Everything hurt.
Light stabbed her eyes every time she opened them.
Her throat felt like the ground, dry and fragmented.
It was so cold.
Everything touching her felt like bile burning her skin.
Burning.
Fire.
Her chest tightens as she fights against the hold keeping her pinned.
Why was she on fire?
Voices.
She could hear voices.
But it was hard to focus when everything was fading in and out.
A cave-
She was in the cave!
No!
No no no no no!
She throws her arms out, screaming when they slam into something solid.
When had she passed out?
"Stop!" She throws all her weight in an attempt to roll away.
Not again.
She would not be forced.
She would fight.
No one was taking her-
"It's me, Treasure."
Gil?
"Kitten! You will be very upset if you don't stop fighting right this instant."
Gil and her father?
"Baby Girl, it's ok. You're home."
Uma.
Uma wasn't at the cave before.
The cave that-
"Fire Princess, ya be up!" Harry slides to his knees next to them. "Ya be scarin' the shite outta us."
Home.
She blinks.
She was home.
Her eyes burn as the room blurs.
"Mim?" She asks, her voice rough.
"Taken care of," Yensid's calm voice assures her, "the Lord of Death defeated her, you've been out quite a bit of time I'm afraid."
Out?
She pushes against the hold on her.
She just needed a moment.
Needed to shade her eyes against the brightness.
Wanted things to settle.
Something was wrong.
There was something she wasn't remembering.
But she needed to.
Mim had done something.
"Star Gazer," Faustina's voice cautions, "please be careful lest you agitate your wounds."
"Faustina!" She struggles against the hold.
If Faustina was here-
"Treasure," Gil frowns as Uma and Harry's reproach cut him off.
"Baby Girl, listen to Beauty Girl please," Uma nearly begs.
"Aye, ya be goin' through hell an' finally be wakin', don'ah be given' us another fright."
"But T-"
The cave.
The blood.
The knife in his face-
The grip pinning her in place loosens before she feels Gil shift her.
If Faustina was here-
"Alive and well, my dearest Star Gazer, albeit not equipped for this situation." Faustina smiles, "The Lord of Death was able to keep the two of you safe until my Lion and Prince could arrive."
Her vision blurs around the stabs of light, "you're both okay."
Faustina giggles, "of course you'd be more worried about others when you yourself are the concern."
"But I'm-"
She stills.
She wanted to say she was fine.
Wanted to rush over and hug the sad looks off everyone's faces.
But that 'something' kept her from doing it.
Kept her blissfully ignorant of something. Something important.
She couldn't bring herself to look up at Gil.
Couldn't figure out why she was so cold there were bumps on her skin.
Didn't understand why her abdomen burned and throbbed.
"Awake and well, all things considered." Yensid finishes, "the rest can come later, as of now I think it would be best to let your family dote on you, for their state of mind."
"Yeah," Gil nods as he hugs her to his chest protectively.
"Aye," Uma agrees as she and Harry envelop her as well.
"Least ya can be doin'." Harry smiles down at her, "ya be owing us that be worried."
"Owing is a strong adjective," Faustina chides, "but the sentiment is genuine. I know this is a lot for you, my Stargazer, but I promise answers and clarity will come with time. For now, though, I ask that you allow them this before you become trapped in a tower like a withering princess."
"Oh. I-" she takes a slow breath and looks away when the strange pain makes her eye twitch, "okay."
"Thank you, my Stargazer." Faustina bows her head before she turns to her father. "Come, now isn't the time." She beckons Hades, "you will garner no favor if you linger."
She blinks when her father lets out a heavy sigh. "She does look like she's about to cry."
Faustina glares at him before she speedily walks to him, grabs his arm, and 'drags' him out of the room with shocking ease.
In fact, with that look, she could easily see why T didn't like people pulling on his ear. She wasn't sure how T and Faustina worked, but-
If her father's ear had been in reach, Faustina would've snatched it and yanked him out of the room by it. Even as dazed as she was, she could tell that.
"Mind if I accompany you? I have a few questions." Yensid asks as he stands to his full height.
"Perfect, we can get our answers together." Faustina responds with a surprising edge to her tone.
She isn't the only one to take a deep breath as the three leave.
Everything was okay.
Right?
Mim was gone.
Which was one less worry.
T and Faustina were safe.
