My hands clench tightly as I stare at the thick metal door. Beyond it is the cell that contains Miasma: the Hybrid that me, Elisabeth, and Alicia detained.
Although I want to...see her for myself, that sense of self-doubt has reformed into a swallowing abyss.
“It’s not too late to back out, lad.” Godfrey says to me, the centaur-like hybrid looking at me through the visor of his helmet. “If you’re having second thoughts, I recommend leaving her be.”
“Quiet.” Honora hushes him. The Infernape looking back at me, smiling a reassuring smile. “This is your choice, Chevalier. But I do must ask. Are you ready?”
“T-Truthfully?” I say quietly, my fangs threatening to grind against one another. “N-Not really, but...” I swallow a growing lump in my throat. “...I still want to do this.”
Honora nods her head slowly. “Alright...” She approaches the cell door, pulling out her keycard. She brings it towards the electric lock, only to pause just before she swipes it. “Just...” She starts, her gaze drifting to me once more. “...Keep in mind again, she’s not in a good mental state. If she reacts badly, don’t take it personally...”
Godrey raises his lance-arm, the sharp weapon glinting in the artificial light. “And if the situation escalates beyond our control, I must escort you out.” He warns me, but his tone softens. “However...I do hope you know what you’re doing, lad.”
I wish I did too...
“I u-understand.” I say to them both, my gaze unable to meet their eyes.
“Well, now that’s out of the way...” Honora shakes her head before swiping the card, the lock makes an audible beep upon recognizing the keycard and thus unlocks said door. After stashing the card she pulls the door open and gestures for me to walk inside.
Alright...here it goes...
Tucking my wings in I walk into the room, my mind focusing entirely on keeping whatever composure I have left secured. The...last thing I need is to have another breakdown...
Once inside, the room itself I see is...not too large. The first thing I notice is a small table and chair in front of me, but beyond that is a wall of what looks to be incredibly thick metal. There is a large pane of glass in said wall to grant vision to the interior of the cell, and there’s a solid metal door off to the side that acts as the entrance to and from said cell.
But when I look at the one who’s currently contained, I feel my breath catch.
Miasma...
The four legs on her back each have what looks like large blocks of metal covering her blades, each with a chain that’s attached to the walls of the chamber. Her wrists and ankles are also bound together with metal cuffs, ultimately showing to me that every limb of hers is prevented from moving. Her hood and mask is gone as well as...pretty much any clothing for that matter.
Her cell does have things like a toilet in a corner, but I see no bed or chairs. In fact...it looks like she has no furnishing of any kind, and even if she did...she wouldn’t be able to reach it to begin with since her bonds keep her tight in place. This ultimately forces her to do nothing else but sit in the center of her cell, since...well...she’s incapable of doing anything else.
Honora noticed my horrified expression, seeing how quickly spoke up. “We were left no choice.” She whispers to me. “She was way too dangerous to even roam her cell, so we’re forced to keep her chained until things like...restroom breaks.” She rubs her sides with her free hand. “But even then that requires complete supervision...”
But...that’s still...horrible...
Hearing quiet whispering, Miasma looks up. “Back so soon?” She hisses angrily, her dark blue eyes burning with anger. “How quaint, are you now starting to take pity in m-” Her voice cuts out the second she notices me.
In that moment, I see a mass of emotions fluctuate on her face.
Surprise.
Confusion.
Anger.
...
Lots...and lots of anger...
“YOU!” She shrieks at me, her body immediately lurching towards my direction. However her bonds hold strong, preventing her from even moving an inch.
I flinch at this, taking a step back. Already I’m regretting this entire thing tenfold, regretting every single decision I’ve made that lead up to this point.
