A mother and daughter with the mutations of two hounds rush through the streets of Mars in a panic, seemingly running for hours as they both were left with labored breaths, holding each other close. "They couldn't have followed us this far--"
"Y'know," The mother's words were cut off by a man flicking a blade down into an axe rather than a cleaver as it was previously, arms slack at his sides. "The more experience you get in this field, the more your nose becomes more refined to the scent of abominations." He tapped his nose.
"Why are you doing this to us!? We just want to live normal lives."
"Then join us, and we'll look for a cure for those horrid growths you've been forming for all these years~!"
"To make my child and me into your little experiments!?"
He sighed, "Come on~! At least it'll give ya a chance, right!?"
The mother kneeled low to meet her child at eye level. "Run, mommy will catch up to you later."
"No! I--"
"Do it! Go! You know where it is! Trust them, men with red feathers!" The mother shoved her child forward, causing them to scramble to their feet, running as fast as they could from the man hunting them.
He groaned, "You have to make this so difficult..." The mother attempted to stand up, the man's blade flicking out into a cleaver, rending her legs clean off her body, causing her to cry out in pain and terror. "I really don't like making such a mess..."
The woman in front of him turned into a whimpering mess, yet her eyes still held a hint of determination, glaring at the man as she clutched her profusely bleeding, missing limbs.
"Scary..." His voice faded out as she slowly drifted into unconsciousness.
Her eyes shot back open, jolted awake by the sound of flesh being beaten against stone.
"Wow! Didn't expect they'd make for such a great bludgeoning item, y'know!?" He turned to look at the mother, still bleeding out on the floor, groaning helplessly before the blurry forms before her merged into something clearer. "Hey~! What do you think, huh!?" Held out before her was none other than the beaten corpse of her own daughter, blood and brain matter leaking from the open wound.
"NO! NO!" Her voice cracked, clawing against the ground in a furious rage and unfathomable and overwhelming sadness.
The man grimaced, picking his ears, "God, I keep forgetting sometimes..."
"I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you! What did we ever do except li--"
The poor woman was suddenly cut off by the succinct slashing of a blade, embedding itself into her skull, making both of her eyes go slack in two different directions. "You aren't human..." He growled.
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5th of Zophia, 219.
"This mission should be something more standard for us lot. Same as before, we're separating into two teams of 8 and then splitting everyone into 2 groups of 4. Well..." A beat, "More accurately, one of us will get a group of seven, whilst the other gets a group of 8." He faced Alex, and they performed an impromptu match of rock, paper, scissors.
Alex lost, meaning Nora got the smaller group. "Chris Anderson, Carmela Villeneuve, Ariel Marcet, Tel Ikarios, Valorie Stromer, Dorothy Gale, Asher V. Tep."
By now, we've been a part of Grief for nearly half a month, going on small patrol missions here and there in more standard Spheres like our own, or Venus and Tierra. We're branching out to the Spheres now that we haven't visited before.
Nora's group, the one I'm in, is heading to Mars, whilst Alex's group is heading to the Sol Sphere to attain information on a possible TULPA case occurring in one of the less put-together Circles.
We set off not long after our teams had been established. Luckily, I was put in the group with the most people, so there were four of us in total. Nora began regaling us with the briefing as we rode along the anti-grav train. "We're to check out some Mutant communes within Mars for 'suspicious' activity, along with investigating the suspicious disappearances of those within said communes. We're simply just talking with the locals, logging anything that may seem to have Kismet Energies, or-- you get what I mean, along with attempting to discover if those who had gone missing are alive, or have Apostilized."
I was paired in a group with Dorothy Gale, Tel Ikarios, and Carmela Villeneuve. I couldn't help but make a sigh in relief knowing that I wouldn't be paired with Chris again for a mission. She wasn't as bad compared to her first incident on subsequent patrols, but I can't help but be cautious of her whenever she's around. It's also good to just be around faces that had seemed generally trustworthy from what I've seen of them beforehand.
Dorothy seemed like a confident leader figure, Tel was a worthy fighter who appeared to actually care for their teammates, and Carmela seemed exceptionally powerful and woefully aware of their position in combat.
Once she sat by me, just as the train set off to Mars, she gave a small wave before locking onto the blurry sights just outside her window.
