Paramythi I: City of Glass

Kane had been given the responsibility to tend to Twyla’s support and had taken such an order from Ciiria with little reluctance.

He had started by offering his old companion glasses of water and small things to eat; biscuits and soup to keep plenty of nutrients running through their body while their medication kicked in and slowly weaned them off of whatever had been pumped through their veins during their state of hostility. It was all thanks to Twyla’s quick regeneration and their Avolaki genes that made them walk around within such a short amount of time; with the help of Kane’s sturdy support

The pair had been strolling through the hallway, Twyla’s arm looped through Kane’s, when Enzo confronted his captain with wide eyes, hands gripping a number of papers. Zyki lurked behind him, adorning a grin which quickly faded the moment they saw Twyla.

“Enzo,” Kane’s greeting would have eased the tension in the air, should it have been any other situation, and he tried to ignore Zyki’s irritable features as they lurked in Enzo’s shadow. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s Trezla,” Enzo replied, unsteady breathing lapping his words. He took a moment just to wipe the back of his hand across his forehead and licked his dry lips with a long sigh before continuing, “she told me how Eirini’s village became a target. She got the information from Crysanthe’s parents before they left the base. I wanted to tell you sooner but—”

“But he wanted to be sure and asked me for help.” Zyki cut in, no trace of mercy within the sharpness of their tone. “He needed to check some records and documents…funnily enough, it seems even Capitol is as clueless as we are on most subjects.”

Kane’s blue eyes gradually decreased from humorous and calm to something else, something akin to confusion and distance. Pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes tightly, he shook his head. “Please, start over. I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”

Twyla smiled and cocked their head, strands of white streaking across their dark face. “Yes, Zyki, you should not interrupt.”

Zyki pretended not to hear Twyla and stepped out from the darkness of the hallway and snatched the papers from Enzo’s hands to pass over to Kane. “Little Trezla told Enzo about dealings going on in the village. The whole thing seemed to start with, well…drugs.”

Kane took the papers with little reluctance and shook out the creases before peering over the text. “These are old cases; cleared and done.” Lifting his head, he met Zyki’s mischievous face and shrugged. “What should I be looking at?”

Enzo stepped up to Zyki’s side and nudged his way past the Allowa to grab the papers from his captain and point out the bold text. “The sightings of Merine Trezla walking around, going door-to-door for private business after we put him away! It’s gotta be him!”

Kane scoffed and snatched the papers to scan them once again. “There’s no way. Merine was secured and put in for life. These were all hoaxes, remember? We checked into these three years ago and none of the villagers or townsfolk confirmed the sightings to be true. It was just a false rumour to get us riled up, probably so that we could turn against Capitol since it was their responsibility to put Merine away after we submitted the evidence.”

“Are you sure he’s still in captivity?” Zyki bumped Enzo’s shoulder, reclaiming their spot in front of Kane. “Crysanthe’s family gave little Trezla a specific description of her brother visiting the village on occasion to deal drugs. This drug only affects genes within the Avolaki and Allowa blood; a genetic structure similar to animals, which was how their Shema herd became infected and how Twyla here managed to be so easily manipulated by it.”

Twyla’s lips twitched. “Well, my Allowa friend, you would have been no better if you had been caught under such influence. But then, I suppose Kane has never given you a dangerous job, unlike me, huh?”

This time, Zyki’s eyes did land on Twyla. “It would seem our captain’s judgement was poorly handled, considering your efforts were all for nought. How does it feel to be a drug addict?”

Twyla’s face turned pale and they looked baffled. A low growl escaped their lips and they moved, dashing forward without Kane’s support and thrashed their hand, extending their nails like a cat’s claws, just to land a cruel blow on Zyki’s face; which was turning a paler colour than normal and their eyes turned white, mimicking the shade of Twyla’s eyeballs.

“Twyla!” Kane shouted, making no attempt to intervene the two. He knew better than to cross an Allowa and Avolaki’s brawl. “Stop this!”

Zyki dodged Twyla’s hand at the last second and grabbed their wrist, thus flipping them upwards and tossing them to the floor, flat on their back. “Are all Avolaki this slow?” Zyki hissed, black veins crawling down their cheeks; a sign of dominance among their race. “You had more fight in you last time we met.”