“YOU DARE SHOW YOURSELF TO ME?! TO ME?!?!” She screams, thrashing violently against her chains. “WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU POSSIBLY HAVE TO BE HERE?!” She thrashes even harder, her teeth biting so hard that I can almost hear the grinding noise over the chains. “TO GLOAT?! TO LORD OVER ME?! TO TELL ME HOW YOU BESTED ME?!” Her eyes narrow to slits. “TO TELL ME TO CEASE FIGHTING?! I WILL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!”
The entire time my body has been rapidly backpedaling, but before I knew it my back hits the wall behind me. My eyes are completely wide, my breathing becoming rapid as panic starts to set in.
I didn’t mean for this to happen! I didn’t think she’d react this way! This was a mistake! I shouldn’t have come here at all! Stupid stupid stupid stupid STUPID!
“SPEAK!” She continues to scream at me. “ANSWER ME!”
Godfrey steps into the room, his lance starting to glow as he channels heat into it. “That is enough!” He shouts. “Miasma, silence yourself immediately!”
“ANSWER ME!” She screams again at me, spittle flying from her mouth. “ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!”
Everything is closing in on me. My insecurities, my regrets, everything. The hopeless feeling that all of my fears are coming true.
Tears start to stream down my face. “I-I-I-” I try to speak, but my voice starts cutting out before the words could even form.
“THEN IT IS TO LORD OVER ME!” Miasma continues, her thrashing causing the areas around her legs to bruise. “YOU FILTHY CREATURE, I WILL REND YOU!”
“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Godfrey yells, raising his now white-hot lance. He turns his head to me, his eyes hardening. “Chevalier, you must leave immediately!”
No! No no no no no! This isn’t what’s supposed to happen! Everything is going so wrong! I just wanted to check to see if she’s okay and ask how she’s feeling and see if I can do anything to help her and-
Gritting my teeth so hard I turn and smash my fist into the wall beside me so hard that I feel the bones in my knuckles break, causing an agonizingly sharp pain to course through it.
“I WANTED TO SEE IF YOU WERE OKAY!” I scream back, the power in my voice fueled by the terror my mind is experiencing and the pain my fist is feeling.
Suddenly...everything falls quiet. Miasma’s rage-filled screams are gone, the thrashing chains are still, it all stopped.
Trying my best to not break down from the pain in my fist I look at the cell, only for the flowing tears to make my vision blurry. I can’t wipe them away because my free hand is clenching my broken fist tightly, leaving me to do nothing but stand there hopelessly.
“See...if I’m okay?” I hear Miasma’s voice say. Although her tone is quiet, I can hear the disbelief and anger in it. “You.... You fucking fool, what do you obviously think?!” I hear the sharp rattle of chains again, but only briefly. “You took everything away from me. You took my home, my family, my daughter. You took it all...AWAY! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I AM OKAY?!”
I breathe in deeply through my mouth as I crumple to my knees from the pain, holding my broken fist close to my chest. “They...were not yours to begin with.” I say to her, doing everything I can to not let my voice choke. “That town was not your home. Those spiders were not your family. That Riolu was not your daughter.” The pain forces me to reel over, my body writhing as I’m finding it more and more difficult to tolerate it. “They were not yours. But that’s not...why...I’m here.”
I clench my eyes shut, baring my teeth. “When we...beat you, you were dying. I wanted to save you because...you were like me when the GoT found me. You looked like you were alone. You looked like you had no one to be with you. You looked like you had no idea on what to do. You looked...lost” My body bends down, writhing from the torture of my self-afflicted agony. “I-I wanted t-to help y-you. You didn’t d-deserve w-w-what happened t-to you. E-e-everything w-was taken a-away from y-y-you. T-the HWDP t-took your i-i-identity. They t-t-took it a-all a-away. I j-j-just c-couldn’t-” My voice cuts out, replaced with pained breathes as I can’t focus anymore.
It hurts so much. Why did I do it?! I broke my own fist by punching a solid metal wall.
Stupid stupid stu-
My breathing catches as I feel something metal slide under my head as well as a hand under my body. The sensation of being lifted up immediately follows, as well as the firm voice of Godrey speaking. “He needs immediate medical attention!” He says, presumably to Honora. All I know is that due to the close proximity of his voice, he’s...the one carrying me.
