"Alright, let's go," Lynx sighed and stepped into the exit tunnel with a final glance back. Elijah and J each grabbed one of the back pockets on her pants, closing their eyes and measuring their breaths as Lynx pushed forward, slowly, taking a deep breath herself.
"Come on." She reaffirmed, sucking in a breath and walking faster.
"If it's worth anything," J muttered behind her, grip tightening. "I don't see you as a demon. Demons don't help people, let alone when it hurts them-"
"Forgive him," Elijah cut in, whispering. "He's got a warped, antiquated view on what angels and demons are-"
"Why should it mean anything else?" J shrugged. "Nowadays, demon and angel mean nothing; just another kind of people."
"Mn. Let's get out of here. Thanks," Lynx added in a soft whisper, sighing and pushing on.
"We'll be in the gray zone soon. Do you really think we'll make it out?" Elijah's voice was breathless, shallow, and Lynx glanced back at him with an apologetic smile.
"Not sure. Book?"
"I'll chime in if I must… but I'd like to guess that things are going to be okay," the muffled voice came from her pocket with a dry chuckle. "I did tell you, though- I don't want to step in if I don't have to; I revel in the not knowing, didn't I mention that?"
"Mm. You're kind of a jerk."
"Because I refuse to solve every problem for you? I am but an observer, and I have given you kindness when it suits me. Now, focus up, cat." The book fell silent, and Lynx grit her teeth, continuing on.
"Remember, you two," She whispered to the two men holding her pockets. "The illusions will come for you, too. Eyes closed, and whatever you hear, ignore it. No matter who, or what you think you hear."
"Got it. Eyes are closed," Eli whispered.
"I trust you," J whispered, voice shaking, and Lynx swallowed, silencing herself and continuing on. When she opened her mouth, let her tongue flick, it was like opening a third eye; she could taste so many foreign things, so many new and nameless scents; there was despair and hope and pain and agony; the dying traces of souls long since gone from here, but they blended in well with the scraps of hope under mountains of despair from the two men behind her.
Suddenly, the landscape shifted; not a sewer tunnel at all. As if a switch had been flicked, she was standing in a… a generic, homely kitchen; clean and polished, with a comfortable dining table and a few plates of food.
"Hey," A voice from her left, and Alice smiled, pushing through. No new scents; Lynx swung, hard, and the house blinked away, again, leaving the dark tunnels and a vaguely-humanoid creature that looked like clay collapsing without a sound without a head. Lynx's bat dripped, and she winced, flicking the clay off against a wall as best she could.
"Good," She whispered, and pushed on.
"Lynx, talk to me, please," J whispered, voice trembling. "It's my parents,"
"Your parents aren't here," Lynx snarled, looking around; no more of those clay creatures. So the illusions could pose a real threat, but don't have to. Got it. "Come on J, stay with me. If your parents are alive and well, they don't know you're-"
"Lynx, I can't hear you-!!" There was terror in his voice, and Elijah winced. "I can still feel your pocket, please don't stop moving!!"
"How are you feeling Elijah?"
"Got nobody I love and no real hope of making it out. Still doesn't feel real. I… I don't think she can mess with my head."
"Good to hear," She muttered. "Keep a grip on J's arm for me, would you?"
"Already am. Don't want this kid to do anything reckless. We're leaving the gray, now, and entering her domain. I won't lie, and say that I believe in you- but it would be nice if I was wrong."
"Yeah, wouldn't it?" Lynx laughed drily, shaking her head, pushing on.
"Lynx," Alice sighed, falling into step beside her, and Lynx turned faster than she could track with her eyes, bat sailing through nothing and nearly hitting the floor. Since throwing the spear through Decem's head, she felt stronger, somehow; Strong like a demon, not a human. I'll have to be careful not to break my own arm.
Alice's image, having dissolved like smoke, now appeared in front of her, walking backward. "Okay, okay, listen, what about a compromise? I've been without a proper meal for ages; let me have the two men and I let you make a run for it? You'll be gone before I've even moved on to the second, just leave them right here, I'm coming, okay?"
"Kill yourself," Lynx snarled and hacked through the illusion again, which, this time, dissolved into a muddy puddle as the homunculus before had, leaving the tunnel empty. Oh. She said she's coming. Shit.
