a bitch though.
I walked quickly towards my quarters, ignoring the faint aches and pains I felt as I did so. We were getting a few looks from the other people in the club, but they knew better than to say anything. They knew what would happen if they did, but I can see why they would be staring. No-one has injured me in 100 years, that they know of, yet that had just changed. I really am proud of Fury for that, you would think I would be angry and resent her. I thought I might too, but no! I could barely resist the grin trying to appear on my face, the laughter caught in my throat, the exhilaration running through my veins. Fury will be able to match me soon, of that I have no doubt. And maybe, eventually, exceed me. The thought excites me, to see her overcome my strength. It has been a long time since I have found a combatant that can overpower me on their own, and the idea leaves me giddy. That the one stronger than me is my apprentice, mine. She is so strong, so powerful, and so much like I'd hoped for in a – anyway, this really does call for celebration, even if I must drag Fury kicking and screaming. Figuratively, or literally.
We finally reached my penthouse, and I dismissed the guards outside of it. They were there to prevent people breaking into my room, I didn't need them when I was in it, let alone with a true bodyguard beside me.
Inputting the code, I opened the door and let Fury in, she had never been before.
"Welcome to my room, I'll show you around later after the bar." Fury didn't say anything, looking around at the opulent apartment. As a queen, I had the best room. The most expensive too, as I should, it had all the amenities. A massive bedroom, multiple luxurious bathrooms, a loungeroom, a fully stocked bar, even a dungeon for when I'm feeling frisky.
I walked over to said bar, pulled out a few glasses and poured in some Serrice Ice, Fury is getting the good stuff. I turned around to find her fidgeting in front of the bar, helmet still on.
"You'll need to take your helmet off, you know?" I mentioned, moving over to the couch with Fury trailing after me. I took my seat, turning back to face her. She hesitated for a moment, but I did see her hands rise up slowly and sure enough, the helmet came off. Fury's face was flat, and not her normal flat. You could normally still see how she was feeling in her eyes, not right now. Her eyes gave away nothing, and when Fury sat down she certainly didn't relax. What's wrong? We should be celebrating! I held down my frustration though, this was something serious. Come to think of it, had I ever seen Fury drink at all? I thought back to all the times I'd offered her one, but she always refused citing her need to 'watch over me'. While aggravating, she wasn't exactly wrong at the time and that meant I didn't need to be vigilant myself. I'd seen her sit at the bar plenty of times as well, but I can't recall her ordering anything. This may be more serious than I thought.
"Fury, what's the matter?" I coaxed, my voice softening. Fury looked away for a few seconds, still not relaxing into my sinfully comfortable couch. She sat there, her body tense, for long enough that I decided to place my hand on her back. She flinched away instinctively, but then eased back into my hand, sighing.
"You said you read my medical reports, did you not?" her voice was hollow, empty of inflection.
"I skimmed them for useful information but deemed it private so I largely left it alone." That … may have been a mistake. Something must have happened to her, something I didn't know about.
"Then perhaps you don't know." She muttered before looking up and directly into my eyes. "You know I fought the other test subject, the other children, to the death. That was not by choice."
What?! It want your choice? This is starting to worry me. I hadn't known that, believing her to be somewhat willing considering the massacres she's committed on Omega. Fury remained silent for a minute, watching me intently for something before she spoke.
"I refused to even fight at first. They didn't like that, so they electrocuted me, many times. I still refused. They managed to get me to fight through sleep deprivation and starvation. I was barely more than a husk by the time I caved, but I did and the fights began. That satisfied them, for a short time. Then they wanted me to kill. I refused." Fury stared into my eyes intensely, her words sharp, bitter. My jovial mood from earlier was gone, replaced by sadness for Fury, for what she went through. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't get the words out. I knew Fury wasn't done anyway, there was more to come, and that frightened me. There was something I could do though, I reached out with one of my hands and grabbed one of her clenched ones. Fury let the action happen, let my hand envelop hers.
"They tried sleep deprivation and starvation again, I refused. They tortured me, but I refused. You want to know the way they got me?" she chuckled bitterly, the sound hollow, broken. Fury closed her eyes, taking a shuddering breath almost overwhelmed by the storm inside her. Fury's hand gripped mine tightly, almost painfully.
"They drugged me!" she spat, "made me believe it was target practice like I had been doing for years in their normal testing. I had never hesitated to do so before, I didn't see a point then, and when I was hopped up on something they switched out one of the targets. They lowered the dose each time until I realised what I'd done." Her mask was gone, her face revealing the sorrow she felt, the guilt. And the rage "After all I'd endured so as to not kill, they made me do it anyway. They finally broke me, and I became their weapon for the next few years, eventually slaughtering everyone in the entire complex."
I, I don't know what to say to her. Nothing I say could make her feel better after what had been done to her.
"As a result, I never want my mind to be impeded again. From drugs, or anything else."