A rushed sense of movement follows as well as the loud clops of his footstep, signifying that he’s quickly carrying me out.
N-no! I’m not d-done! I don’t want to end it this way!!
I didn’t want for this to end...like this...at all...
But I couldn’t say anything, I just...couldn’t...
I could only lay helplessly in his grip as he carries me out to the medical ward...
[PoV: Miasma]
When the Infernape closes the door behind her, the entire room is empty once more.
I continue to glare at the door, my fangs gritting together. That Hybrid’s words continue to repeat in my mind, and they make me angrier all the while.
I pull at my chains, despite knowing how futile the action is.
“We are nothing alike.” I hiss. “To hell with his damn claims, he knows absolutely NOTHING!”
My glare turns to my bonds, the shiny metal holding just as fast as it did when they first clasped them upon me.
“I was rebuilding everything, to take what I rightfully DESERVE.” I continue to seethe. “It belonged to me, ALL of it did! He ruined it, he took it all away from me!”
My breathing grows heavy as I feel tears well in my eyes.
“I...was starting to recover, I had a safe place. I was in control, I had everything I wanted...only for it all to be taken away.”
My body slumps, yet the bonds keep it upright.
“Who is he to make such accusations...?” I say quietly, unable to do anything to the small trickles on my face.
I eye the pair of doors hesitantly, starting to regret my choice on coming here.
I thankfully managed to escape Elisabeth’s grip a little while ago and came up with an excuse to not go with her to see this cyborg, and I had to come up with another excuse for Alicia to not go along with me.
It’s...not often that I go to places by myself, especially since one of the two (especially Alicia) insists on accompanying me. I...don’t really mind it most cases, in fact I greatly appreciate it. But...what I want to do right now? It’s...something I think would be best done without them.
...
Or at least...I thought.
Before me lay the locked doors of the containment hall, where dangerous individuals are held in order to prevent them from harming others.
...
I...am really beginning to regret my decision.
The only reason why I’m standing right here is because of one person, the one my team and I defeated.
Miasma.
Even after all she did, I...still feel bad for her. I empathize with her, how her experience and fear drove her to the extremes she did. She wanted a safe place, so she began taking everything to create said safe place.
Even...if it involved taking an entire town.
...
I hug myself, feeling increasingly reluctant.
This...is probably a bad idea. No, it IS a bad idea. Why did I even think it would be good? What am I going to do? Talk to her? I’m not even good at talking with those I know well! That and she probably despises me, since I’m the one responsible for getting her captured in the first place!
Not to mention how am I even gonna get inside? Only specific people can enter and leave, so how can I even get to her?
Yeah... I should just go back and forget this entire thing... What am I even thinking? Leave it to Chevalier, thinking of the worst ideas possi-
The doors in front of me beep before suddenly opening, causing me to jump. Stepping out is are two individuals, both of which I recognize.
The taller one draws my attention first, being no other than Godrey. The Bisharp centaur stops, his eyes widening somewhat with surprise under the visor of his ‘helmet’.
The other individual is the first to speak however.
“Chevalier? What brings you here?”
That voice belongs to no other than Honora, one of the individuals responsible for rehabilitating victims of the HWDP. She is an Infernape of lean stature, her ‘uniform’ merely consisting of a two-piece outfit that share the colors of the GoT. Tucked under her armpit is a clipboard, and her expression is also one of surprise.
I...am actually kinda lucky that she’s the one to show up. While although Euterpe also works in rehabilitating hybrids, Honora specializes in dealing with ‘unruly’ hybrids, like...Miasma. And...she’s also one of the approved people to enter and leave the containment hall freely.
But... Why do I feel that I’m not so...lucky?
“Come now, Chevalier. There is no need to be silent.” Godrey chuckles before taking a step forward. This makes me flinch, my wings instinctively wrapping around me.