Twyla coughed upon meeting the ground in such a harsh manner and they squeezed their eyes shut, lips pursing together with disgust as Zyki mocked them. “Ah, you always enjoyed hearing your own voice…” They mumbled, shifting to a sit.

Enzo’s eyes were wide. The stance he held made him appear as though he was about to throw himself between the pair. If not for Kane’s hard stare, he probably would have. Instead, he swallowed down the nerves in his throat and took a cautious step back, as did Kane.

“The point of our alliance is to stop this discrimination between races, you two,” Kane said, unimpressed with the both of them, yet his words did not seem to affect either of them, nor reach them in any way as Twyla jumped to their feet and tried another slash at Zyki’s face. “Twyla, you’re not even at full strength yet!”

“Leave it, man,” Enzo’s hand fluttered against Kane’s arm, a timid attempt to make his captain shut his mouth. “They’re not gonna listen to reason.”

Zyki cackled and twirled out of Twyla’s reach with a swift motion. They smiled, white eyes glinting in the shine of the glass corridors around them. As they ducked away from the next swat of Twyla’s hand, they made a sharp swift of their foot and caught the Avolaki off-guard, knocking them back against the windowed-wall behind them. Zyki was on them in seconds, pinning them against the coolness of the glass.

“Such a poor excuse for a fair fight.” Twyla hissed, hands pinned at their sides by Zyki’s influence and strength. “You cannot possibly think I take this as a loss?”

Zyki hummed and tilted their head. Such a pale face, white eyes and black-veined cheeks adorning impish features would have perhaps terrified a human being. “I simply like everyone to know that this base is my territory.” They pressed themselves against Twyla, forcing them to sink against the window until there was no space left. “I’m quite dominant that way.”

“Zyki?”

Upon hearing such a familiar voice, Zyki lifted their head and spotted Quincy down the corridor with his MDU resting in his open palm. Breathing lowly, Zyki turned their head again, glancing over their shoulder to see, unsurprisingly, Kane holding his own MDU against his ear with a serious pair of eyes burning into Zyki’s glare.

“What’s all this about?” Quincy inquired, stepping down the corridor with an uncertain smile plastered on his face. “Are you fighting Twyla?”

“I could hardly call it a fight.” Zyki scoffed and pushed off of their opponent. In a matter of seconds, their eyes returned to normal, their face regained its usual colour and their veins turned transparent. “Forget you saw anything—”

A flash of purple flickered in the reflection of the windows around them and Zyki’s sentence halted, emanating the surprise in their expression as shards of dark magick swirled around their neck dangerously, lazily turning clockwise with every hint of hostility and promise of penetration to their skin should they make another move.

“Twyla!” Kane’s voice was even harder than before and he turned, facing the Avolaki supporting themselves against the window with their hands outstretched, fingertips glowing a dull purple flame. “That is enough!”

“You would truly expect me to lay down my pride against this half-breed?” Twyla growled, fingers bending as if they were playing an invisible piano.

The shards drew closer, causing Zyki to tilt their chin upwards in a poor attempt to escape their touch. Their expression was blank, eyes solely focused on the edges of the dangerous, glowing magick.

“Zyki!” Quincy took a step forward and froze, noting Twyla’s abrupt attention diverting from Kane and over to him. Swallowing thickly, Quincy merely raised his hands and nodded slowly, maintaining his spot.

Twyla smiled and let out a low breath. “Good…all of you…good.” Their eyelids flickered and the softest of whimpers left their lips.

Kane frowned and stepped up, ignoring the tugging on his elbow from Enzo. “Twyla, you need to calm down. Your body still hasn’t finished rejecting the drug they fed you!”

“Be quiet, Kane.” Zyki growled through grit teeth. Their back was to the captain, thus rattling their nerves even further on what was actually happening.

“Yes, be quiet…Kane….” Twyla’s echoing tones began to crack and their arms shuddered. From beneath the coiled bandages covering their inner elbows, white streaks seeped through, illuminating their veins. “…Kane…” Within seconds, they lowered their arms and toppled forward, hitting the glass floor with a soft thud.