"Faster," Lynx shuddered and hurried up, slipping down a branching hallway and opening her mouth, inhaling. There was a new scent; one of rot and decay, disease, but it wasn't coming from here; she'd been on course to collide with it before. Cat and mouse- cept I'm the cat and- ugh, never mind, Lynx thought, shaking her head and hurrying on.
"Hey Lynx," Elijah laughed, as they started to jog properly, still man handling J, who shook his head, eyes unfocused, whining. "Just remember I never really planned on this being a success."
"What? Don't have that attitude."
"Just saying; if I see a chance to die and it means you'll escape, I'm taking it. I'm useless up there, but you've got things to return to."
"It won't come to that," Lynx muttered, pushing on; that scent was growing stronger, and dread filled her chest; she didn't want to see the true form of whatever it was. The scent shifted; ahead of her again, a nauseating wave of pestilence, and Lynx pivoted again, shoving into a maintenance tunnel, dragging the two men along behind her; she'd expected this to be awkward, but aside from the tugging at her pants, they did a good job not slowing her down.
"If it does come to that, though-"
"It won't."
"Alright," Elijah chuckled. "Just, it's no shock that I'm the only one who's hardly affected; she can rip me limb from limb, but she can't mess with-" His voice cut out as Lynx turned a corner, sucking in a deep breath; back in the dorms at CA. The scents of baked goods and sweat reached her, and for a moment, she froze; the angel on one end of the room was screaming slurs at her teammates in some sort of shooting game again, and Aurelia lounged against one wall, grinning with her arms crossed.
"You're back-"
"Nope. I'm not," Lynx snarled and clamped her eyes shut, sucking in a sharp breath; and she didn't immediately understand the wave of warmth that washed over her, mixing with the rot, the pain. It was hope, it was warmth, it was cinnamon rolls and moments shared by the fire- but it was far away.
"Come on," She whispered, keeping her eyes closed, and charged forward again, tail lashing, running a hand along the wall and sucking in labored breaths, minding the scents, picturing them; and then, it began to form an image in her head.
Gray mist around the floors, lingering on the walls; with her eyes closed, she could… I can see-
The smoke reeked of hope long since crushed, but it coated the walls, the ceiling… more importantly, that warmth, that coffee with lovers, that tea on the mountaintop sort of scent; she could almost see it in her mind's eye, like golden dust on the ground, beckoning her on. Keeping her eyes closed, stumbling on a hole in the floor, Lynx pressed on, eyes closed.
The smoke helped until it didn't; dispersing, all but vanishing. She opened her eyes and looked around, teeth gritting once again; they'd run into a massive round room, like a Silo, and the only door out was about thirty paces over her head, with a ladder reaching the first eight or so before jagged edges where the metal had been broken, by something or another.
She moved to turn around, and watched as Alice smiled and walked into the tunnel with Nara, Aerendyl.
"Save your breath; you aren't real!" Lynx snarled, twirling her bat.
"You're right, we aren't," Aerendyl agreed, stretching. "Would it be so wrong to say that I'm curious?"
"Yeah? About what?" Lynx snapped, looking around; no other exits but the one they blocked. They posed no scent- just illusions, but they could be those damned clay dolls, and I don't want to throw my weapon checking. Need to be careful, I'm pinned, and I got J and Elijah to look out for as well.
"Why do you want to live? Surely it can't be to return to a mentally ill snow-haired nympho and a fox girl who still fears it's illegal to kiss another woman. Your drive; it's confusing, it makes no sense!" The Aerendyl laughed, and Alice leaned on his shoulder, winking.
"We can make your death feel nice, at least," Alice offered. "I mean, you can rest your head on my lap, it can look like your bedroom, it can look like anything!"
"Demon of fear, right? Why would you offer a… gentle killing? Isn't this about the game?" Lynx snapped back. "The hunt?"
"You think I asked to be cursed with a need for living flesh? I can't die, and the only way I can sate myself is by ripping people who wander down here apart," Alice huffed, frowning, and Nara took over.