It felt almost like a blow to the gut when I realised what I'd done by offering her a drink, the memories it had brought up. How would that make me feel in her place? How would Omega's drug trade make her feel? She must have made some peace with it conserving the entire station isn't a burning wreck. Still, what do I do? Is there anything I could do to make her feel better? Nothing I could say comes to mind so I think back to my past. Of when I had felt similar to Fury, and there was one thing that would have helped me then, one thing I wanted.
I softly tugged Fury's tensed up form into my arms, she didn't resist so I wrapped them around her. Making sure she could escape if she wanted to. I said nothing, not wanting to break the silence so we just sat there. Eventually, Fury relaxed back into the couch and into me.
"You don't have to drink anything, it's fine. We can just sit here for a while." I murmured into her ear. Fury didn't reply, but she did sit up, turning to face me. I ignored the redness around her eyes, how fragile she looked. After a moment, the tension eased and she looked me with resolve.
"No. I know how much you like it. I want to try, at least once. I don't want the facility to take anything else from me"
"… if that's what you want. As long as you don't have too much, it won't affect you. It would probably burn off quickly with how strong a biotic you are." I gave her the glass I poured before we began, and she sat there for a moment staring at it. I just had a thought.
"Fury… ? If you want, I know of a way to use your biotics to burn off things like drugs and alcohol providing they aren't biotically reactive like red sand. Would you like me to teach you?" Fury's head snapped up from her drink, her eyes wide.
"Yes," she choked out.
"It will be difficult, it requires control you likely don't currently have. I somewhat struggle with it, but I see no reason why you would not be able to." Fury nodded her understanding then looked back to the drink. "I would sip on it, this is a strong drink that will feel like it is both cold and burning – so be cautious." I warned her, taking a sip of my drink.
Furry nodded, before copying my actions. She choked a little bit, not expecting the hard to describe sensation. I couldn't help laughing at her reaction, and she sent me a wounded glare. I only laughed harder, maybe the mood wasn't as ruined as I thought.
We spent the night like that, talking about nothing of consequence as I introduced Fury to all my alcohol. She liked the Serrice Ice the most and relaxed more than I'd ever seen her while awake. I even got her to take her armour off before we went to sleep on my stupidly large bed. It was a good night. I was used to having more exciting celebrations than this, but somehow I enjoyed this even more.
Fury was still there when I woke up, but this time she was awake, staring up at the ceiling. It was odd seeing her in casual clothes, and there was something I wanted to ask now that the night had passed. Fury had relaxed fully with me, letting down her walls like she never had before. I felt like I would get an answer now. It was longest I'd ever seen her without her helmet in years. For all I knew she slept in the thing.
"Fury?" her head turned towards me. "Why do you wear your helmet so much?"
She frowned, returning to facing the ceiling. She said nothing for over a minute, lost in thought. I had resigned myself to receiving no answer when she finally spoke.
"I … don't like seeing my face, seeing the scars. Normal clothes cover most, but only the helmet covers the ones on my face. With it on, I don't have to see them. See what was done to me. Because every time I look at them, I remember." Fury spoke softly, solemn.
"Almost every procedure done to me was while I was awake. They only sedation they gave me was for movement, nothing for the pain. I would be forced to lie there … motionless, as they cut me open. I would feel the air on my insides, the tools and fingers prodding me. Now, every time I see the scars, I remember. I remember how I got each one, and I hate it." She growled. They didn't sedate her? That's just … cruel. What reason could they possibly have? Is it because the procedures were meant to improve her biotics? Maybe they wanted to see what the stimulus would do? The Asari had long banned such experimentation. One, because it never seemed to improve us, and two because the very idea was anathema to us.
"Every time I look at my scars I am reminded of them. Even the few scars on my face. It's why I covered the mirror in my apartment, I would have smashed it otherwise." She chuckled hollowly. "But when I'm in my armour, I don't see the constant reminders of them. That is why I don't like taking it off." She said nothing else, remaining quiet.
I don't know what to say in response to that. I knew Fury had psychological trauma from her time at the facility, her personality was shaped by it, but this was worse than I thought. Fury was covered in scarring, while her face was mostly bare it was hard to find other parts of her that were as well, and each scar was a reminder. A reminder of what she went through, what was done to her. I'm grateful she told me, I know I would have been reluctant to do so in her place. I likely wouldn't have in all honesty, but Fury hates deception in any form, even from herself. I had no such compunctions and hated feeling weak. That is ultimately what the scars do to Fury, make her feel weak. I can understand why she hates taking off her armour.
Her reasoning is different from what I expected though. I thought she just had an aversion to humans, seeing as all her tormentors were humans, and while she was armoured up she could ignore she was one as well.. She does have that aversion as well though, some lingering distrust for other humans that made her wary of them, but it was the scars that was the biggest issue. Is there … any way I could help her? She seems fine when she doesn't have to see them, which is something I suppose. It could have been worse, where she was uncomfortable in her own skin, I would have no idea how to deal with that but I do have an idea for this.
"Tell me Fury, have you ever heard of tattoos?"