Zyki was released from the magick circle the moment Twyla stopped moving and they growled, turning their attention on the unmoving Avolaki. “Gods above…” They hissed, subconsciously rubbing their palms against their neck.

“What was that?!” Quincy ran up to the group and placed a hand upon the curve of Zyki’s spine, much to everyone’s unknowing. “Are they alright?”

“They won’t be if they see me again.” Zyki growled, watching as Kane came over to investigate Twyla and rolled them onto their back for further examination. The expression on Zyki’s face went dim and their lips pursed together solemnly. “Captain…if there truly is a dealing of drug possession which can cause brilliant minds like Twyla’s to break, we need to eliminate it at all costs.”

Cradling Twyla against his lap, Kane nodded and looked up to Enzo. “The papers.” He commanded quietly, having given them to his companion when he decided to call Quincy’s MDU.

“Captain,” Enzo murmured, handing over the crinkled documents. “Quincy and I will call the prison’s hold, just to make sure Merine’s still locked away.”

“What’s all this about?” Quincy perked up with a frown upon his features.

Zyki sighed lowly and nudged Quincy to start moving out of the hallway. “I’ll explain it all, have no fear.”

After folding up the papers and slipping them into his coat pocket, Kane got to his feet and lifted Twyla into his arms. He made it halfway down the long glass corridor when his MDU began buzzing in his breast pocket.

“Enzo,” Kane said. “Grab that, will you?”

“Sure.” Enzo stepped up and slipped his hand into Kane’s pocket, riffled through some things and pulled the MDU out. He pressed a button on the monitor and lifted it to his ear. “Whattup, Reidonn?”

Kane waited patiently, barely able to make out what Reidonn was saying on the other end of the line. The cause for his change of expression; to turn from mild thought to utter concern was all due to Enzo’s look of stunned surprise.

“Sure…” Enzo whispered down the phone. He cleared his throat to recover from the crack in his voice and tried to sound like his cheery self once more. “Yup, I’ll tell him.”

“What is it?” The urgency in Kane’s voice was not unmissed as Enzo went to put his MDU back. “Enzo, tell me!”

“It’s Reidonn…” Enzo mumbled, staring intently towards the leather stitching making up the edges of Kane’s coat rather than meeting his captain’s eyes. “She said that…Kara was attacked by a Prowler and is in a coma, indefinitely.”

Psykhe brushed her blonde hair back, moving it away from her face as Alexis took a seat across from her on top of a fish crate.

After the clearing of Prowlers, wounds needed to be checked and tended to as soon as possible. While no-one had sustained a worse injury than Elias, there was still bruises and cuts to be cleaned from the impact of rubble and scrapes from metal.

Psykhe, in particular, had been caught up in a counter with a Prowler. The blade of her scythe had clipped its ankle, and in response, it had kicked out with a screech and sent a collection of glass and debris up from the wrecked ground which had been thoroughly maintained by the docks’ workers until the Prowlers began tearing it apart.

The glass had done little damage to her face and had only left a collection of minor cuts which could hardly be considered deep. Alas, the impact from the pieces of debris had caused far more damage and had left Psykhe with a hazy vision after the blunt contact hit the skin just above her right eye. She had been temporarily helpless and toppled backwards against a pile of fishing nets, causing her scythe to get stuck and her senses to fight each other to gain control once more.

Alexis had come to her rescue before the Prowler could finish the job.

“It’s pretty deep.” Said Alexis, gently pressing a white cloth against the gash on Psykhe’s head. “You might need stitches when we return to base.”

“I won’t complain if it helps.” Psykhe murmured, closing her eyes as she relished the feeling of her wound being tended with warm water and disinfectant. “I should thank you again for taking care of that final Prowler.” She sighed, tipping her chin upwards. Her hands began gripping the edge of the crate she sat upon, fighting the sting that began to burn.

“Hearing thanks once is enough for me,” Alexis smirked and pulled away to toss the bloodied piece of cloth into a bucket of water, along with the other pieces of cloth and used bandages the rest of the units had already made use of. “I am impressed with your skills, nonetheless.”