Tel sighed, "Guess we're on the same team again." Directing the comment at Dorothy and me, petting her hound, Toto, who leaned into the affection.
I nodded, "Yeah, guess we are. How are you feeling after a couple of weeks of rest?"
"Well, more like a week."
"A week that wasn't filled with standard patrols."
He considered his answer for a moment, "Decent. I can fight. That's all that matters, no?"
"Health is important, but if you're healthy enough to fight without any problems, then I suppose I'll take your word for it."
Carmela lightly tapped my shoulder, signing to me. "I've skimmed over the report. What happened during your last mission?"
"We were looking for signs of an Apostle and TULPA within the Venus Sphere's apartment district. Found these bizarre faceless creatures. I believe the TULPA that they were coming from had been contained by now."
Tel chuckled, "I like to call them Stalkers. They hide around and strike you when you least expect it, y'know?"
I paused, giving him a second-long stare. "Well... it works."
"Yeah, I know, right?" He looked so proud of himself, so I'll just go with that name for now, and he continued. "First fight we had against one of 'em-- it actually could've been easier if Chris hadn't bolted the second she saw it!" He clearly raised his voice so Chris could hear him, eliciting a scoff from down the train aisle. A moment passed, "Anyway, I guess it's good that we have at least one uh..." He paused, "Is there a better way to refer to Mutants?"
"It would be two of us by the way."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
I pointed at myself, "Me, and" Them pointed at Carmela, "Her. We're both mutants."
"Oh shit? What the hell? I genuinely-- I had no idea."
"You wouldn't. A lot of my physical traits are only well..." I shrugged, "I... can breathe underwater, and my body transforms when submerged."
"Oh~? So... like. Is there a more... like... softer term for 'Mutant'?"
"Not... necessarily? I think what's used typically amongst communities, though, are Latin variants of whatever type of creature we got our mutations from, right?" I looked to Carmela for confirmation, and she nodded. "They're separated into four groups: Tellus, Unda, Aer, and Cimex, or otherwise known as Ienahesh, though I'm not sure what language it derives from."
Carmela signed to me, "It's a language the Primum uses."
"I see..."
Tel counted on his hands, "Tellus, Unda, Aer, and Cimex. Four mutant variants?"
"Often mixed and matched, but those are the general titles, yes. We don't really use specific animals a lot of the time, however, because for the most part, whatever animal we end up with is, for the most part, butchered because there are like... five other different animals that could be spliced into the same mutation, its just that they don't really mix in whatever type they may be apart of-- Am I making sense?"
"I... kinda get the gist?"
Dorothy finally spoke up. "It should make things significantly easier dealing with individual communes."
"What blocks would we be circling?"
Dorothy started scrolling through her phone, "We'll most likely be handling a lot of the communes handled directly under Instinct rather than those that are not. It'll be a bit of a hassle dealing with them, but I suppose that's why Nora sent us with you two," and she gestured at Carmela and me.
I was admittedly nervous at the thought, brow knit in anxiety, "Instinct, huh?"
Carmela signed, "We should be fine. They're generally friendly to those sympathetic."
I looked down at my palm, imagining what it looked like submerged, covered in scales, claws instead of nails. I'm still conflicted by my present state, but I've already said what I am. It shouldn't hurt to show it.
When we finally reached Mars, the two groups went their separate ways, Nora sticking with Chris's group in particular due to them being down a member, whilst we went straight into Instinct territory.
Tel progressively became significantly more nervous as we approached the location in question, prompting a question from me. "What's wrong?" And then I remembered, "Oh yeah, you're from here, right?"
Carmela tilted her head to the side, and Tel nodded, "Yes, I'm from Mars-- I'm from here... yeah." He nodded again, "It's been... a while."
"Running from something?" I didn't mean to be so blunt in my questioning, but I already asked, so I continued. "Or, someone?"
"Not... really?" A beat, "People respect my Mother and Father greatly in Mars, but there is also... a disdain, I suppose? I'm not sure how to put it."
During this mission, I thought about something my father would often say about the outside world whenever I'd ask him, "Why do you never let me go outside?"
He'd ruminate for a moment, rubbing his chin, shoving aside locks of hair, attempting to force it behind his ear rather than gently tuck it there as his amber eyes observed me. "The world out there is unpredictable. Too many variables, too much chaos. It seems controlled on the surface, but there is no true order, not from those who say they uphold such concepts. It's a world of chaos out there, where survival, instead of being a guarantee, is a game of luck. If you're unlucky, you die."
