**Finn technically belongs to @cornfedcryptid but I have aunt rights to use them for this **
Loss of Innocence - Grace Seed - New Dawn
It took most of the day for Grace and Finn to make their way to the old abandoned Armory. They barely spoke, they had been raised as siblings, they were the closest of friends but neither of them quite knew how to process the emotions they were about to unearth. They had heard one set of stories from their parents about the events that led to the Collapse, but in the month they had spent with Carmina and her mother in Prosperity most of what they had known about their parents, their family and by extension themselves was called into question. Kim Rye, no matter how well meaning her intentions, had perhaps told too much of the truth to the pair. Not fully considering that they probably had no idea of the extent that their family had a chokehold over the county.
Pulling up outside the bunker, Grace threw the truck into park and as she turned to Finn. “Are you sure you want to go inside?”
“Am I ten years old, Grace Lynn?” Finn quipped sharply as they pursed their lips and ran their hand nervously through their short dark hair. “I mean, how bad could Dad have really been? Really... our dad... some monster?”
Grace pondered what Finn had said. Her crisp blue eyes fell upon the dash as she muttered. “Well, it can’t be worse than what Kim said and you are right.” Grace shrugged. The Jacob Seed who raised her was a strict parent, sure. He taught her to shoot as soon as she was big enough to hold a rifle. But he was not some violent monster who wanted to kill anything he deemed weak and unworthy. That wasn’t her ‘dad’. “Dad was a solider, sure he killed people... but it was war right?”
“Right? Dad always said there are casualties in a war and we accept that,” Finn repeated far more solemn than Grace had recalled seeing them in years. The pair exited in the truck and their respective animals followed suit. Timber at Grace’s heels. Mango taking her time as she padded behind Finn.
They took their time getting into the Armory, it had seen better days and there were dangers around every corner. “SHIT!” Grace screamed as she walked directly into a spider web with a scream.
Finn started cackling behind her clutching their pieced together saw launcher. “Well look where you are going dumbass.”
“Listen, I am still bigger than you...” Grace snapped quickly, wiping her face to get the rest of the web off. “I will fucking whomp you one right quick if you don’t knock it off...”
“Rawr...” Finn mocked as they waggled their head.
Grace’s eyes narrowed on her sibling for a moment before she glanced down at Timber and scratched his head. “You are now my favorite family member Timmy... and ya know what... you always should have been.”
Finn scoffed and thew their head back “How dare you, you wound me sister... WOUND ME!” They clutch their hands to their chest and mock being fatally wounded. At the gesture Mango, the cougar, rolls on to her back and puts her paws into the air. Faking her own death.
Grace and Timber just share a glance before Grace shakes her head and continues down the hall. “Come on Finn, before the rats find us..”
“RATS?” Finn squeaked, stopping their show and chasing after Grace who was already a good distance away. “Sister! Don’t leave me, please for the love of Christmas...” Grace rolled her eyes as Finn settled beside her and Timber, reaching down and scratching the dog’s head.
It took them nearly a half hour to reach what they assumed was once Jacob’s office, or rather one of them. It for the most part was fairly intact. There were still papers in folders on top of a file cabinet and Grace wasted no time to start her search. “Look in the desk, remember Dad always hid the stuff he didn’t want us to find.”
“All the way in the back, usually behind other stuff. I know, Gracie... I lived with him too.” Finn sighed as settled in the ratty chair and started pulling open the drawers and rifling around.
Silence fell upon them once more, each going about their search till Finn found a small wooden box. “Hey... look.” They said setting the box on the desk. “Remember didn’t we have a music box kinda like this, I mean...” When they noticed Grace was off in her own head again they wadded up a piece of paper from the desk and tossed it at her. “Eh... you... with the face.”
Grace spun around and shook her head. “What?”
“Come look at this, it looks like the music box we had in the bunker. Remember when we were small and innocent and you wore dresses.” Finn snarked, tapping the wooden box.
Crossing the room Grace leaned on the desk as she reached for the box and flicked it open. A familiar tune began to play and both teens eyes grew wide as they instantly recognized that song. In shock Grace dropped the music box and Finn pushed back from the desk. They both acted as if that was the most cursed object in the world.
Pointing at each other they each began to talk over each other till they fell on the same phrase. “That’s the song dad sang at bedtime...” They both instantly started humming it almost out of reflex before they each clasped their hands over their mouths. Taking a moment for their minds to catch up, the pair began tearing the office apart, finding more and more of the information they didn’t want to find but searched for desperately.
An hour into their search they each sat on the floor in utter disbelief. Finn was shaking their head as Grace stared at the wall completely numb, with faded photographs of Jacob’s operations in her hands. “So...my actual... parents... were the fucking public face of this cult and the people that raised me basically had their own fucking brainwashed super solider army...” Grace said flatly. Her voice devoid of all emotion because she was unable to process all of them that she was feeling at once.
“How? These aren’t mom and dad... they aren’t,” Finn choked out, far more upset than Grace had ever expected to see the normally light-hearted Finn. “Even... Peaches... and look... Judge...” They said shoving a pair of photographs attached to files across the floor.
Graces shook her head, she had enough. “I can’t do this Finn.. we are fucking born and raised by monsters...” Grace screamed. “I can’t. This... this is not the person I am Finn... I am...”
Finn scrambled to their feet and went to embrace Grace but she pushed them away. “Hey, you ever think I could use the fucking hug...”
Turning around Grace sighed and wrapped her arms around her younger sibling. They stood there, holding each other for a moment and in the quiet Grace heard a noise. Instantly they both dropped everything else and turned to their weapons. “Someone followed us...” Grace whispered as she went to the door. She could hear footsteps in the hall.
Bringing her finger to her lips, she set her rifle down opting for a quieter and personal approach. Tapping her thigh, both Mango and Timber crouched down with her, with Finn following behind as Grace snuck up behind the shadowed figure and drove her knife into their neck. She wasn’t about chance just wounding them, all for the sake of asking questions. Mango spotted a second figure and pounced with a snarl.
The man she mauled let out a horrified scream as the two hundred pound beast settled herself on his chest. This one, Grace would let live to talk for now. Finn walked up behind Mango and scratched her ears. “Good job, mama…” They cooed as Grace knelt down beside the man.
Her face covered in blood as she tilted her head to the side to look the man in the eyes, she asked. “Who sent you?”
The man choked as he gasped for breath. “Ethan...Seed…”
“Oh yay, more family…” Finn grumbled sarcastically as they patted Mango to move.
The man gasped for breath as Grace put her knife to his throat. “What does he want with us?”
“To bring you to New Eden… to find… the Father…”
“OH FUCK THAT SHIT!” Finn exclaimed, throwing their hands up. “Oh hell no! No! I said No! Grace… don’t you dare get a single fucking idea…” Finn knew where their sister’s mind was already going as she drove the blade into the side of the man’s neck with a sicking squelch that made Finn cringe and turn their head away. “Jesus…”
Grace looked up and smirked. “It’s time to go kill some peggies, Finn…”
“And what if we fail?” They asked sharply. “What happens then…”
“Then, we hope that Timber can get home and find dad… or they are dumb enough to leave us with in ten feet of anything sharp…” Finn grumbled and nodded their head as they ran back to clear all the weapons off the bodies before they went outside to face the rest of the hunting party that was searching for them.