The Infernape raises a hand before the centaur, making him pause. She then looks at me with a soft smile. “You are not in trouble, Chevalier. But if I may ask, why are you here?”
I...really wish I was small now, small enough to disappear.
“I...” I start weakly, not sure on how to even speak. “I...w-w...” I could only glance helplessly at the hallway behind them, not sure on how to voice out what I wish. I...don’t normally have this much difficulty talking to other guild members, but...being suddenly caught in this situation... I...don’t know what to do... Normally I would rehearse this scenario over and over until I have at least an ounce of confidence, but to have it suddenly thrown at me?
I...feel very lost...
She glances behind her before looking at me again, however she doesn’t seem to understand due to the confusion on her face. “It’s okay, Chevalier. Why don’t we all walk together? That way you can speak when you’re comfortable enough.”
The two just begin to walk towards me, but I immediately throw my hands up. “N-NO!” I shout, surprising both them and myself.
No, I can’t let them walk away, otherwise the doors will close. And if the doors close, it...will make asking them even...more difficult for me.
Come ON Chevalier, SPEAK!
“I...” I start, my face tensing under the mental strain of forcing myself to talk. “...n-need to go in there.” With a hand I weakly gesture to the hall behind them.
The two balk at me, Godrey however is the quickest to recover. “Absolutely not!” He says sharply. “Dear Chevalier, I don’t believe you understand-”
Honora once again raises her hand, but this time glares at the centaur.
I found myself hiding my face again with my wings, caused from Godrey’s outburst. I grit my fangs, despising myself for how weak willed I am.
“Why do you want to go in there, Chevalier?” Honora asks quietly, making me slowly open my wings to look at her.
Her face is as calm as ever, her smile sweet and understanding. She’s looking at me patiently, waiting for me to respond when I’m ready.
This makes me grit my teeth more, frustrated at my difficulty in saying even a simple sentence.
I’m not in trouble, they’re not mad at me. They just want to know why I’m here, and why I want in there. It’s an understandable curiosity, I don’t blame them for wanting to know.
But...why...is...it...so...DIFFICULT?!
COME ON!
SPEAK!
“I...need...to...” I say through gritted teeth, almost physically fighting to let those words out. “...see...Miasma.” My legs suddenly feel weak, making my knees wobble as I try to hold myself up.
I...did it...
The Infernape opens and closes her mouth, genuinely surprised. Eventually she places her free arm on her hip, her expression becoming contemplative.
Godfrey turns his head somewhat, his eyes narrowing a tad. “If...I also may ask...” He begins, this time more slowly and calmly. “Why do you wish to see her?”
I shrug my shoulders, only to immediately wince afterwords. No, I can’t act like I don’t know. Otherwise they won’t let me.
I...need to tell the truth.
...
No matter how hard it is.
...
I breathe in sharply, gritting my teeth again. “To...see if she’s...o-okay...” I let out, my voice strained.
The two blink again.
“That...is very thoughtful of you, Chevalier.” Honora says quietly, yet her smile grows unsure. “However...I don’t think now is the best time.”
I feel my breath catch in my throat. “W-Why?” I stutter.
“Let’s just say...” Godfrey responds lowly. “The girl is not in the best state of mind.”
Is this it then? I won’t be able to see her?
...
I clench my hands into fists.
No... Stay strong, Chevalier. Keep pushing.
“I...still want to...s-see her.” I press, my body shuddering as the words leave my mouth.
The two share a glance. Eventually Honora looks at me, her body tensing slightly. “Well...” She starts, but eventually said tension leaves her form with a sigh. “Alright, Chevalier. You can see her.”
I suddenly feel as if a weight just left my shoulders. However before the feeling fully sets in, Honora continues.
“But...you need to be careful.” She warns me. “She is...very upset, understandably so. So if she doesn’t react well when she sees you, just...” She mulls over the next set of words carefully before continuing. “...don’t take it personally, okay?”