He paused for a beat.
"Being lucky only gives you the chance to learn how to make this chaos into something tangible and logical that you can control... that you can survive within. The concept of survival implies that there is an inherent logic to prolonging said survival after all, and you need power to put yourself in such a position. That's why I don't let you out of this cage."
He wanted to preserve me, I believe. So far, however, I believe this place has a logic to it. I've been strong enough to defend myself. I've been strong enough not to die but... I may have misunderstood my father's words. Yeah... no shit this place is chaos. I've only kept myself in the most controlled sections of this world of ours... I've barely seen even half of it.
I thought of those words when we traversed the streets of Mars, a Sphere separated into three districts, all based on a false class disparity that it had created to keep the lowest of the low down, and to push up the ones in power to greater heights. I could see the Second District above us, looming over the First District almost mockingly, and just above that, barely in view, was the vague silhouette of the Third District.
The streets of the First District carried a pungent smell of rot and iron past every corner, people packed like sardines as they shove past one another on its narrow streets, separated by a singular ravine, a history of war, violence, famine, and death collected and stacked high.
Has anyone's heart stopped beating? Throw them in the ravine; they're taking up too much room.
"What district could you have lived in, Tel?"
He winced at my question. "There's a reason why I said what I said..."
"What district...?"
"Third. The very top was where I was born."
A sickening crack could be heard from a nearby alleyway, causing us to immediately stop in our tracks, followed by the sounds of bickering and curses from a few men scampering out from within, chuckling to themselves. "Shoul--" I could barely pick up the few words they were speaking. "Probably take the li--"
Dorothy grimaced, "Probably a robbery."
There was no reason to step in, but before we could continue, Carmela interrupted us with a wave of her hand, surprising us. "Not a simple robbery."
Tel seemed to know the answer, and Toto seemed to have a different answer to this issue than their owner, growling down the alleyway.
I could hear a bit more, "What about the daughter?"
"--T-- Organs, then-- We can just sell her..."
It is not our responsibility as members of Grief to step in during times like these. Issues such as this should be sorted out alone.
Carmela looked hesitant, but Tel had a different idea as he went to confront the men.
Dorothy looked frustrated, "What the fuck are you doing?"
Tel ignored her, turning the corner to meet the men, forcing us all to follow behind him. If we aren't going to step up, then a situation will be created for why we should. "Who the fuck are you!?" We were greeted by the sight of a man with their skull cracked open, an eye slack, dead on the ground, a pool of blood left in their wake, with about five guys surrounding the cadaver.
One of the men, away from the group and more in what looked to be a haphazardly made hovel to sleep in, was searching for something.
"Where's the kid? The kid will sell! What the fuck do you lot want!?"
Tel took a breath, "We're from Grief. We're searching this area--"
"Yo, look." One of the men threw an arm around what looked to be their leader's shoulders, pointing at us. "They're only First Rank... they're recruits."
"They looked pretty decked..." He smirked, "We could probably sell the other two girls for a pretty penny, not sure what we could do about the big fuck though."
They looked intimidated by our large companion.
"There are five of us and four of them."
"Bad odds."
Tel sighed, "I ask you all to leave the premises!"
"Found 'er!" They continued to ignore him, pulling a girl out from the hovel by their hair.
"Hey!"
"What's going on here, guys?" Two more men descended from some stairs at the end of the alley, one zipping up their pants, confused at the sight of us. "What the fuck!?"
"Those are good numbers, no?"
"We're robbin' 'em!"
I couldn't help but sigh, stepping back into the alley's entrance, making a choke point for the men. Tel kissed his blade and flicked out the shield from his wrist, Toto practically frothing at the mouth to get a bite of these brigands, whilst Dorothy clearly didn't want to be involved.
I sighed. "Don't hesitate to kill," I whispered to myself.
One of the men, hatchet in hand, swung at Tel, hitting his shield both times, Tel himself remaining unfazed, before that very same man was thrown back by a single, charged shot from my Anchorbow, sending them coughing and wheezing across the concrete below. At the same time, the others converged on us.
"Everything is too close--" Dorothy mumbled, pointing out to attack one of the men with Toto as she prepared to pull out another weapon from her waistband.
