Chapter Three: Sudden Eloquence

Lyssa. Wake up. An unfamiliar voice echoed through the depths of her mind. A butterfly flapped into being in front of her. She reached out and tried to touch it, but it stayed just out of her grasp, a little purplish-pink shape in the surrounding gloom. Wake up. She opened her eyes to a similarly unfamiliar scene. There was a woman standing over her; a woman with silver hair and a hawk-like visage. The woman looked once at Lyssa and her smoldering eyes, literally, seemed as though they were only giving her a cursory glance. Her deep violet eyes seemed as though they were in flames, a slight wisp of smoke wafting up from those orbs as she turned her head towards... Aco? He was in the room too. In fact, he was asleep as well. He was seated right beside Lyssa's bed, chair facing her and he lay asleep on her. Evidently, he must have waited for a long time for her to wake up.
Something was missing. Lyssa thought for a moment and realised: it was too quiet. For Aco and the woman to be within such proximity to her, it was far too quiet for their subconsciousness to be. Granted, Aco was asleep and Lyssa could feel the sense of being troubled from him, but the woman was strangely quiet. Quiet? No. Lyssa could just make out a slight interest, quickly stamped out. The woman was controlling her own emotions tightly, leaving a murky mind to peruse.
Lyssa blinked as the woman offered her a cup of water. Odd, Lyssa's throat did not feel as bad as it had been. In fact, she felt much better, as if she had completely recovered. Lyssa took the cup without a word, not wanting to break the silence first or risk waking Aco up. Funny how she cared for his comfort that way.
She took a look about the room as she sipped the warm water. The room was like a mirror of the woman, the colour scheme dark and purple. Lyssa noticed a few butterflies around, some perching on the woman, others just flying about with no apparent destination in mind. The butterflies were a lighter colour as compared to the walls, a bright pink and blue pattern on their diaphanous wings.
The door creaked open as the woman left the room. The noise was enough to wake up Aco as he stirred, lifting his head up from Lyssa's blanketed abdomen.
“Lyssa? Lyssa, you're awake! Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah. I'm okay. What about you?”
“I'm alright. I was worried about you. I'm sorry, please forgive me.” Aco clenched his eyes shut as if he was fighting his emotions deep within. And he was, that much Lyssa could feel.
“What's there to be sorry about? Thank you for rescuing me.”
“I let you get caught.” His words were laden with guilt. “You wouldn't have needed rescuing if I had been able to protect you better.”
Lyssa didn't know what to say and she pondered for a moment before replying in the way she thought best.
“I'm so sorr- Lyssa!” Aco gulped as she hugged him tightly. “What.. what are you doing?”
In response, she simply drew him closer and tightened their embrace. He slowly hugged her back, arms lifting up to encircle her back.
“I'm sorry.” He whispered.
“It's okay. I don't blame you.”
Lyssa became aware of a mind coming close. She couldn't remember who it was, though it seemed familiar.. Then the door creaked open again and Aco pulled away quickly, startled. It was Ren. She didn't look as if she had seen the interaction between the two and she moved to Aco's side.
“Good morning, Lyssa. Feeling better?”
“Yes. Thank you for saving me, Ren.”
“It was what needed to be done, nothing to thank for.”
“Where are we? Who were those people you saved me from? I still don't know what's going on. Who's that woman with the butterflies?”
“We are in a sanctuary. A safe place for our kind. The people we saved you from would be the Guardians. Just think of them as our enemies for now. The woman with the butterflies is the person who runs this place, her and her cell.”
“Cell?”
“Her group of people. An example would be my cell, consisting of me, Psycho, Aco and now, you.”
“Oh. A little family then.”
“That's how I think of it.” Ren agreed.
A man garbed in a brown robe entered the room, carrying porcelain cups with steam rising off the top.
“So she's awake. Here, I bring tea, brewed by the grand Mistress Allende herself.”
Ren and Aco accepted the elegant cups with a word of thanks.
“Oolong?” Ren asked as she sipped.
“Yeah. Your taste buds are as sharp as ever.”
“This doesn't taste like the usual.” Aco commented.
“Truth. Sorry, Aco, we're running low on deadly nightshade so we put in monkshood.”
“It's alright.”