And she was still here, living and breathing, surrounded by the people who loved her most.
So then, why did everything feel different now?
She was cold.
Her hands- Why were her hands bandaged?
She grimaces as she presses a hand to her stomach.
Pain.
This was what pain really felt like.
What she knew, those brief moments before she always healed-
It was nothing like this.
There was something more, but try as she might, all she seemed able to do was cry.
Millions of questions fly through her mind.
The conversation with Mim-
There were things she needed to tell the others.
But she couldn't breathe.
Couldn't think past the three around her.
Harry.
Uma.
Gil.
Gil-
She'd thrown him.
How many times had he tried to help her?
Interrupt the strange compulsion brought on by the music?
Stop her?
She pulls away with a sob as she presses her hands to her face, only to remember her hands as the pain flared.
"Treasure?" Gil sniffs as he pulls back to look at her with lost, tear-filled eyes.
"I hurt you." She sobs around ragged breaths. "I, I darted you."
She hadn't known what else to do.
She'd gotten angry, but it was an anger she didn't understand.
It flared every time he stopped her.
Scared her.
She'd watched in horror every time her hand made a fist.
It couldn't have been her.
Not that rage.
Not the desire to stop anything in her way at all costs.
That-
That wasn't her.
Gil takes a deep breath before he let's it out, "oh. Is that-" He blinks before he shakes his head, "Treasure," He tugs her back to his chest and holds her tightly, "you didn't hurt me."
"An' it was good that ya be dartin' 'im."
Gil pulls back to glare at Harry, "I-"
"Aye," Uma swallows. "She-" Her eyes slam shut as she trembles, "She-" She chokes before she lunges forward and hugs her tightly.
"Uma," Harry sighs softly before she finds herself back in another six-armed embrace.
She was home.
The spell hadn't killed her.
Hadn't destroyed the barrier.
Her father-
Why was he here?
He'd been willing to give her to Mim, or at the very least hadn't stopped her.
Right?
It was so fuzzy.
So blurry.
But she'd never be able to get the altar out of her head.
The place she'd seen so many others killed.
The blood-
Her breath hitches.
The sludge-
"Stop!" She begs as she covers her mouth, her face burning as her stomach churns.
Her family startles as they pull back in confusion-
"Treasure-"
The room spins before she finds herself facing a corner of the cave, right before burning stomach acid forces its way up her throat.
"Baby Girl," Uma soothes as she and Gil rub her back.
"That be fear, aye?" She hears Harry struggle to ask as he gags, "she ain'nah sick? Like sick sick?"
"Fear," Gil sighs, holding back her hair as Uma coos softly to her.
Disgust, she wanted to clarify.
Every heave made her stomach hurt; made her all too aware that she had something holding her together.
Stitches.
But she couldn't check, not with thick bandages wrapped around her hands.
What was wrong with her?
Why wasn't she healing?
What had Mim done to her?
She collapses against Gil's hold on her.
She felt so weak.
So drained.
Why was her father here to see this?
She sobs against Gil's shoulder.
She was grateful to be home.
Happy to be alive.
But, she was broken. She couldn't put a finger on it, couldn't say specifically what it was.
She just knew she was broken beyond the healing.
The memory of Mim stabbing the evil looking blade into her makes her shiver.
"Deez," Uma breathes out sadly as Gil sweeps her off her feet and moves them further down the wall before he settles them back on the ground, Harry and Uma right beside them every step of the way.
"I'm sorry."
"Baby girl," Uma closes her eyes with a deep breath before she opens them and gently rubs her arm, "why are you apolagizin'?"
"Because-" She squeezes her eyes shut.
Weak.
Useless.
"I tried." She sobs, "I wasn't, I couldn't. Nothing. I just kept going."
"Oh Baby Girl," Uma whispers tightly, "I," she looks between Harry and Gil, "we, know you did. It was magic, Deez, this isn't your fault."
"You fought it so hard Treasure," Gil offers softly, "I saw it. You were doing everything." He sighs as he looks away, "we both were."
"Aye," Harry runs his hand through her hair, "I be ah knowin' first hand the punch magic can be ah packin', an' it don'nah be bein' easy ta know there ain'nah fightin' it once it be headin' yer way."
She frowns as Harry's fingers flex slightly against her scalp.
It was hard.
She'd shaken it off so many times, fought for control.