From the left of the alleyway we were standing in, another man rounded the corner, ignoring Tel and attempting to swing on Carmela. I could feel the thump from behind her as she slammed a fist into her chest, causing the air to shake before warding off the man with a single claw.
"They're a Mutant!" The men got nervous, then transitioned into rage.
The brigand closest to Carmela swung at her two times, but due to her sheer size and how compact we were in this alley, she was struck twice, profusely bleeding from a wound on her arm and inner thigh.
Tel spun around, cutting a chunk of the man's neck open whilst protecting his ally. "Fool."
Suddenly, this fight turned into an all-out brawl as many of the weaker men amongst them ran straight into our defenses, swinging wildly at any of us, Tel simply kicking a few of them away, whilst all Carmela could do was guard her weaknesses within this tight space.
This was such a pointless fight! I circled Carmela, reeling my Anchorbow back to slam straight across their skull. I could feel the bone shatter from the shivering metal of my weapon. My breath hitched, and before I could stop myself, I tried swinging again with the smaller Anchorbow, but by then, the man was already on the ground.
I can focus on that later! I focused on one of the men swinging wildly at Toto, managing to nick the dog a couple times, but I missed my shot with the Hand Anchorbow.
Dorothy clicked her tongue, joining the fray by clipping one of the men attacking Tel before Carmela slammed a fist into her chest again, spinning around, and grabbing that same man by the neck, tightening her hold on them.
One of the hatcheted men remained close to Carmela, first choosing to swing at Tel, missing the mark in its entirety, and then back at her, sending her to her knees.
"That's enough!" Tel screamed out, his blade flicking out into a spear and straight into the criminal's stomach and gutting him on the spot.
Many of the men, except for one, stopped immediately at the sight, whilst the only other one with a proper weapon clipped Toto bad in the shoulder once more before sprinting at us as a group before getting clubbed over the head by my Anchorbows.
"This was pointless!" Dorothy raised her voice at Tel as I patched up Carmela's wounds. "What the hell are we supposed to do with the girl!?"
I sighed, looking up at Carmela, who had decided to take off her mask since the child didn't seem to mind-- or rather, the child didn't seem to even be cognizant. "Are you alright?" I asked Carmela.
She simply nodded and signed, "Better."
"This is gonna push us back by quite a bit, I think." I sighed again.
Tel didn't sit still as Dorothy ranted to him, walking up the steps, curious to see what two of the other men had come back from before they both stopped suddenly.
"You two alright...?"
I could hear Tel click his tongue as he rushed back down the steps. "We should bring the kid with us..."
"What!?"
"We could take her to one of the communes that we're heading to."
"Except, the kid isn't a Mutant. Why would they take her in?"
Carmela looked to be lamenting, shaking her head and sighing, "Only other group would be the Intestine."
"We should definitely not be talking to them... we're way too weak for that..."
Tel scratched his face, looking more than perturbed. "Well, we can't just leave her here."
Dorothy shook her head, walking back over to us. "Maybe it'd have been better to let them take the girl."
I recoiled at Dorothy's comment. "In what world would that be better!?"
"At the very least, she'd have had a chance, but now here we are, and she had nothing. We're putting our lives at risk by just having her near us."
"What the hell are you even saying, Dorothy?"
Tel cut in. "We're taking her to Instinct... it doesn't harm anyone to at least try."
Dorothy shook her head again, Toto looking worried as they followed their master out of the alleyway.
After an hour, we found ourselves at an Instinct Commune, and in response to our appearance, "Fuck off." They said.
Tel offered a hand. "We just want to help. Plus, we have a girl--"
"I don't give a shit. She doesn't have this," the man gestured to a pair of furry ears at the side of his head, "Then they aren't welcome in.
I took a bit of water, stepping up, "Look, two of us in the group," Carmela beside me now, "We're Mutants as well, okay?" Carmela revealed herself, whilst I wetted my arm, scales forming in response. "We're not here to cause any trouble."
The man scanned us for a moment. "You know... You two. You're the type of people who disgust me the most. Mercury was the reason why we became like this, did you know that? It was the origin of all of this shit, and here you are bendin' over backwards for it as some shitstains from Grief. Fuck off... whilst I'm still being the kind and cordial little mutt I am." He said smugly, a hand on his chest.
