#{fallen} chapter 8

[desiderium-eden-a]

Fallen LVII

     “Waawa~~!”

     Noah toddled over to his sister, sitting in the grass. Tiny hands reaching for her.

     “Noah! Look at you! You’re already so big~!”

     “Wawa come home?”

     He grabbed onto her skirt, pulling her towards a direction while pointing. Though as he noticed they weren’t moving, no matter how much he tugged, he looked back.

     “Noah, I’m sorry. I-”

     “Come home!”

     He tugged harder. Frantically pointing in the direction of “home” though she still wasn’t moving.

     “Hoooome!”

     Lazuli scooped him up onto her lap. And maybe he noticed how the sleeve moved in the breeze, but almost immediately, the baby went to hug at her missing arm. Nuzzling his head against it.

     “I don’t think you can heal tha-”

     “Wawa come home . . .”

     Lazuli swallowed. Her voice nearly breaking as she pulled him away from the arm.

     “I’m sorry, little guy . . . But it looks like you need to protect the family for me, okay?”

     Noah said nothing. Just fell forward to hug her. And she hugged him as well. His tiny shaking shoulders almost breaking her heart as she began to dissolve. Bits and pieces of her falling away in the wind.

     She was okay with dying. She’d said her goodbyes. She was prepared for it. So exhausted with just everything these days. Tired of being weak. Of always screwing things up.

     However, as she held her baby brother in her arms. She thought of everything she’d be missing. Of the faces and reactions of everyone in her parting words. And though she’d realized that she had basically already jumped . . .

[desiderium-eden-a]

Fallen LVI

     “You’re not angry with me?”

     “. . .”

     “Calm and cold as always, aren’t you. Your daughter is dead. Aren’t you upset?”

     “Of course I’m upset! My little girl is dead!”

     Melua nearly slapped him. Knuckles turned white at her sides. Lips near trembling as she bit her tongue.

     “But I can’t afford to be weak right now. I can’t break down or cry . . . I need to be strong. For Noah. He doesn’t need a mother who’s become a slave to her emotions . . . I don’t have the luxury to be upset . . . Just like how I have no right to be angry with you.”

     “. . . ??”

     “I stood by as everything was going on. Getting depressed over your father’s situation. I should’ve done something. So as far as I’m concerned, this is my fault as well. I wasn’t there for her. Didn’t protect her. But I can at least be there for Noah.”

     “. . . We have to send Noah away.”

     “What?”

     “Not permanently . . . But I can’t imagine the Grigori will be happy with me burning their research facility down . . . We can’t ignore the chance of them coming here for revenge.”

     “It’s not safe here for him.”

     Melua followed his gaze to the window. Though rather than the sunset sky outside, she took note of their reflection in the glass.

     “But it will be. I will make sure of it. I didn’t make it in time for Lazuli, but I will for Noah.” He looked back at her. “I have some people in mind who can take him in. And I trust them to protect him. You’re free to follow with him as well.”

     “. . . But then who will protect you?”

     “?!!”

     “I may not have given birth to you, but you’re my son as well. I will not let you carry this burden alone.”

     “Noah needs a mother.”

     “He also needs a home to return to. One where he is safe. I’ve seen how your friends eye him. He will plenty of mothers. But this . . . this is something only I can do.”

     “. . . Thank you.”

     “It’s nothing. But I also do not intend on abandoning my baby. So wherever you wish to send him, make sure it’s somewhere I can visit easily.”

[desiderium-eden-a]

Fallen LV

     "Okay. They’re done. It’s not perfect, though it should at least scramble most attempts to get into your mind. If not block entirely.”

     “Thank you, Elias . . . I wouldn’t want anyone trying to use my mind against me. Especially now, with everything going on. And the other thing I asked you for?”

     “It’ll only take a bit more. But are you sure about this? It’s a nice gesture and all, but it is going to be expensive.”

     “Yeah . . . the least I can do is give them a nice dream.”

[desiderium-eden-a]

Fallen LIV

     “K . . . Kroshka . . . ?”

     One day. He’d only been gone for one day. To finish preparing Lazuli’s new room.

     And in that day, less than that, his facility was in flames. Fire as black as night reached for the skies. The roar mixed with the dying screams of everyone inside . . . His coven . . . Centuries of research . . . Of hard work and innovations . . . burning to the ground. However, his mind was only focused on what he felt back at his castle.

     His connection to Lazuli was severed. He could no longer sense her through his mark. Which could only mean . . .

     Kaz ran into the flaming wreck. Undisturbed by the heat and flames. Dashed past rubble and burning corpses begging for his help. Or maybe that was just the hissing of the fire. Flames licked at his clothes though he was unaware. Just heading for that doo- . . .

     Kazimir fell to his knees. Held back by his familiar as he tried to lunge forth. To dig through the fire . . . To gather the remains . . .

     On the floor . . . was a corpse . . . charred black. Still burning. Leg missing. As well as its arm . . . But not far from it. Still nailed into place. A pale, white arm. A clean cut ran diagonally across the forearm. Edges charred black.

     3 old scars spanning across the wrist . . .

     Fingernails bearing chipped aqua blue nail polish . . .

[desiderium-eden-a]

Fallen LIII

     “Look, Bach!”

     Kaz gave a spin, the paintbrush in his hand pointed toward the ceiling of the room. Now covered in poorly drawn stars. Contrasting with the furniture of the room. Fine details carved into the wood depicting various Russian folklore.

     “Do you think she’ll like it?”

     “Kaz . . . Did you even ask her if she wanted that?”

     “ . . . No. B-but she’ll want to see the stars . . . Are you saying I should’ve put in a skylight?”