She looks up into Harry's intense blue eyes before she takes a deep breath.
"Thank you," she manages to hiccup.
Harry's grin doesn't quite meet his eyes, "I jus' be speakin' the truth."
She nods slowly before she shifts to stare up into Uma's eyes.
She blinks.
Uma had been there, one of the times she could remember looking around after that darkness in the cave.
Uma and Yensid.
Working on her.
She reaches out-
She'd felt better once she saw her, once she knew Uma was with her.
"Sea Gods," tears gather in Uma's eyes before she captures her in a hug, "I was so scared I'd never be able to swim in the oceans of your eyes again."
"Afraid?" She frowns, "how long was I asleep?"
Gil's hand gently envelops her head, "almost a week."
Her eyes widen before she looks down at her hands.
A week?
She hurt this much after sleeping a whole week?
She snaps her head back up, "the camps! The Isle Borns-"
"We're doing what we can, but at the moment it's too dangerous to risk any more extractions." Uma says solemnly. "For right now, anyway. We're still trying to regain our bearings."
"Aye," Harry nods, "even T an' me Princess be agreein'."
She bites her lip as she slowly turns to look into Gil's eyes.
She'd prayed to see him again.
Hoped darting him wouldn't be the last thing she ever did to him.
Begged for more time.
And here he was.
"Treasure?"
"I'm just, happy to be home." She smiles at the boyish grin on Gil's face.
"Us too."
There was so much she knew she was selfishly not thinking about.
More that she wished she could ignore.
But all she wanted to do was forget, even for only this moment.
She was alive.
She was with her family.
Gil didn't hate her.
The darkness she felt hovering just out of sight could wait.
Not forever, eventually it would crash down on her.
But not now.
Faustina glances back towards the entrance with a sigh, part of her longing to be with her family to comfort their little sister-
But the rest of her understood that removing the Lord of Death from their presence was the wisest course to pursue.
Heaven-
Hell only knew how deep the god would bury himself if she'd left it be.
"Wow. She did all this, huh?"
She smiles, "and so much more. Your daughter has spent years dedicating herself to controlling her abilities, and I feel she has honed them quite admirably."
Especially since she'd had no help from the god in front of her.
"It's commendable. How driven she is to make sure she never singed anyone. It was paramount to her friendship with Mal's family"
"Meh, little do-gooder used to come back to the temple sobbing every time she burned anyone," Hades rolls his eyes as he continues to look around the room.
She shakes her head, "you need to stop that. Condemning her for doing what was right. She faced so many challenges, hurdles. No one ever believed in her works. Scorned her for being naive and foolish-yet despite that, in spite of the ridicule and humiliation, she persevered and managed the impossible."
"Of course she has." He sighs, "guess I never thought about that being a positive thing before. Guess she's a Hades after all."
"Glad you are finally starting to see your daughter for the incredible gift she is." She smiles, "because she is. Incredible, I mean." She crosses her arm and juts her hip, "and you are going to feel like an ass when the realization fully comes to fruition." She eyes him, "Rejects, outcasts, and runoffs usually tend to flock to one another, which is something you would have noticed if you had pulled your head out your ass…"
"Starting to sound a little preachy there, Arachne."
"Usually I have more time to censor my responses," she waves off the comment, "it's a flaw."
Hades snorts, "well, Firebug would be happy to know that. Which means I won't tell him."
"And this is why I appreciate you, my Lord." She chuckles.
"Appreciate. Huh." Hades taps a finger to his chin, "I like it. I'm appreciated, finally."
"Has no one ever said that to you before?" She asks as a tightness fills her chest.
T had always appreciated her, like she had him, even now that they knew they shared time and space.
The back of her eyes start to prickle at the lengthening silence.
Hades stares off into the distance before he shrugs, "a very long time ago, and then once more recently."
She frowns, "well, you're officially appreciated by two mortals now-Even though they happen to share a body."
"Ya know," Hades chuckles softly before he turns back to look at her, "it's crazy that it took getting sent to this shithole to find three people that feel that way."
"If it isn't too bold, may I inquire as to who is the third."
Hades gestures the direction they'd come from, "her mother."
"Oh." She blinks. "Is that why you resent her so much, then?"
Was that where all the bitterness stemmed from?