Tel snapped, "You're not the only one who is treated like shit here, y'know? This little girl lost her mom and dad on the same day, can't you at least have the tiniest bit of sympathy and take her for that, right?"
"Yet she has hair on her head and human ears, I don't give a fuck. Instinct only accepts Mutants!"
After creating some distance from the camp, Tel kicked the ground. "Fuck!"
Dorothy rolled her eyes, "What did I say? How did your little plan work out, huh?"
"No, we still have more chances. We can move on to a different camp. There are multiple on our radar anyway." He sighed.
"Maybe we could drop her at the Intestine's door, they practically own Impetus after all."
"No, I..."
"We don't have any other choice, really, right?" She shook her head, "Actually, first off, so this doesn't happen again, we need to designate a group leader."
This is becoming exhausting...
Carmela signed to Dorothy, "I don't believe we need a group leader."
"Well, I believe we do. In fact, I have evidence that we need one." Dorothy pointed straight at Carmela, who was still recovering from her injuries. "Let's not have that happen again, shall we?"
"You know what, you barely said a damn fucking thing until now from all our previous patrols--" Tel went on, "Including our first mission, and now you're chatting like you know everything, huh!? Is sitting there on our hands and letting that happen a good fucking decision, Dorothy?"
"No, moving on was a good decision, because there is nothing we could've done! And there is nothing we have done for this girl that has led to anything positive, because we're powerless, Tel!"
"Well, we dealt with those bastards, yeah!? We killed a couple of Apostles! Is that not power!?"
"You severely underestimate the strong, Tel!"
"No! You don't seem to understand that this is the path to becoming strong! It's why you're only good with your fucking mouth, then with your damn hands! That's why you're so afraid of overstepping!"
"Actions can lead to consequences! You have to think ahead of time, and understand that there are places wherein we should not step in!"
Tel stepped out into the open, "I want to be the leader, cause at the very least I'll try to help those in need."
"We don't need someone who's an idealist!"
"The--"
I couldn't do this anymore. I slammed my Anchorbow in between the two of them. "Shut the fuck up! This is so pointless! It's already happened, and we don't need a damn fucking leader! We'll deal with it as it comes!"
"I beg to differ." Dorothy snapped.
"Yeah, and what? You choose yourself!? I don't care! I don't care anymore--"
"No, I would choose you. I was going to choose you from the start."
I stopped. "What!?"
"Huh!?" Tel exclaimed with me.
Dorothy sighed, "It was my plan from the start. Ariel is a neutral party. Neither for nor against and..." A beat, "You're smarter than you let on, aren't you? You just refuse to interact directly with any issue because it's too much of a bother, you care enough if lives are put at risk, but not enough to step up and take charge."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I slide my Anchorbow back into the cloth tied against my waist.
"You have the perfect weapons to be in a leadership position; you just need the confidence to actually throw out commands."
"Theodal would do much better in my place."
"And he isn't here, so what's the choice we should make?"
"I..."
"I spy, with my little eye..." I whipped my head around to the sound of the voice approaching us, watching a man with dirty blond hair step into sight range. He let out a shrill whistle, carrying what looked to be a body bag behind him. "Weird that I encounter Grief-folk around here. Could you move out of the way? I've got a bounty to cash in."
I felt my body run cold, and Carmela seemed to be put on alert. The other two didn't seem as attentive. This man... all of us could take him; he had Kismet Energy permeating around him like a miasma. Energy that was not his own. Carmela signed something, and I repeated what she said, "It smells like iron."
Dorothy noticed my alert state, and Tel followed soon after.
The man chuckled, "The hell? Hey... this ain't any--"
"Who was the catch?" I asked.
"Hm...?" He smiled widely. "Damn, y'know... I've never been good at improvising on the spot."
Some might say, "Of course he smells like iron, he's carrying a body on him, a body of what could only be assumed is a man who deserved to be sought after." That's not the point, however. It's not just that he smelt of iron, it's the fact that--
Dorothy spoke up, "He's from Helsing! He's got Mutants in that bag!"
A wry smile spread across their face, a hand attempting to hide their joy. "Oh~! Come on~! Who's to say that they didn't deserve it~!" And despite his attempts at negotiation, he dropped the bag, sliding out a trick weapon from his back.
Carmela signed to me again. "This man is dangerous... very dangerous!"
"I'm Basset, nice to meet you~."