     “N-no. I’m saying shouldn’t you just bring her here and let her decorate the room herself?”

     “But I want to surpri-”

     Kaz turned his head. Seemingly staring right through the wall of the room and into the distance.

     “ . . . Kroshka?”

[desiderium-eden-a]

Fallen LII

     She could hear it. Panic. There . . . was something going on outside. People were running. Screaming. Fighting . . . something. Did one of the experiments escape? She couldn’t make out what they were yelling. Their words blurred together. Mixing with the sound of casting spells. Gunshots. And . . . metal against metal . . . A sword fight.

     Not that it had anything to do with her. She was stuck where she was.

     But as the smell of smoke grew stronger, she looked up. Eyes slowly registering . . . that the door was melting?

     A hole opened up from the center. A red ring of embers expanding to reveal-

     “. . . Mikhail?”

     She could barely say his name before she could feel him at her side. Hear him hiss as his fingers tried to pry at the nail in her hand. That’s right . . . She should tell him it would burn . . . Hopefully, he still had some of Py’s serum left. She didn’t think she could get him more. Since . . .

     “I can’t leave, Mikhail . . . I can’t . . .”

     Tears began to well. Her back stung. Even more so as Mikhail’s hand rested on the recovering burns, pulling her head onto his shoulder. He was shaking himself. His voice . . . oddly higher than usual.

     “Don’t worry,” he said. “Your brother will take care of this.”

[desiderium-eden-a]

Fallen LI

     “She escaped?”

     “You heard me. She disappeared. Some time last night?”

     The Cradle labs were in a panic. Researchers rushing about to find clues as to what happened. The woman they had detained from the masquerade had vanished. No evidence of forced entry. No tampering with the security system. And for someone to come in undetected like that, everyone was scrambling to make sure everything else was still accounted for. One bursting into Malcolm’s office to ask him to see to something.

     “Look. I can’t talk. Can we do this later?”

     Mikhail gave a halfhearted wave as the man left. Not quite sure if he was meant to stay or leave. Eventually deciding on the former so he could get a briefing from Malcolm himself. Even if Nami was heading the investigation, be felt being at least aware of the situation would be beneficial to the group as a whole. If anything, he’d feel better if he wasn’t kept out of the loop.

     He was always a bit of a snoop.At least in terms of anything he felt had to do with him. And as cardmaster, even temporarily, the goings on at the Cradle counted.

     Malcom’s desk was a mess. Not quite what Mikhail expected from a head scientist. Scattered papers and pens all over the surface. Enough that he could barely see any actual desk. Even his desktop was . . .

     Mikhail stared at a window off to the side of the screen. A report about something or other, he didn’t bother reading. His eyes only able to focus on a name . . .

     Lazuli Ashtrum.

     He couldn’t pull up the window fast enough. An email. A recent one. Only sent perhaps a week ago. Sent by . . .

     He had to go.

[desiderium-eden-a]

Fallen L

     “Good morning, Kroshka.”

     Still groggy, it was a trial to open her eyes. Lids still heavy, threatening to shut tight again. The room seemed to shake as blurred vision came to focus on her leg. Or what was left of it. Pristine white bandages covered the mid-section of her thigh. But past that, there was nothing.

     “Sorry about that. We tried to heal it. But it seems that parasite of yours also absorbs magic used on you.”

     “ . . . You didn’t know that before?”

     “We never tried before.” He brought over a bowl of a clear, dark broth. Offering her a spoonful. “Here. Eat.”

     “. . . I don’t understand you.”

     “???”

     “What’re you doing?” Feeding her. Taking care of her. Acting like everything was fine. It was unnerving. How she couldn’t sense any malice in his actions. “I killed a bunch of your researchers. I stabbed you in the neck.”

     He shrugged. “It’s natural to treat my pets kindly, right? Even if they misbehave.”

     “‘Kindly’? You injected me with holy water.”

     “I need to know what hurts you so I can keep it away.”

     “You cut off my leg.”

     “You ran.”

     “You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”

     “No. Not everything. Though I try to.”

     “. . . I’m going to try again you know. You can’t fault me for wanting to escape.”

     “I don’t. I understand it’s only natural to crave freedom.”

     “Exac-”

     “Just as how I hope you understand that it’s only natural that I will do anything to prevent that.”

     “. . .”

     “Lazuli. I don’t know your reasons, however you sold yourself to me. You agreed to trade yourself in exchange for some near priceless family treasures of mine. By our contract, I own you. So . . . it’s expected that should I lose you or you get stolen from me, that I’d be forced to do everything in my power to gain back my investment, right? No matter where or who I need to get it from.”

     She felt a chill down her spine. His voice was not threatening to any extent. No changes in volume, speed or tone that would indicate any form of threat or hostility. No. He spoke this as some innate fact. And the casual way he went about it frightened her more than the fact he’d taken her leg.

     “Though I suppose I don’t need to worry about that anymore. With my mark on you now, I’ll be able to track you no matter where in this world you go. Convenient, isn’t it?”

     “That . . . seems a bit extreme . . .”

     “Is it?”

     “Yeah. It is. I’m not worth that effort. Certainly not the items you traded for me.”

     “Well . . . I disagree. In fact, I think I got a very good deal on you~!”

     “You could find nicer . . . pets elsewhere. Cheaper too. Why spend so much on me?”

     “. . . Because I thought we were similar.”

     He paused. Putting the bowl down, he reached for her hand. His fingers running along faint scars, ignoring her flinch.

     “Did they hurt?”

     “. . . What?”

     “Mine didn’t. I couldn’t feel a thing no matter how many times I tri-”

     “Are you kidding me?”

     “Hm?”

     “You did all this . . . because you’re lonely?”

     “. . . Am I?”