"Sonera, you can't!"
Lunae was already hot in pursuit, leaving Ivy in a state of disbelief as the heiress protected her partner alone. Sonera tried in vain to leave the conversation before it could begin. But a strong Psionic pull - even stronger than her own - held the assassin at bay.
"We've talked about this." Sonera looked over her skinny shoulder with brutal determination.
Yet her legs were shaking.
"No, we did not! I was going to stop you!" Lunae reached out for Sonera, clinging to a single pale finger. "Don't give up who you are for this. Don't...I know where this path ends."
"You don't get it," Sonera tried to escape.
"Don't I?" Lunae almost laughed. That alone proved the extent of her distress. She was acting more honest than usual, and everyone could see it. "My people gave everything for power. My mother took everything for the truth! It never ends! You see the endless horizon, and you will never reach it! Not until the last of you is gone. Dead."
"If that's what it takes," Sonera glared, her radiant eyes shimmering. "For you. Ivy. Lila. So be it."
"No!" Lunae tugged with greater force. "I won't let you! I want you intact! I...I need you!"
Yrix watched with great amusement. She thought quite highly of Lunae's aggression, its fury and spiteful energy nearly identical to that of her mother. Sonera would have to fight alone.
"It won't matter if we're all dead." Sonera clenched her fist. "I looked your people in the eye and saw only a promise that if I do not do this, you won't survive."
Lila wanted to pry into the conversation, but upon hearing those words, she paused. Earth was the prime target of the Infestare. If she were ever to try to live in her home again, then her family would indeed meet the savage aliens again. And that wasn't even considering the Consortium.
"Do you have so little faith in us?!" Lunae growled, her usual distress replaced with savage anger as her markings began to flicker. "We can help you!"
The room had fallen silent. Even Rena seemed rather shocked, standing up straight as she stared with wide eyes.
"At what cost?" Sonera took a step back, extending Lunae's tail as far as it would go. "None of you. Not a single one wants this. The fight Yrix gave us. But I...I..."
She didn't want to say it. But Lunae already knew. She still wished to stop it.
"I like it," Sonera finished. "It's what I was made for."
"Destiny was made to be broken," Lunae's tail found its way around Sonera's neck. "That is my purpose. In spite of my mother. And in spite of you."
It was a funny thing, Yrix thought. Lunae had the strength to enforce her will. Yet when Sonera grasped her tail with a cold, shameless grip, her fire whisked away in but a flash.
"Ah!" Lunae fell to her knees, retracting her tail as she soothed it with her hands.
Sonera wiped her mouth.
She had bitten into her partner's flesh.
Lila froze, and so too did the heiress. Only Yrix could believe what had happened. Sonera, on the other hand, felt the shame fall upon her like a tidal wave. For the first time in her career as a Psion, she found herself running too Yrix.
For shelter.
"The hell?!" Ivy finally snapped out of her stupor. "Lunae!"
Lila zipped towards the fallen princess, kneeling by her side with a quivering frown. Sonera was long gone by then, having disappeared into a puff of smoke, no doubt bound for Yrix's office. Had she stayed any longer, there was no telling what Ivy would do.
"Why would she do that?!" The heiress fumed. "I-...I don't even know what to say..."
She felt a tinge of shame herself. It was an enlightening experience, witnessing firsthand the kind of abuse she had inflicted on others. But it wasn't about her.
"Are you okay?" Lila rubbed Lunae's bare shoulders. "Lunae?"
The princess was spiraling, her eyes filled with panic as her breath began to sputter. Never before had her attempts to reach Sonera failed so spectacularly. And never before was her tail damaged in the process.
"No," she began to cry, staring down at the little bruise on the tip of her tail. "Sonera..."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Are you ready?" Yrix squinted. "No more interruptions."
Sonera nodded silently in response. Regret was written all over her face. But so was the fear.
The vision of conflict to come.
The wounds her family would suffer.
The inevitable casualty inflicted upon them by the final set of trials.
"Very well then," Yrix played with the air, dimming the lights in her workshop. "Do you want something for the pain? If not, well, you'll pass out soon enough."