The man pulled back the cowl of his cloak, revealing a bright, silver and messy shock of hair. By now, Aco was starting to look out of place with his ebony hair. The man smiled widely at Lyssa, his manner familiar and obviously intended to put her at ease.
“So, what's your story, girlie?”
“I'm Lyssa. Who are you?”
“Persience Albans, welcome to our humble abode.” He bowed with a theatrical flourish.
“Then where are we?”
“The Butterfly Grove, Lyssa, one of the last few patches of unblemished forests this side of America.”
“And, uh, which side of America is this?”
“That,” Persience said with a grin, “Is a really good question.”
“You don't know?”
“He doesn't know anything, Lyssa.” Ren interjected.
“Come now, Ren, I do know something. I know that Aco likes Lyssa.”
“What?” Aco exclaimed, roused by Persience's words.
“Don't act so surprised, dear boy. You know very well that I can see what your deepest fears are. And right now, it's a fear of failing in your duty, of letting Lyssa get captured again. You don't want her gone from your side.” He nodded in a mocking, sagely manner.
“That doesn't mean anything.” Aco replied irritably.
“Yes, it does. Your deepest fears used to be regarding bad things happening to Ren and Psycho.”
“They're my family and Lyssa is too. I don't like failing in my duty.”
“And you like Lyssa.” Persience stroked a non-existent beard. “As for you, girl, I can't tell. Your fears are strangely murky. I wonder why I can't see it.” He shrugged.
“Don't be so rude, Persience. This is my family you're talking about.” Ren warned.
Lyssa took in the information silently. So Aco liked her? It was.. reassuring. It gave her a warm feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. But did she like him? As a friend, certainly. As something further? Lyssa wasn't sure. Was this what a crush felt like then? Lyssa suddenly wanted to be closer to him.
“Aco,” She murmured, “Could you come closer?”
He obliged, leaning forward. She shifted herself close to him and lay her head against his chest. He stiffened again, clearly not used to such physical intimacy. Ren pretended not to notice anything and spoke.
“Lyssa, when you feel better, you can leave your bed. I have been assured that you are fully recovered. The Mistress serves dinner in an hour's time. Aco, take care of her needs.”
“Yes, Mother.” He somehow contrived to speak, even with Lyssa's hair just under his nose.
Persience winked at him and stepped out of the room with Ren as the pair sat in silence, enjoying their shared warmth.

“How did this happen?” Karl yelled. “Answer me, damn you, how did this happen?”
“Sir, I-”
“How is it that you alone are alive? When almost everyone else died fighting? I expected more of you, Tobias.”
“It was not cowardice.”
“Then what is it?”
“The girl, she planted a mental command in my head.”
“Bullshit. None of the darkers are telepathic. Telepathy doesn't exist.”
“I felt it. It's up to you whether or not you believe me.” Tobias looked squarely at Karldon in the eyes.
“Do you now understand what I mean, Tobi? These beasts are a threat to all.”
“No, I refuse to understand your interpretation. They came for the girl. We provoked them.”
“So what you're saying is that if we don't hunt them, they won't be a threat to anyone?”
“No. I believe that most would not. We should not use the criminals as a gauge of a species.”
“Where did you get such an idiotic notion?”
“The girl had mercy on me. She let me run. She could easily have killed me.” Tobias made no mention of what he had felt and how the girl had also felt his pain.
“They are irrational beasts.”
“We are the true beasts here. That girl was innocent. And we, we provoked them by kidnapping her from her fellows.”
“You're a sympathiser.” Karldon spat. “After all these years, I never truly knew you, Tobias Albans.”
“You can continue on this, Karldon Grave. You can pick up the pieces of the Guardians and rebuild it as an extermination agency. But. I quit. I refuse to follow your warped logic any further.”
“Warped? It is your mind that has been corrupted! You let that girl make you think she is innocent. You let her, just because, just because,” Karl choked his words out with a sob. “Just because she resembles Nadia.”
“No. That's you.” Tobias replied quietly. “I won't have another part of this. I will seek them out and learn their side of the story. They can't be more unreasonable than you.” He tore off the shield emblem of the Guardians from his shirt and walked out of the crypt where they had lain their dead to rest.