"You see," She cut in almost elegantly. "Lynx, it is true that I could kill every mortal here- and then what? I'd be full for a few months… and never again, to eat from there. It makes no sense; killing them off is a short term solution. Much better to feast on those who lack the common sense not to venture out; I'm not evil, I'm cursed. I didn't want this; and I am just oh, so hungry… so please, I'll be gentle."
"Just," Alice sighed, rolling her eyes. "Come here and give me a kiss, my Lynx?"
"Like hell."
"I mean I get it," Aerendyl sighed. "Then… well, hey. I tried to be gentle," he chuckled, and the illusions vanished… and Lynx? Her heart almost stopped; the demoness was nothing like what she'd expected.
Eighty or ninety feet long, the centipede moved somehow silently, forcing itself out of the tunnel and climbing onto a wall; it wasted no time on monologues, launching itself immediately.
"J, ELIJAH, STICK TIGHT TO ME!! NEED TO OPEN YOUR EYES!!" Lynx screamed, rolling sideways as the creature's legs skated past her head, slicing her cheek and getting rid of a sideburn as she climbed to her feet.
"HOLD ON!!" Elijah screamed, raising his arms and looking up at the centipede. "What if I just let you have me? Would you let the other two go?"
"I'd let one of them go," The demoness's voice wasn't in her head, this time, but boomed through the room with such force Lynx's ears pasted back and her hands flew to cover them. "I would. As I said, I am a starving creature, but it does not bring me joy, the hunt-"
"Liar," Lynx snarled, grabbing Elijah and running, practically dragging J by the jacket. The younger man was shaking, silent, with tears tracking down his cheeks and a wet spot in his jeans, growing by the second.
"Hey! What if she's telling the truth?!" Elijah shouted, and lynx hurried faster, pulling them along the way they'd come.
"She's not, dumbass!!! She appeared as my girlfriend to scare the hell out of me like five times; she just wants to eat you and let me run, then hunt me down after I think I'm safe!!!"
"YOU-!!!" The strangely effeminate voice behind them screeched, and Lynx shuddered, hearing concrete crunch and collapse as the tunnel behind them began to fill.
"RUN, DAMNIT!!! YOU DYING HERE WON'T DO A GODS DAMNED THING FOR US!!!"
"M-My head!!" J shouted, sobbing. "I can't see anything!! I mean, it's d-dark, but no more hallucinations!!"
Is she unable to use her physical strength and magical powers at the same time?!
"JUST KEEP MOVING!!" Lynx screamed, slowing her sprint to make sure she didn't spring past them. On my own, I could outpace that giant thing; it's so quiet-
Behind them, sounds of metal rending and concrete being scraped apart, but the bug itself was silent; when she glanced back, though, it was still coming, and slowly gaining.
"WE ARE GOING TO LEAVE- BACK OFF!!!" She screamed, pouring every ounce of desperation and desire into her plea that she could, but all that came from behind was a laugh.
"You hope to appeal to my MERCY, cat?! I HAVE BEEN ALONE HERE OVER A HUNDRED YEARS!!!!" The demoness screeched, angry, and Lynx pushed on, swallowing, slipping through a door and praying, as she slammed it, there was more than but one exit.
"J. Get on Elijah's back."
"Wha-"
"Just do it, trust me," Lynx muttered, and shoved J into Elijah. The teen climbed deftly, albeit clumsily, onto Elijah's back, hugging his neck, and Lynx knelt, already looking around. Two other doors out, perfect; and one was hanging by its hinges, open. Eli, taking the hint, climbed onto her back, and Lynx stood, taking off as the door behind her burst open, yelping as a chunk of steel gashed her hip, but darting off regardless.
"HOLD ON TIGHT," She screamed, and bolted as if her life depended on it. Behind her, rending metal, shattering and clicking and ripping but the thing itself, uncomfortably as ever, made no noise as it traveled. Gods, this'd be less unsettling if she just had teeth gnashing, bones clicking- anything-
Ah, forgot that, Lynx wheezed as one of the claw homunculi shoulder checked her from the side and sent her staggering, yelping as she fell, pain exploding through her ankle and right side. J and Elijah tumbled, rolling several paces away, and Lynx watched in horror as the shifting, scaly mass that was the centipede wrestled its way through the tunnel, coming closer, that same booming voice filling the tunnel.