Again, the assassin had little to say. She was just a doll on the Arch-Flayer's workbench, laid bare like a pale sack of meat. That if her surgery could be worth it, in any way resembling a victory, then it would all be as ordained by the beastly spirit that had inhabited her since birth.
"Hmph," Yrix mused, her voice conveying a bit of pride. "Of course. Let's begin. It won't take long."
She wasn't one to mince words.
Not at all.
After a brief flick of the Arch-Flayer's spindly fingers, Sonera's arm slid off her body just above the elbow, forcing a brief yet muffled grunt from her gritted teeth. Yrix almost hesitated at the student's short-lived flailing. Something about it disturbed her.
"You still have your limits. A good thing, really. Who'd want to be awake for all that?"
Yrix was careful in her operation, using an invisible stasis field to hold Sonera's blood in place. Anything less than complete mastery of her abilities would result in the girl's fleshy nub bleeding out. Yet that was only the beginning.
The Arch-Flayer had grafted before. It was a form of art for her bloody lineage. Though as much as she would loathe to admit, Sonera felt different. The young girl consented to her operation and was the first to do so. She saw it not as a punishment, but as a rite of passage.
Something she needed to do to save that wretched Infestare.
Only, for all her schemes, Yrix never could have predicted Lunae would play such a part.
She hummed almost like a child as she continued her work. Limbs rolled off the table, and an occasional spurt of blood stained the wall. It wasn't long then before Sonera was nothing but a reduced shell of herself.
But that wouldn't last. Yrix would see to it.
- - - - - - - - - - -
"I...ugh..." Lunae held a palm to her temple, leaning on Lila's shoulder. "I feel what she's doing to her. I...still can't believe I failed..."
The Earthling had stowed away her previous attire, opting for Yrix's more decent uniform. But the time for jesting on that affair had long since passed. For in the days that followed the Aerie's reconstruction, there was nothing but silence and suspense.
"She'll live," Ivy groaned, sitting on top of the bunk bed like a sentry. "Let's focus on what we'll do when she gets back. We have a lot to talk about."
"So what's with the pillow fort?" Lila shrugged. "Is it like a therapy bit?"
The heiress had taken to constructing a bastion around their bedding using every type of furniture she could gather. It was her way of passing the time. But the message was loud and clear.
No Alia allowed.
It was a somewhat frugal plan considering the abilities of a Psion. But in some ways, Lila felt the gesture was adorable. Her mimic heiress was apparently quite protective.
"It's called a defensive installation," Ivy rolled her eyes. "Read a book."
Lila frowned. "Let's...just focus on cheering Lunae up," she pursed her lips, waving a bit of bread around the princess's mouth. "Like this."
Lunae brushed the offer aside, offering it to Lila instead. The girls were quite hungry after all, given the sad state of Yrix's kitchen after the attack. It took her at least a fortnight to get things running again.
But at least all the walls were back up. Lila could distinctly remember how cold it could be without them. In some way, the Aerie had become her new home. And she felt naked outside it.
"I just..." Lunae whispered to herself. "She's so stubborn."
Her markings flickered with agitation.
"Isn't that why you like her?" Lila managed a broken smile. "But...I don't even know...maybe I could have helped.
"It's not your fault. Sonera is like a blazing inferno," Lunae sighed.
"Indeed, she is." A voice wormed its way into the Earthling's mind.
All of a sudden, Yrix appeared, her height easily allowing her to peer over the fort. It seemed she had something to boast about.
"Nice warning, Ivy." Lila jumped. "Real good watchtower we got here."
"Sush Lila," the heiress leaned forward, waiting patiently for the announcement. "Listen."
Lunae stammered nervously, biting her lip till it bled. "Y-Yrix."
"She's fine. Come and see."
The Arch-Flayer was heading for her office at a hastened pace, forcing the girls to scramble on after her.
"Sonera!" Lunae bolted into the workshop where the girl lay. "Oh...oh no..."
Yrix crossed her arms proudly. There was barely a scratch on Sonera, aside from her new prosthetics. And what a wonder they were.