The fact that he had lamented being lord of the underworld for, he didn't even know how long, only to be stuck on Earth and never see his love again?
The thought was out of place to her.
It had often puzzled her how the Lord of Death had come to touch a mortal, let alone breed with one.
It was something she'd contemplated often after the first time T witnessed Deez's trial of removing the cuffs.
"Resent? Who do I resent?"
"My Stargazer."
"I wouldn't say I resent her." Hades frowns, "she's just, not what I expected. I think."
"When you've had time to ruminate on the thought, I'd love to hear what you were expecting."
"I certainly didn't know one time was enough." Hades shrugs, "I seriously just thought, ya know, what else do I have to do? Might as well experiment."
"I've made my fair share of heedless decisions whilst alone in my room," She raises one shoulder delicately, "it's a dangerous thing to be left alone to your own devices."
"Thank you. Sheesh."
She smiles brightly.
She never would have imagined the god would say something sp-
.Genuinely.
And certainly not to her.
"Like they were mad at me because I was tired of being alone with the dead, so what do they do? Put me on an Isle with mortals who might as well be dead." Hades huffs as he continues, "and this experience is supposed to… Do what exactly?"
"Show your brother has a compensation problem, would be my guess after all you've told me about him."
Hades snorts before he grabs her by the shoulder and pulls her against his side, "yes!" He laughs, "oh my me, I knew you were smart, but so funny on top of that!"
Her chest fills with warmth at the sincere laughter.
That was different.
And equally unexpected.
She wasn't sure she wanted to look too closely about why the god's affection and praise meant so much to her-
But it did.
"Ahh, thanks Arachne, I needed that." Hades chuckles as he releases her, "wait. Where did the mage go?"
"I asked him to go check on my Lil' Demon when you were-"
Distracted in the best of ways.
"-seeing if your daughter's work on the tunnel system was to your standards."
"I see."
She chuckles as she turns and takes his hand, "speaking of-" she chirps happily, "come." She starts leading him from the room, "the cavern isn't the only thing your daughter has slaved over."
He doesn't pull away, or even resist her guidance, two things she was fully expecting.
Instead, he smiles and follows.
When they get close, she drops his hand and, more giddily than she could understand, dances to the entryway before she turns and clasps her hands behind her back. "This is where I spend most of my time when I'm out."
Hades whistles as he follows her into the lab, "yep. I knew you were an alchemist."
Had he?
"Is it that obvious?"
"You question everything and have a logical way of thinking." Hades ticks his points against his fingers, "add to that the problem-solving, and frankly the sheer bravery and audacity, yeah."
She frowns.
Audacious. Yes, she couldn't argue that fact.
But brave?
He, the Lord of Death, thought her brave?
Teasing or not.
It caught her off guard.
"So my Kitten made all this, huh?" Hades questions as he slowly walks around the room.
She blinks, oh.
Whoops.
"She did," she smiles brightly, "and look," she takes one of the more delicate pieces off the shelf before she slams it against the table. "They're Captain proof."
"But not me proof." Hades jokes as he twirls a tube of glass between his fingers.
Her eyes follow the test tube with concern, "never implied it could survive you, my lord, I have no doubt it would be the equivalent of T simply breaking a toothpick."
"Probably even easier, not that I'm going to test it." Hades flourishes the tube before setting it back in its place.
"Thank-you." She sighs, her cheeks warming at her palpable relief.
"So you what, sit in here all day coming up with new things to make the Spider look good or help the Momma Squid wrangle the tiny mortals?"
She smiles as she nods, "life's about balance, my lord."
"Where were you when the Heroes decided to pluck all their enemies up and dump us here?"
"I highly doubt many of the heroes have been through much hardships, or lack the empathy to understand what would make someone choose to be evil."
Hades sucks his teeth, "well, I wouldn't say that exactly. I mean. Maleficent was a piece of work. She got pissed at a royal family and took it out on a kid. A baby. My kitten is a demi-god, and even she was absolutely useless when she was a baby."
"I'm not saying the situations of 'good' vs 'evil' aren't nuanced and layered, however, if Queen Leah hadn't purposefully spited fae laws, knowing good and well it was against decorum, would Maleficent had bothered with something as lowly as cursing a babe to death?"
She shrugs, "it's something that's always vexed me about her. She clearly has lines, otherwise she wouldn't have cared when T told her about the Rings."