"Listen, I tried to do this the nice way!! I said I'd make it painless!!" She screamed, and Lynx tried to stand, screaming out and falling again; her foot wouldn't support her weight at all, and she tried to stand on one leg, hop, but she wasn't going anywhere like that. Elijah ripped the gun from her leg, firing six times before the gun started to click empty; for nothing, of course.
"I TRIED TO BE NICE!!" She screamed, and Lynx yelped as colossal leg slammed into her, scoring a shallow wound on her stomach and sending her rolling back. Elijah charged with his bat; the bat was sliced in two, and he was sent flying before the monster dived, clinging to the ceiling and pivoting, trying to reach J…
Lynx laughed, as her vision started to fog, blood pouring down her stomach, eyelids fluttering.
Go figure- all that effort was probably for nothing, huh? I should have died in the ice- fitting I'd die for nothing, like this.
"Lynx!! Snap out of it!!" Elijah screamed, and J loosed a blood-curdling scream; there was the crunchy ripping of flesh and sinew breaking away, and J screamed louder, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth as his leg was ripped off.
"Gods, I'm sorry, I'm just so hungry," The demoness's voice flooded the tunnel, and Lynx closer her eyes, sighing.
"We tried, Elijah."
"Hah… I'd rather die like this, wounded and unable to run, than go out down there, miserable, alone, and with almost no hope of ever making it out. Mnf- I think my leg is broken."
"Ankle," Lynx muttered, wincing, a tear pricking at the back of her left eye as J screamed, his other leg being ripped apart while the demoness feverishly muttered apologies.
"Hey…" Lynx laughed, tasting the warmth and the despair that blended in the tunnel. One last time. "You're alright, Elijah. I really thought being immune to illusions would get us out of here."
"Demons that ancient are bound to be powerful…" Elijah shrugged, and J screamed, louder still, as an arm was severed. "Wait, how is J still conscious-"
"Haha, wouldn't you like to know," A voice jeered, and Lynx's head snapped up; white hair, violet eyes. Alice strode forward, with J cowering behind her. "Did you really think I was going to leave you down here without finding you, or your corpse, baby?" She grinned, and the demoness stared down at J, rotating her strange, jagged head; the J beneath her collapsed, the illusion fading; the homunculus- a lookalike of Alice, falling to fleshy sludge beneath her, half organic, half magical machine.
"What-" Lynx muttered as the centipede recoiled, trying to grab Alice, but the snow-haired succubus snapped, and the tunnel erupted into chaos. Two maintenance hatches in the ceiling exploded, and clones of Alice began to flood through as she ducked the blow, blood erupting from her shoulder; but the homunculi were flooding the tunnel, now, and Alice grinned wickedly.
"I'm not that useless, come on~"
-
"You useless, piece, of trash," Alice groaned as Nara hung up the phone, throwing her phone aside, not even noticing the thing shattering as she returned to one of the dolls along her wall, swallowing, looking around.
All of them, just like her. Made in a fit of desperation; what if my soul transfer is failing because the body isn't perfect enough? What then? Grimacing, Alice shook her head, eyes unfocused, swallowing. "Nono gods damnit… no, no." Steeling herself, she shook her head and resumed work.
"I'll figure it out, I'll make them… like automata. I can figure this out, I've invented more impressive- I am good enough, right? I am, I am," She whispered, gritting her teeth, voice rising, thick with emotion as she coiled wiring under one of their sleeves, making sure it was hidden. "I am good, I can do good, I can do good, I'm good, I'm good," She whispered, wiping fat, ugly tears from her cheeks, shaking her head.
"I can- I am- I am good, I'm good, I can do more than watch everybody die around me I CAN, I CAN BE GOOD I'M NOT GOING TO SIT BY AND LET SOMEBODY DIE AGAIN!!" She screamed, to nobody, to the heavens; who knew, but she screamed, gritting her teeth. "I'M NOT USELESS I'M NOT USELESS I'M NOT USELESS I'M NOT FUCKING USELESS!!!! THIS WILL WORK, IT HAS TO!!"
-
"Will they work? Really work?" Alice raised an eyebrow, frowning. It all seemed so… so science fiction bull, she thought to herself, chewing her lip. Her voice was raw, but she couldn't care about the ache in her throat from too much crying. Not now.