I nod my head uncertainly. “O-okay...”
Godfrey shakes his head, muttering quietly about how ‘this isn’t a good idea’. Regardless the centaur backs up into the hallway before turning around. Honora follows after him, beckoning me to follow.
Even though I finally got what I wanted, I still hesitate as the two walk down. In the end, I’m still unsure with the whole thing. But...there’s no backing out now.
Mentally steeling myself I walk through, entering the gigantic hall.
The ‘containment hall’ is lined with thick metal doors, designed to keep its occupants inside. If...I remember correctly, there’s thankfully only a few people being held here. Most cases those in these cells are HWDP hybrids who are far too violent to go with ‘standard rehabilitation procedures’, the best examples being the two newest Hybrids: Rook and Miasma.
I’ve heard only a little bit on that draconic Bisharp hybrid from the Floral Triad, but...he’s not what I’m here for.
As the two of us walk past the numerous doors, something ahead of us makes me freeze.
Standing guard next to one of the cell doors is a machine, specifically a robot.
Said robot possesses a tall, thin body with two arms. One arm ends in a rifle-like gun with an ammo-belt that feeds into the weapon, on the other arm is a smaller gun that possesses needles that occasionally crackle with electricity. The machine has four spider-like legs at its base, and its ‘face’ consists of a pair of cameras that occasionally refocus.
I...recognize that machine, there used to be a few of them located at the HWDP facility I was contained.
I...also watched them brutally kill a Hybrid that tried to escape them.
Why...
Why...is it here?!
Honora seemed to have noticed that I wasn’t following them, my expression being like a Deerling in headlights.
“It’s okay Chevalier, it won’t hurt you!” She says quickly, snapping me out of my fear-induced stupor.
With a shaky hand I point at it. “W-Why is that thing h-here?!”
“We took it from one of our raids on an HWDP facility.” Godfrey responds to me. “Worry not, Chevalier. Jarvis controls it.”
That...is...actually a lot more assuring...
Jarvis is a Hybrid like me, and he’s...very good with technology...
So if the Porygon-Z hybrid is controlling it, then...it...should be...safe?
Honora looks at the machine, her expression turning to disgust when her gaze focuses on its weapons. “I still think the thing should’ve been destroyed.” She mutters. “Evolutia is no place for such death devices.”
The machine suddenly turns its gaze to the Infernape, making her flinch as the barrels of the weapons point at her general direction. Nothing comes from it however, since the machine resumes its sweeping scans.
“I share the same sediment.” Godrey nods in agreement. “Yet...it does have its uses, such as guarding this chamber without the need of other men and women.”
Honora rubs her eyes with her fingers. “Yeah... Regardless, Miasma’s cell is a little further down. Let’s keep going.”
The two continue forward, walking past the machine.
I still eye the machine warily. An inner, less rational part of me is wondering if it’s suddenly open fire on me the moment I walk into its field of view, DESPITE the reassurance that Jarvis is controlling it. I grit my teeth and forcefully push said feeling away, knowing that I’m just making myself look like an even greater idiot at this point.
Taking in another breath I hurriedly follow after them, trying my best to not look at the machine.
As I walk past it, through the corners of my eyes I notice it turn itself completely around...as if to make sure that its weapons aren’t pointing at my direction.
...
I stop, my fear replaced with confusion as I look at it.
It...didn’t do that with Honora and Godrey, why is it doing that with me?
The machine turns slightly, using the edges of its cameras to gaze at me. Using its body it gestures with its weapon towards the direction where Honora and Godfrey went, as if urging me to follow them.
...Jarvis?
Seeing the realization on my face, the machine merely bobs itself on its four legs slightly before continuing to urge me to follow.
At this point...I couldn’t help but smile, for the first time I’ve decided to come here.
Feeling much better than I originally was, I quickly follow after the two.