"Mortals," Hades rolls his eyes, "who knows why they do things. Same goes for fairies."
"Our differences and choices, our whims and our wishes, all have our lives. Some good, some bad. But I doubt there are many who can claim to be wholly good or wholly evil. That being said, they did manage to round up the wholly evil they could and dropped them off in hopes to forget them."
"Well, in the process of rounding up evil, they rounded up a whole lotta gray area."
"Because the spell they cast had too many wielders to truly sort the intention of the spell."
"Huh," Hades frowns before he looks down at her, "guess I never thought about how the spell worked."
"I highly doubt everyone in that arrangement had sheer good intentions. More likely, there were many with intent to punish."
"Probably, there were a lot of sour people when King Beast united the lands." Hades shakes his head before he claps his hands together.
"So, what else is it my daughter does that impresses you?" He waves at all her glassware, "this can't be it. Not with how much you all sing her praises."
"Be careful of the roads you choose to tread, she's hardly fifteen, and she's accomplished much with very little help from anyone who has real knowledge of how celestial powers work."
Hades lets out a deep sigh, "I guess that's fair. Not that I had anyone to help me either, but, ya know, whatever."
She frowns as she walks over to lean against the counter, "I'm not trying to detract from the hardships you yourself have faced. Merely pointing out that she has accomplished so much out of pure determination to make you happy. Or at least look at her as more than a worthless nuisance."
Hades' brow furrows, "seriously? I mean, the plan was to make her want to make me happy. I just thought she hated me."
"It's a lot more complex than simply hating you, I know you despise your father but-" She bites her lip as she looks away, fidgeting with her sleeves, "even I wanted to make Father proud. It might just be a mortal thing… But it's something that gnaws at you."
After several moments of silence, she forces herself to look up, expecting to see disgust-
So when she finds the god contemplative, she sighs in relief.
It was always a good sign of the God having a revelation when he went silent-
Another similarity the Lord of Death shared with her brother.
And a habit she knew better than to interrupt.
The shadows move across her floor inch by inch as they sit in silence.
"So," Hades finally breaks the silence, "when do you think I can talk to her, since you're the one full of insights about this shit."
She sighs, "I know you don't want to hear this, but I doubt she'll have any interest in talking to you until she heals properly."
"So they use some of that mortal shit I gave you. I can get more if you need it."
She blinks, "how fast do you think we heal, exactly?"
"I don't know, but she's not mortal. Thank me, or she'd have died a long time ago."
She bites her lip, "my Lord," she frowns, "I'm not entirely sure how celestial she is at the moment…"
"Yeah, but that was before I shoved my energy into her and jump-started her whole energy spirit magic whatever thing."
She sighs as she turns in the direction of where she'd left their family, "I pray you are right. I'm not sure if she would be able to handle your disappointment right now."
"Why would I be disappointed? She survived Mim."
"My apologies, my lord, criticism was probably the better adjective."
"So, I'm not allowed to criticize her?"
"Not when it's debilitating, no."
"What does that mean?"
She takes a deep breath, "your senses are more potent than anyone's on the Isle, correct?"
"Sure, if you're talking sight and hearing. Smell too, which is not pleasant."
She nods, "and to my understanding you also have a sense that connects you to her, correct?"
Hades lifts a hand and moves it as if he were following an invisible thread, "yes, and it's much better now."
She tilts her head, "my apologies for being so bold, my lord, but I find myself needing to ask, was that tie ever anything you acknowledged before meeting my brother?"
"I've always used it."
"Yes, to belittle her and make her feel-"
"No, to find her. Most of the time."
She sighs, "do you ever pay it mind when she's in your presence?"
"Uhhh, no. Why would I need to?"
She takes a deep breath, Deez was going to resent her for this.
"Then I suggest the next time the two of you speak, you heed its call, and I feel you might have a new appreciation for your daughter."
"I have a new appreciation for her."
She smiles at the admission, they had made so much progress. "A deeper one then."
Hades crosses his arms over his chest, "so then, what made you get a deeper appreciation for her?"
"Huh," her brows furrow, "I suppose it would help if you were more specific, my Stargazer is always exceeding my expectations."
"So, that's why you worship her? She always exceeds expectation?"
"No, of course not, I'm not a monster."
"Wait, what? How would that make you a monster?"