The air in the abandoned warehouse was thick with dust and the smell of ozone. The broker, a gaunt man in an impeccably clean suit, didn't sit. He paced around the crate where a single, motionless homunculus lay, its chest panel open to reveal a complex lattice of wiring and a pulsating blue crystal.
"The question isn't if they'll work, Miss Alice," he said, his voice a dry rasp. "The link is absolute. They will follow the primary command etched into this core, so long as you ready it in advance." He tapped a device that looked like a silver tuning fork. "The question is, can they handle what you're asking?" Proffering a red crystal then, he mimed crushing it; an activation, she understood.
He stopped pacing and fixed her with a hollow stare. "The power cell will keep them moving for a day. But if you push them to cast? To channel anything substantial? To use the magic in the crystal itself?" He let out a short, humorless laugh. "You'll get five minutes. Maybe less. They are vessels, not archmages. They will burn out. Spectacularly."
Alice's gaze didn't waver from the homunculus. She saw the conductive wire she herself had woven, now integrated with the broker's sinister technology. It was an abomination. It was the only way for her to be useful.
"How many do you have?" she asked, her voice flat.
"Seventy-three."
"I'll take forty." She threw a backpack onto the floor at his feet- one that held a fortune large enough to buy a neighborhood in Ravenhold. The broker's eyes glinted as he nudged the bag with his shoe.
"A pleasure doing business with the Head of the Family," he said, a mocking lilt in his voice. "Try not to get them all destroyed."
-
Alice sighed, parking her truck and stepping out, walking to the back and hauling four more homunculi out, two at a time, throwing them against the sewer grate and using magic to sever the steel, creating an opening. Then she hopped in, and was off again, for the next; Nara's concert in an hour, hurry up Alice…
-
Alice stopped, at the edge of the golden light; it hadn't reached as far as she'd like, but it should be enough. It has to be, she thought, looking down and crushing the red crystal she'd been given, sending the signal. Around Ravenwood, many, many Alice's ripped their way into the sewer, beginning to hunt.
-
She found them, but she said nothing, as much as she wanted to call out. Never reveal your hand, until you stand to gain the most and lose the least.
She wanted to scream when she watched Lynx's ankle bend at a terrible angle, but grabbing the teenager who'd pissed himself was easy, in the dust clouds, and having a clone slide into place, killing itself- or rather, expneding the rest of its magic and going dormant- was easy. The demoness was too hungry to care, and Alice thanked the gods for it as her homunculi closed in. Almost, almost… Almost…
-
Lynx's eyes widened in shock. The tide of Alice was no longer just pouring through the ceiling; a maintenance door down the hall shuddered open, adding a new flood of clones to the fray. As she scrambled back, dragging her body across the rough floor, the giant centipede demoness' precarious grip on the ceiling began to slip. A strange, dry rattling then erupted from the wall behind Elijah and the two wounded shared a quick, panicked glance before they both threw themselves into a desperate roll, just as the concrete surface exploded inward, revealing a mangled adjoining hall.
The enraged demoness, momentarily focused on trying to grab Alice's head with a terrifying lunge, was completely caught off guard by what came next.
In a unified, silent surge, every single Alice- a sea of white hair and piercing purple eyes- rammed their hands into the creature's chitinous body. One brushed past Lynx in the chaos, with a wink and a rub of her tail along Lynx's cheek- then, their hands ignited with a searing, crackling energy that was something like lightning. The demoness let out an ear-splitting shriek, her massive form jolting violently under the sustained assault. The sheer weight of her- what felt like a thousand pounds of muscle and carapace, collapsed from the ceiling as the gripped section fell. And still, the Alices held on, frying its convulsing body with relentless arcs of power until the acrid stench of burning flesh clogged the air.
"Come on," One of the Alice's laughed, suddenly beside Lynx, pulling her arm around the succubus's shoulder, and Lynx, confused, stood up, swallowing, panting.
"Didn't think you were coming,"
"Lovely girl," Alice whispered, looking up at Lynx as she shifted to better support the demon's weight. She looked as though she hadn't slept in a week, but her eyes burned with a fierce, terrifying light; even with her hands trembling, and the dark bags under her eyes telling of sleepless nights and misery. "I've been struggling to figure out a plan. Second I had one, I'm here- I'll tell you everything later, these clones won't last for long, not when they're frying this arch-bitch. Kid?"