“My skills are still in their baby stages compared to yours.” Said Psykhe and opened her eyes once more. She could not help but glance towards the hidden area where Elias was still being tended to under the wooden beams beside the office. “…I’m just glad we managed to take them all out.”

“Yes,” Alexis nodded. “It comes as no surprise that this little mission turned into a trap. Thank the Gods above we managed to come and help you out before the rest of the Prowlers got here.” Her eyes wandered as she spoke, taking in the scene of mild chaos and reflected sympathy in her eyes as the dock’s workers began to pick up fallen masts and restore the cluttered mess across the harbour. “Things could have been worse.”

A collaboration of footsteps approached the pair and Alexis looked over her shoulder, catching the sight of her friends. They were out of breath and covered in dirt and blood, weapons still exposed and hair tangled around their faces.

“Ares,” Alexis spoke, “Reidonn is getting your brother to fly down and collect us. We need to gather the Prowlers into a pile so we can deliver them back to Capitol, where they belong.”

Ares sighed softly and readjusted the machine gun lodged up his sleeve. “Wasn’t he just out on a mission?” As he spoke, his blunt expression went mischievous. “Or is he still babying me, even now?”

“I wouldn't know,” Alexis replied, arms folding against her chest. “I wasn't the one speaking with him. Ask Reidonn.”

Ares clicked his tongue and unlatched the gun from his arm and readjusted it against his back, fashioning it like a quiver, albeit ready to draw it quickly if needed. “Fine, fine. We’ll get to it. Come on, Calix.”

Calix obediently followed Ares out towards the numerous Prowler bodies after giving Alexis and Psykhe a small wave and a smile filled with sharp teeth. The metallic sleeves around his arms dismissed themselves and fixed into gloves again as he and Ares began grabbing pale, bloody limbs and tossed the grey bodies into a rotting pile out of sight and behind a shed.

“They’re partners?” Psykhe asked, unaware how blunt she had been until Alexis laughed lightly and turned, facing her again as she proceeded with tending to the open wound with a clean piece of cloth.

“They are, indeed.” Alexis gently dabbed the gash and dug her free hand through the small first aid kit she had borrowed from Damara until she found an appropriately sized piece of gauze to place over the wound and secured it in place with a bandage. “They were the only compatible units who did not need Zyki or Quincy to reassign them to a different partner when we joined up.”

“They must be pretty close…” Psykhe mumbled, vision hazy and head light. Her eyelids were beginning to droop and she almost missed the sight of Alexis’ smirk.

“Oh, yes, they are very close.” With a hop from her seat, Alexis collected the bloodied bucket full of bandages and cloth, scooped the contents of the first aid kit back into place, and closed it up with a soft ‘click’. “Here, hold onto me.”

Psykhe was beginning to feel the effects of blood loss and would have fallen on her face if not for Alexis’ support. She lifted her arm and snaked it around the other woman’s shoulders, allowing her to lead the way. She had little reason to be on edge now that the Prowlers were taken out, her scythe was folded in its holster on her back, and an aircraft would be collecting them soon enough.

“What happened to your partner…from before?” Psykhe spoke between heavy breaths and rested her cheek on Alexis’ shoulder. When no answer came, she decided to add, “you said Ares and Calix were the only pair that was not reassigned. So…what about yours…?”

Alexis made a small noise, perhaps an amused sort of hum, and led Psykhe towards Damara and Elias. “I didn’t have a partner. At least, I didn’t at first.”

Psykhe could hardly say she was oblivious to how that must have felt. Even now, after being within the Rebellion’s system for well over a year, she had still not been assigned a partner. Not a permanent one, at least. “I can understand that…” Said Psykhe, being careful with the control of her words, as she reminded herself that, as far as Alexis was concerned, Elias was her partner for this mission and no further details needed to be discussed lest Psykhe wished to raise further suspicion on her name and character.

Alexis smirked and practically used the whole of her weight to drag Psykhe towards Damara. “Being a part of the Rebellion is, well, accepting in its own way.” She said, carefully stepping over a stray plank of wood, covered with the thick coating of Prowler blood which she would rather forget. “Other times, it takes you in and forgets about your differences. Kinda like a family, I guess? Families are responsible for keeping you safe and cared for, after all.”