"I wouldn't worship someone based upon what they can do for me, more so upon the character and worth of the individual."
"So because she's a pushover, tiny, cute, annoyingly optimistic, and always exceeds expectations?"
"I worship your daughter because no matter the challenge, she rises to them. I worship her because she always does what's right, despite the consequences of her peers. Because she is willing to stand in the face of adversity and uses her abilities to help those who need it. Though-" she pauses, "the rest of it, sans being a pushover, is all rather accurate."
"And you just figured all that out about her yourself?"
"I mean, I didn't have much to do in my room but contemplate T's adventures and interactions."
After a moment of silence she steps forward, "I know it doesn't feel like it, and you probably don't want to hear it, but you are starting to make changes and different choices on how to proceed on this path, your intentions are just being tainted by your past actions."
"Fucking fantastic." Hades throws his arms in the air, "yay me. All the mistakes and now no trust."
"You've earned mine, I know it's not much, but hopefully it holds some value to you."
"It does make this nightmare of a place a tiny, little bit better."
She smiles brightly, "thank you, my Lord, that means a lot to me."
More than she expected, not that she'd ever thought she'd hear anything like it from the god.
Hades huffs before he walks to a wall and slides down to sit, "so then, what's next? I can't see her until she's healed, but she's not healing. I can't help her heal because I can't see her-" he looks up, "you see where this is going, right? Don't make me continue."
She takes a deep breath, "the next step, my Lord, is to work on garnering our family's trust if you ever intend for your daughter to change her opinion. Is it underhanded? I suppose a little, but I think it's the best way to approach the situation."
"And how do I go about that, oh wise one?"
"That, my Lord, is something I fear you're going to have to navigate on your own. I still question how I earned it myself."
"So continue to beat my head against a wall, got it."
She sighs as she walks over and carefully sits next to him, "it's not impossible, you know, it's just difficult."
"Great, just what the isle needs right now, more difficult shit."
"Nothing in life worth having comes easy, my Lord."
"I thought my Kitten was worth having?"
"Maybe you should tell her that."
"That since it was easy to get her, she's clearly not worth having? I thought I wasn't supposed to offer criticism."
She rolls her eyes, "I truly, from the bottom of my heart, do loathe you sometimes."
"Ha! I'm difficult, so that means I'm worth having."
"Of course, why else would I take so much time out of my endeavors to speak to you, especially when I know my family despises it."
"I just thought you hated yourself."
She snorts, "I'm not T. I may hate some of my thoughts and decisions, but I'm quite content with myself. It's my worth I question."
"Good. You're both okay in my book, not that that means much." He sighs as he looks back towards the exit of the lab.
She frowns as she studies him.
She knew he tolerated them.
She wasn't a complete idiot, T, and even herself would have been killed ten times over if Hades didn't like them on a level-
She'd just always assumed it was out of boredom-
So to hear him admit something so-
Kind and out loud-
"It actually means a great deal to me, your opinion of me matters quite highly. I like to think of you as-" her eyes narrow, "friend doesn't feel right." she frowns, "but it's still significant to me, and I cherish our conversations and time spent together."
"Friend huh?" Hades turns and eyes her, "never had a friend, or a 'friend doesn't feel right' being."
"Well, you have one now. Two, actually."
"Thanks." Hades says as he slowly nods, "and not that you need it, but same. I think. Like ninety percent sure."
"Not my best mark, but I'll take it." She giggles, "and my Lord?".
"What?"
"Thank you."
Deez closes her eyes against the panic.
It was hard to breathe.
Uma.
Harry.
Gil.
They were crying.
They were all crying.
And she didn't know how to make it stop.
Couldn't figure out how to separate the many reasons she was sobbing.
Every breath was a sharp blade slicing through her skin all over again.
Pain-
Was this what it was like when mortals were hurt?
Once, what felt like a lifetime ago, she'd told T she could feel pain. Feel pain in the brief moments before she healed.
Her body was far more durable than her mortal friends, but every now and again, she'd catch it.
A sharp sword that would have taken an arm off a mortal would scratch her skin.
The worst was always when she attempted to remove the bands.
They disintegrated her just as fast as she healed.
It was a constant loop of agony.
But this feeling?
It was unending.
It just was.
There was no healing. No end in sight.
Just the feeling of being held together by bandages and string.