"I got Elijah!!" J shouted, helping the man stagger to his feet, starting to walk along the carapace of the demon. "Come on, we're good!"
"Alice-"
"No we gotta move," Alice muttered, starting to walk, hurrying them along, past the centipede. "I'm serious, we don't have much time- you're bleeding, do you feel like you're gonna collapse?"
"No," Lynx laughed, breathless. "I don't know if it's not that bad, or if I'm high on adrenaline, but I'm good for now."
"I'm not even bleeding, just got a broken bone!!" Elijah laughed, and Lynx glanced back as they hurried on, rounding a corner. For now, the centipede only twitched, groaning in pain, and they left behind a sea of Alice's, moving as quickly as they can.
"All of this, is it some complex illusion for false hope?" Lynx laughed, tired, but when she did, Alice's scent flooded her senses, and there could be no doubt; desperation and love and oranges and sunlight and fireplaces and warmth and a world without senseless violence- it was more than just scents, it was ideals, it was overwhelming, and Lynx had to clamp her mouth shut, focusing on avoiding the act of scents.
"It's real," Alice muttered, hurrying ever on.
"Those Alice's," Lynx snorted. "All yours?"
"Remote control. Before I got half my soul into one. Found a shady demon selling magical batteries; claimed they could fight for me, but only for about five minutes. Follow up to three commands at all times. Hunt, Obey Alice, Protect the Blonde. Now, keep moving."
"I could take em all," Lynx wheezed, shaking her head.
"In a fight?"
"Nah," Lynx muttered, swallowing.
"Not the time," Alice wheezed breathlessly, marching. "We're almost to safety." Behind them, the sounds of high-voltage buzzing and pained groans continued, for now.
"I can see," J muttered breathlessly, laughing. "Something golden?"
"Concert," Alice wheezed. "To celebrate your escape," She added, wheezing, and as they rounded another corner, hobbling up a staircase; Lynx saw it. Like a wall of swirling, golden honey, waiting halfway down the hall…
"Can't," J wheezed, suddenly, falling to his knees, Elijah crying out as he hit his hands and knees, collapsing. Lynx, wincing, pushed at Alice, gentle.
"Help them. I can crawl."
"No-"
"Please," Lynx insisted, and pushed Alice back, wincing as she hit her knees, putting her hands down and starting to crawl.
"Ugh, fine."
"J first," Elijah snarled when Alice went to him, pushing her away. "Kid isn't ready to die. I am. Me last, yeah?"
Lynx ignored it all, crawling, panting, blood dripping onto the concrete beneath her; but, focused as she was at moving one limb at a time, she still heard the crackle of lightning in the distance stop.
"Shit," Alice muttered, picking J up with her inhuman strength and slinging him around her shoulders like a scarf, starting to jog toward the light. Lynx laughed, now crawling alongisde Elijah, wincing.
"Hey," She wheezed. "I know you want to die down here, but-"
"Save your breath," Elijah panted. "You're leaving a trail of blood. Focus on staying conscious."
Ahead of them, Alice dropped J to the ground and turned, running back, going to grab Elijah; but he shoved her off, and Alice shrugged, grabbing Lynx.
"Hold on-" She huffed, but it was too late; Alice had her bridal style, a numb look in her eyes, blood soaking her right arm from that shoulder wound as she ran. "You're bleeding a lot, Alice-"
"Just a doll. The damage isn't critical- it's nice; I don't rely on how much blood is in there like you, it's more for show. I'll work, until I don't," She laughed, panting as she jogged along. "I only even pant- because I gave the thing lungs that function. Can hold my breath a really, really long time."
"Guess you wanted to be as, human as possible," Lynx laughed, head swimming as they breached the golden barrier, her eyes widening. Immediately, warmth began to wash over her, as Alice gently lowered her to the floor; she looked down- blood no longer flowed from her stomach, and the edges of the wound were beginning to stitch themselves shut. Here, golden flecks like dust motes swam through warmly illuminated air, and it clicked; a concert to celebrate your escape- NARA.
