Night Island is holding its breath. Claudia becomes Akasha's sword in a killing field where the dead won't stop looking at her. And in a cellar that hasn't seen daylight in decades, the truth about Tokyo finally comes out.
If you've ever wanted to watch Claudia — survivor, daughter, victim of her own fucking consequences — face her ugly truths and take on the mantle of divine retribution, this is your chapter, babies!
"You know, you were mine first." The words are barely audible on this end. Not when everything around her beat so heavily upon her senses. Yet, if she ignored her body, her skin and nerves, however frayed, and she kept her eyes shut? It was only Daniel. Only her eye of the hurricane. "In San Francisco. I picked you out for him, for us."
Daniel's brow crinkles as his hands fall to her sides. Honing in, she sees the beads of sweat forming on his face. The strain of his untrained mind holding onto her for dear life. It takes a moment, a few seconds, as if her words are muffled and hard to translate. His head tilts, eyes peering away from them, and Claudia realizes he's not there. Not really.
Daniel is far away, hopefully someplace safe, but it is their souls that greet one another. A folding of that liminal space. She must be doing it herself, yanking the cords so roughly he stands there before her.
"Yeah, okay, but it's tit for tat, right? You can't slap a bumper sticker on me and call it a done deal. If I'm yours, you're mine," He concedes, a wary glance paid to her shifting one, but he holds her attention. The warmth in her belly signals sweet possibilities and a haven left after so much death.
She nods, albeit minutely. Blinking away her tears, she finds the strength to nod again more definitively. Claudia reaches out, wrapping her arms around him, and she squeezes him tight. He pulls her close, not hesitating for a second. His lips find her head, and a hand rubs soothing circles along her back.
"Can't leave my best friend out in the dark, now can I?" He muses gently into her ear. It hurts, it hurts so prettily. Claudia thinks the pain too precious to be anything but righteous. "Even if you're a giant pain in all our asses."