Something was wrong with her.
Mim.
Mim had broken her.
She was cold.
It was hard to focus as everything blurred around her. Pressed against her, making it harder and harder to breathe.
The world spun, but then a soft tapping cuts through the oppressive fog.
"My apologies for interrupting, but Daniel-"
"Who's Daniel?" She asks, grateful for something new to focus on as she takes a slow breath.
Faustina adjusts the boy on her hip as she looks at Uma over the tray she was balancing in her other hand.
"Daniel is, well, he was rescued the same day you were found. And we've all taken a likin' to him."
She smiles at the dark haired boy, but freezes when he looks back at her with deep green eyes.
He looked a lot like T when they first met, just younger.
The black hair-
She clenches her teeth as she bullies her brain into focusing.
His hair was very dark, but there were slight hints of red.
And his freckles-
She looks from Faustina to Daniel and back.
Found?
"Nice to meet you," she says with a smile, hoping everyone would ignore the waver in her voice.
As for the similarities, she tucks the thought away for a different day.
Daniel smiles before he wiggles, waiting for Faustina to put him on the ground before he takes her hand and drags her to join them. He points to her and then the tray.
"For me?"
Daniel nods as he rubs his stomach before he flexes one of his arms.
Her eyes widen when in answer her stomach roars.
"Shit," Gil grimaces, "I didn't even think-" he turns to her, "sorry Treasure. Ya must be hungry."
"It's okay," she holds her hands out for the tray, "didn't know either until there was food."
But now it was all she could think about.
Faustina kneels beside them after handing her the food.
She grabs the bowl and tips it to her mouth, not even tasting it as she gulps it down.
Gil chuckles as he runs a hand over her hair, "thanks, lil' Demon."
Daniel nods.
"Demon?" She asks around a mouthful of clumpy rice, "like an imp?"
Faustina nods, "the catholic version."
She chuckles lightly when Daniel bares his teeth and holds his hands out as if they were claws, "are we sure? He looks a little like Panic."
She smiles when Uma laughs.
Slowly, but surely, she could see them all climbing out of whatever pit of despair they'd been in since she'd woken up.
It made everything hurt less, or maybe it just made her chest lighter.
Nothing was really making the pain in her abdomen lessen.
Was this what it was like for them every time they got hurt?
Nothing but agony radiating like a barbed pulse?
"It's wonderful to hear you laugh, Stargazer, like a breath of fresh air." Faustina smiles as she finishes passing out bowls to the rest of the family, "here." She offers her a second bowl, "T still has jerky hidden all around the Isle, so please, eat."
She stares down at the bowl, wishing she could refuse it. But her growling stomach betrays her. "Sorry," she says as she takes it.
She'd never been this hungry before.
Famished.
Empty.
Was it because she wasn't healing? Or another part of how broken she was?
"Thank you, but it's okay. I'm not the one eating it."
She nearly chokes on the thick broth as she snorts and immediately drops her hand to cover the pain.
"Treasure?" Gil's eyes sweep over her in concern as his hand gently dwarfs her's.
"I just," she shakes her head, "just moved wrong. It's okay."
Gil frowns before he turns to Faustina, "is it too soon to put more of your medicine on it?"
Faustina shakes her head, "if she's feeling it, it would probably be for the best."
Gil nods before he turns to Harry expectantly.
"Oh, ya be throwin' silent orders around now?" Harry chuckles as he stands.
"If he hadn't-" Uma grins.
Gil grins up at Harry, "thank you."
"It's fine guys." She grumbles before she finishes the second bowl.
"Aye, that's why he ain't arguin'." Uma agrees easily.
"Horrible segue I know but, on the topic of arguments," Faustina places her hands in her lap, "Captain, if you have a moment, may I have a word?"
Gil turns to Faustina suspiciously, "what about?"
"Oh," Faustina looks away with a blush, "I um, have a personal matter that needs attending."
"Do you need a rag or something?"
"Oh, no. Nothing like that, so much as I may have gotten myself in a bit of a conundrum and would like some guidance on how to continue to navigate."
"Whatever Uncle wants, you can tell him to fuck himself."
She sighs.
Out for days or not, some things never changed, apparently.
Her father still wanted more.
Faustina wanted to help him.
Gil wanted to punch him.
Uma was fed up with him.