Psykhe merely pursed her lips together. Alexis seemed to hold her beliefs and values close, making it impossible for Psykhe to address them directly with a thought of her own experiences within her family. It was nice to think some families were accepting and cared for its fellow family members. While Psykhe had been deprived of such a thing, Alexis and Elias did not seem to be in the same state; which she was thankful for.

Alexis was not a fool to Psykhe’s silence and pulled her lips back in a small smile. “I am sure the aircraft will arrive soon. We can get you mended and put you in a warm bed, how does that sound?” She chuckled, finally reaching the rest of their little group where her innocent comment was tuned out by the commotion which filled the air; Maxa’s voice.

“You Rebels need to get out of here! You’ve put me and my workers in the spot, out in the open! We could be a huge target for Capitol’s higher-ups and lapdogs because of this!” The woman outstretched her arm, gesturing to the dead bodies and numerous pieces of wreckage from the fight. “One time was enough, but coming to my docks again just to humiliate me and put my baby brother in harm’s way is not acceptable!”

Reidonn, who had been nearby when Maxa decided to kick off, strolled over to her. “You seemed pretty eager for us to help you clear out these Prowlers a moment ago, what’s changed now, eh?”

Maxa’s cheeks went red and she stepped forward, practically banging her head against Reidonn’s skull. “You’ve cleared them away. Now get out.” She spoke lowly, a whispering hiss meant for Reidonn’s ears only.

Reidonn merely held the woman’s furious eyes for a moment longer before stepping back, hands raising in her acceptance of defeat. “Sure, sure, we’ll be going.” Her head tilted, noticing Alexis and Psykhe’s arrival. “We just gotta wait for an aircraft to come down and collect us, then we’ll be out of your hair, okay?”

Maxa followed Reidonn’s change in attention and grit her teeth. She strode forward, practically shoving Reidonn out of her way with both hands. “You, blondie!” Making her way over to Psykhe, Maxa made no merciless motion to stop herself from causing the other girl further harm as she gripped the collar of her shirt and tugged her forward, practically wrenching her straight from Alexis’ grip. “You said you were in the Rebellion. But what about Elias, huh? You're both in the Rebellion, aren’t you? How’d that happen? You encourage him or something?”

Psykhe’s response was delayed and her eyes fluttered from the uneasy motion of being handled so roughly. Blood once again began trickling from the wound Alexis had cleaned, even with the gauze covering it. “He said that you…would have no idea…” Her words were mumbled and close to incoherent as her arms raised, gloved hands weakly grasping Maxa’s wrists. “He just…wants to be a good…brother…”

Maxa scoffed and loosened her fingers. She turned her attention away from Psykhe and over to Alexis. “You all must think I’m blind or something, huh?” Although her blue eyes were fixed on Alexis, it was clear enough that she was addressing everyone within earshot. “You think I would buy my brother’s cheap story? Believe that he was really on some special extended educational holiday or something? We are not special citizens in Emvolo! We live on the outskirts of Tentrail for Gods' sake! There would be no reason for us to gain any kind of special guarantee like that!”

Alexis pursed her lips, clearly stumped on the situation and glanced towards Psykhe. In return, Psykhe's serious, half-lidded eyes acknowledged the look of mild concern written over Alexis’ face and the pair held their tongues as Maxa continued; her rant loud and stern enough to make even Reidonn keep quiet.

“I just stayed home and wished, prayed and hoped that he would just drop this stupid dream of his!” As she spoke, Maxa walked back to where Elias lay upon large crates, safely receiving treatment from Damara’s hands. “But history just loves to repeat itself…” Running her gloved hand through her blue hair, she knelt down to the floor and propped her arms upon the edge of the crate Elias lay upon. “Why have you always gotta be so stubborn?” She grunted, moving her hand from her head and threaded her fingers through Elias’ croppy, dark locks. "You're just like her, y'know...?"