"Don't come back for me!! She's coming!!" Elijah screamed, as a ways back, the steel door exploded into the opposite wall, Demoness clawing her way through.
"Guess she gave up on tricks," Lynx groaned. "I'm immune to illusions, but this is so much worse-"
"YOU, PIECES OF-!!" The centipede screamed, her voice thick, pained, copious amounts of black blood spilling as she bore down on Elijah. "I'll kill you, I'LL KILL ALL FOUR OF YOU- I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!!!"
"DON'T!!!" Elijah screamed, and Alice darted forward, hands glowing, slapping the ground with an open palm; glowing cracks arced forward and under Elijah before the concrete reshaped behind him, throwing up a wall- the wall thickened, concrete redistributing and lifting Elijah toward them. Almost to the golden barrier, he collapsed again, on hands and knees, as the concrete stopped morphing… and Alice collapsed to her knees.
"Shit," Elijah muttered, crawling on as Alice staggered to her feet, grabbed his jacket and twisted, throwing him. The young man winced, coughing up blood as he hit a staircase, bone crunching; but as quickly as his back had broken, it crunched back into place as the healing light sank into him.
"Fuck…" Lynx groaned, letting her head hit the wall, panting. Still, she could hear the demoness fighting, clawing through the concrete; she could faintly hear the way she screamed in rage, but for the moment, all that mattered was letitng her wounds close, letting her pain fade, some.
"Didn't think you'd come back for me," Elijah chuckled. "I'm a stranger. You could have died."
"Lynx…" Alice laughed.
"Yeah?"
"No… Lynx, is the kind of girl who makes me feel like the world has good, kind-hearted people in it…" Alice wheezed.
"Cute?" Elijah groaned, and his tone screamed the, 'You think I care?' in ways a voice could never.
"I'd have let you die," Alice continued, panting. "Lynx wouldn't have. I… wanna follow her example, and stop… being so… self absorbed," She panted, falling to her knees and laughing. "Ugh…"
"So you built the homunculus weak, on purpose?" Lynx angled her head, panting. "Why add blood and lungs if you don't need to?"
"Organic… means I don't need a constant influx of magic that could become too much to sustain one day," Alice groaned, nodding. "I'm half magic, half mortal… but that's, talk for another time…"
To their right, the concrete wall she'd thrown up exploded, and the centipede bore through; Lynx's eyes widened, but when the centipede hit the golden wall… it bounced back, screaming in rage.
"That wall," Lynx muttered, anxiety tightening her chest. "Thought you only knew combat magic…?"
"Combat magic is… a mindset," Alice groaned, rubbing her shoulder as it healed, flipping her middle finger toward the centipede. "Find another meal, arch-demoness who couldn't catch up to some… well coordinated college kids…" She laughed, yawning.
"I WILL KILL YOU- I SWEAR TO EVERY GOD, I SWEAR TO THE BLEEDING ICE I WILL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB," The demoness didn't scream, now, but spoke with such fervor, such hate, that Lynx, uncomfortable, hauled herself to her feet, now able to stand fine, entire body sore, but healed.
"Cmon," She groaned, pulling J to his feet, then Elijah, nodding at Alice and then glancing away, remembering what the demoness had originally shown her and shuddering. Alice seemed to notice, frowning, but she didn't question it, hauling herself up the stairs with the others, leaving the demoness foaming at the mouth and snapping hateful things they were no longer listening to.
"Thanks, for coming," Lynx whispered, eyelids heavy, steps starting to become uneven. She paused, leaning on the wall, laughing. "Think I'm gonna pass out,"
"Hey, no, no," Alice huffed, stepping forward and throwing her arms around Lynx's waist, almost collapsing; unable to help herself, Lynx shoved Alice into the opposite wall, the knife at her thigh suddenly in her hand. Alice was there; but so was the one Vilhelm and the team had shot full of holes, so was the one who'd tried to take her during the drug deal. Lynx shook her head, panting, swallowing, and stared the succubus down.
Alice's eyes flickered with guilt, love, need, misery, and confusion, and Lynx sighed, heart shattering, just a little.
"Sorry. It looked like you. Sorry," She whispered, and the exhaustion won, knife clattering to the ground as she fell limp.