"Yeah," Gil nods staunchly.
She takes a slow breath before she looks up at Faustina, "what does he want?"
Faustina turns to her apologetically, "he assured me he would wait for you to be ready, but, he would-" she eyes Gil tentatively before she returns her attention to her, "really like to speak with you-" she takes a deep breath as she holds up her hands, "but-only-when-you-are-ready!"
"What!? Angel you can't-" Gil bellows in outrage as he pulls her to him protectively.
"Gil!" Uma hisses.
"Please stop," she begs, wincing as pain shoots up and down her spine from tensing and then the sudden shift in Gil's grasp.
"Oops," Gil grimaces, as he slightly loosens his hold, "are you okay Treasure?"
"What I be missin'?"
"I-" she shakes her head.
"Angel wants Treasure to talk to that asshole!" Gil snaps.
"I need-"
"Gil stop raising your voice." Uma snaps.
"The forge is empty."
She looks up in confusion
"Sorry!" She sobs as she tears away, "I, I just, a moment."
"Deez!" Gil cries as he, Harry, and Uma jump to their feet.
"Baby Girl!"
"Fire Princess!"
Uma and Harry's concerns echo after her.
Along with Faustina's sharp 'Stop'.
Each step hurt.
The echoing, confused voices hurt.
Why?
She presses a hand to her stomach as she runs up the stairs.
Too much.
It was too much.
She had to think.
Needed to breathe.
Things weren't making sense.
Nothing made sense.
Her father was here.
Here, in the cove.
Did they not know what he'd done?
She staggers into the familiar forge, wincing when her hand hits the wall.
Another painful reminder.
Mim's offer-
His hesitation.
The look she always saw on his face when he was weighing his options.
He'd thought about it, her life for his freedom. He'd seriously, methodically thought about it.
Sacrificing her to Mim.
Did it matter that he'd changed his mind?
And had he only changed his mind because T showed up?
Because Mim nearly killed T?
She bends under the pain as more tears gather in her eyes.
Why?
Why did that hurt more than all her wounds combined?
T got her out.
Then, somehow, she'd pulled a cuff off.
Wait-
She takes a choked breath.
Was that all this was?
The only reason he was here?
He wanted the other cuff off?
God, she hoped so. At least that would make sense in a sea of senselessness.
She looks down at her bandaged hands.
Should she try?
She swallows the burn in the back of her throat as the room blurs.
If she didn't do what he wanted-
That wasn't an option.
The Isle Borns. The plans to rescue them.
The plans to make the Isle safe.
They couldn't do it alone, they needed his help.
She wipes at her eyes fruitlessly as she slides down the cold stone wall to crumple to a pile on the floor.
What was happening?
What was she supposed to do?
How was she supposed to do anything?
She was broken.
First by the ocean and now Mim.
Something was missing.
Wrong.
It was hard to focus, hard to think around the pulses of pain.
But she knew.
And if she knew something was wrong-
The room blurs.
How many seconds would it take for him to figure it out?
And once he finished ridiculing her for now being useless, what was going to happen with her family?
God, she chokes on a sob.
Her family!
Their plans.
Their future.
The Isle's future.
She wanted to deal with this.
Wanted to go talk to her father and face this, knowing it would be the only way to get him to leave.
But at the same time?
She couldn't.
She didn't want to see him.
Didn't want to hear it.
She already knew she couldn't do it.
Something was gone, a piece of her.
Her chest burns as tears drip from her face to the floor.
Courage.
That was what Mim stole from her.
Well, that last scene was hard hitting as hell-
Poor fucking D, that's a shit ton to unpack, the fuck Tina?
The poor girl just woke the fuck up and you expect her to talk to her prick of a father?
On that note-
What do you think about our Hades? His relationships with the fam?
I personally never meant for T and Tina to get so close to him, but fuck me if my characters don't always have empathy for the devil. *SMDH*
On another note completely-
Isn't Daniel just the sweetest? What do you think happened in his past? Do you think he knew he had an older sister? What do you think his parents were like, sorry T, Tina, and Daniel's parents?
And did anyone else find the convo between Tina and SR enlightening? Or confusing?
Let us know!
Also. Sorry we didn't have the banter between T and SR about T wearing Tina's clothes, but that would've turned this chapter into a 50 page zoo.
Much love and shit!
-Twisted