"Built them myself, custom-fitted for your little wolf."
"Holy shit." Lila's eyes widened. "That's uh-..."
Ivy stared with visible disgust. "My father would be proud."
Yrix turned away from Lunae, preparing her lengthy explanation as the princess placed a trembling hand on her partner's temple. Nothing the Arch-Flayer could say would capture her attention. Not when Sonera was so pale.
"Her cybernetics, forged from neuro-plasteel, have a direct link to her Psionic consciousness. They will feel as light as a feather, but can strike with the weight of a Daragen. More than that, really. The potential for dexterous destruction will be my finest work yet."
From what Lila could tell, Sonera was just wearing a real neat suit of armor on her arms and legs, its grey alloy dotted with orange scales and yellow spikes. If not for her skinny mechanical joints, she might have even doubted the extent of the surgery. But there was no doubt in the end. Sonera had given up all four of her limbs in exchange for power.
"I can wake her up when you're ready." Yrix fiddled with the air, her sharp nails clacking together. "You four always seem to like that sort of thing."
"Is she...ready?" Lunae whimpered.
Ivy and Lila shot each other a glance, unsure of what to think.
"I've kept her under with my mind. I can wake her up doing the same. She'll be...fine."
The princess muttered under her breath, "do it then."
Yrix pushed Lunae aside before pressing her hand against Sonera's heart. A Psionic pulse emanated from the Arch-Flayer's flesh, its coloration sickly and purple. And with a flash of that terrible light, Sonera began to convulse.
"Ngh." She barely even winced, her tired eyes pried open as she clutched the table.
"Sonera!" Lunae gasped.
The assassin was awake, her death grip leaving a mark on Yrix's table. Her eyes spurned. Something about them was emptier, like she lived forever in the moment of numbing pain.
Grace had left her soul. Yet something soft remained. She looked at her family with tormented compassion, as if she owed them something.
"Holy shit part two." Lila leaned forward, instinctively grabbing Ivy's wrist. "You okay?"
"Fine." Sonera clenched her mechanical fists, staring down at their skeletal shape with silent determination.
"Feel stronger?"
"We'll see." Sonera's words trickled out of her lips like glass, splintering against the floor with jagged intent. "When is it."
"Hm?" Yrix cocked her head, surprised that one of her students could read her. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Someone's coming. I could...feel it in you." Sonera spoke with a low growl.
Ivy turned towards Yrix, her eye twitching with a mix of fury and anticipation. Her grip on Lila had tightened.
"Her royal majesty, the Princess of the Consortium." Yrix explained.
"Holy shit part-."
"Lila." Ivy pinched the girl. "Listen."
"Her arrival was delayed by the threat of Infestare. We keep good tabs on it. Fortunately, her ship stayed clear and was even accompanied by nearby family. She's in good hands."
"When were you going to tell us?" Ivy hissed, putting herself in front of Lila. "Yrix."
"Considering that I need you all dressed well and cleaned up by this evening...well...now."
Sonera shot out of bed, caressing Lunae's arm with a departing hand. She seemed ready enough. Though, as Ivy noticed, her eyes were still a bit off.
She knew all about that sort of feeling.
The uncanny resemblance.
"Let's go then." Sonera brushed aside her silver hair with a claw-like hand.
"Sonera," Lunae whispered.
She was shocked to see the assassin stand tall, her new legs allowing her stability despite her visible exhaustion. But then again, spite could do the same for that girl. Lunae could hardly tell the difference anymore.
"So...em...why is she coming?" Lila raised a pensive finger.
"To inspect my work on behalf of her father." Yrix approached the girl, forcing her to lower her finger with presence alone. "You will be on your best behavior, understood?"
"So like-."
"Line up like good schoolgirls and don't talk."
"Right, gotcha."
"Now then." Yrix turned to leave. "Make sure you're presentable."
The girls stood in silence.
"Well, shit." Lila crossed her arms and pouted. "At least Sonera is okay."
"That she is." Lunae smiled before giving the assassin a peck on the cheek.