Damara raised her brows and looked towards Alexis. In response, Alexis made a gesture for Damara to leave the two, and slowly, the small crowd retreated and moved away to leave Maxa and Elias alone until the aircraft arrived.

Maxa could only stare at the paleness of her brother’s cheeks and the small beads of sweat which threatened to slide down the curves of his face. She took no mind to where Psykhe or Reidonn had retreated to with the others and could only pretend they would leave without taking Elias with them, but she knew such an exaggerated thought was nothing close to realistic terms. Especially when Elias was in the state that he was.

As if on cue, Elias actually stirred. His eyelids began trembling first and the rhythm of his breathing changed its pace, followed by the lazy motion of his arms moving and a hand reaching up to gently grasp Maxa’s leather-clad hand.

“Maxa…” When he spoke, his tone was laced with a weakness that seemed so unlike him. “…are you proud of me…?”

“Oh, Elias,” Maxa shook her head and gingerly leant forward to press a soft kiss to his forehead. “I’ll always be proud of you, you know that.” She whispered, barely audible above the shuffling sounds coming up behind them. At first, Maxa outright ignored the sounds behind her and assumed it had been Reidonn to come and take Elias away.

Only after a low hiss dispelled into the air did Maxa actually turn her head and faced a bone-chilling sight.

“Prowler!” Damara’s voice crackled in the air like thunder, thus catching everyone’s attention. Having only been standing a little way away from the siblings, Damara had been the first to notice the slimy grey creature crawl out from behind one of the docked boats and make its way over to Maxa and Elias.

Psykhe jumped to her feet with an abruptness that caused her no favours to her head. Alexis was beside her to offer a steady hand before she could fall and Psykhe found herself being coaxed back into her seat as Reidonn dashed past them with her spear clutched tightly in her hand.

“You cannot help them, not when you are like this.” Alexis’ voice was as stern as the hand pressing against Psykhe’s shoulder; keeping her from jumping to her feet again.

“It’s only…one Prowler…!” Psykhe hissed, cheeks red from her fatigued state and hand clutching onto Alexis’ elbow to offer herself stability in her upright sitting position. “Just one…I can take it…”

“Psykhe!” Alexis bent her knees to make eye contact with the blonde. “Look at yourself! You are barely one soldier! How could you possibly take on even one Prowler in such a state? Now, listen, Reidonn has this one. Rest, please.”

Psykhe’s head tipped back and her half-lidded eyes focused, watching Reidonn’s visage disappear behind a crate and out of sight. “…Fine.”

Damara’s eyes had grown wide as Reidonn entered the scene. In a perfect world, things would have gone swift and Reidonn would have sliced the Prowler in two. It could have been quick and no-one would have gotten hurt. Alas, it seemed even Reidonn’s brutal nature and warrior influence was no match for time and she skidded to her feet as the Prowler pounced.

Its claws had been elongated for a vicious attack on the vulnerable Elias, and it would have torn him to shreds in seconds if Maxa had not sprung to her feet and used herself as a shield to protect her little brother from the Prowler’s gruesome intentions; thus earning her the agonising blow instead.

Maxa’s scream was ear-piercing and Reidonn was forced to act. She reeled her arm back and slammed the head of her spear into the Prowler’s back, plunging it deep enough to cause severe internal bleeding and a quick death to follow. There was a limit on her use of strength, ensuring herself that the spear did not go deep enough to burst through its chest and harm Maxa in any way.

Two loud thuds echoed, leaving Maxa and the Prowler’s body in a pool of blood upon the floor.

“Damara!” Reidonn yelled, frantic motions causing her to momentarily discard her weapon and move the Prowler aside, giving Maxa more room. “We need your medical skills over here! Now!”

Elias stirred weakly and forced his eyelids to open, an involuntary motion he would have probably rejected if not for Reidonn’s frantic shouts. Everything was dim and blurry, making things almost unreadable for him as he glanced to the floor and noticed the outlines of his sister’s face, covered in blood.

“Where’s my MDU?” Elias heard the faint sounds of Reidonn’s voice drifting into the air, followed by one final sentence before he allowed his eyes to flutter shut once again; “I need to tell him about Maxa Kara.”