As Tobias stepped out into a rainy, overcast day, he took a deep breath. The air smelled of wet mud and fresh grass. The air smelled of change. He would not hurt them unless absolutely necessary, he vowed. Justice and honor, truth and fairness, that was what would lead him. Now all he had to do was to find them. He checked a piece of paper, an address that his brother had given him, in faith that he would never lead the Guardians there. The Butterfly Grove.

Ren had shut herself in her room with Aco, so Lyssa took the liberty of wandering the lodge. The décor was generally green and brown, reminiscent of the forest all around the building, visible through the windows. Psycho was pointedly ignoring her, sitting on a couch and reading a newspaper. Persience had apparently gone out to find someone else, the third member of his cell and the Mistress was still cooking. Pots of plants were placed all about the lodge, plants which Aco had warned her were poisonous. She sat down beside Psycho.
“Hello again.”
He tried to ignore her and focus on his paper, but she could see that he was juddering, shaking as if nervous, bringing to mind the first time she saw him when he was a jittery wreck.
“You don't like me, do you?”
Silence greeted her comment. But she could feel, even through the disturbing sprawl of his thoughts, that he was trying not to reply. Lyssa twitched involuntarily at the wrongness of his mind.
“I know we got off on the wrong foot and I'd like to patch things up.”
No response.
“What do you have against me?”
Psycho glared at her.
“You are insane. That's what I have against you.”
“But you're mad, aren't you? What makes you think I'm crazy anyway?” Lyssa asked, genuinely curious.
“You kill for the sake of killing. You revel in bloodshed. If those aren't signs of insanity, I don't know what else.”
“That was only in self-defense. I'm not mad.” Lyssa retorted. “The Guardians were trying to kill me.”
“The others might believe your lies, but I know the truth.”
“If you refuse to believe me, then I guess we won't ever be friends.”
“You see that now.”
“But I'm part of your family now. It's going to be awkward.”
“I will protect you if the need arises, but don't expect me to be civil.”
Psycho set down his paper, popped a couple of pills into his mouth and started to head outside, but abruptly a couple of butterflies landed onto their heads and Lyssa saw a vision of trees. The edge of the forest. A man with onyx hair carrying a haversack, staring straight at her. No, not her, Lyssa realised, her perspective was that of a butterfly. The man looked somewhat familiar, just where had she seen him before...
Then it hit her. That Guardian who had shown care for her. The one she had let go. The one she should have killed.
“Psycho, that's a Guardian! It's him!” Lyssa gasped.
The vision faded, even as a voice sounded in their heads.
“Northeast edge. Everyone.” The voice was feminine, soft and calm, though the last word was pronounced with a certain emphasis. The voice was the same that had woken her up. The two butterflies hovered in front of them for a moment and then flew into the distance.
Psycho shot her a sharp look and motioned for her to follow, his movements more controlled than his nervous actions previously, before running out of the house.

Gasping for air, unused to the exertion, Lyssa came to a sudden halt, nearly crashing against Psycho. Persience was there already, looking expressionlessly at the Guardian. The mysterious woman, the one with the butterflies, the one they called the Mistress, was standing beside Persience as if preventing him from moving. The Guardian had put his backpack on the ground and he glanced for a moment at Lyssa, eyes widening in recognition. The ubiquitous butterflies fluttered around, indifferent to the scene, though there were substantially more of the insects about the woman. The atmosphere, to anyone else, was tense, but Lyssa could feel the truth under it. Persience was struggling, alternating between anger, fear and joy. His melange of emotions all but covered the woman's quiet mind, though the Guardian's feelings were equally loud. The Guardian was feeling something similar, but there was more of an element of feeling uncertain, as if he had taken a path that he now doubted. Psycho's, as always, was hard to read and Lyssa tried to focus away from the twinging oddity of his insanity.
And then Ren and Aco appeared from the side, their minds in a whirl. Persience seemed to know the Guardian, but Ren and Aco were definitely confused, that much Lyssa could surmise. The Guardian didn't just look familiar, there was something about his features there that reminded her of someone. Lyssa's gaze shifted from him to Persience and back. They looked... similar, if not for the disparity in hair colour, Persience's silver and the Guardian's black.
They all stood there, the silver-haired folk and one Chinese boy in a rough semi-circle facing a sable-headed man among the trees under a starry night sky. Slowly, the Guardian raised both hands up, palms facing outwards in the universal gesture of peace.
“Tobi.” Persience broke the silence first. Tobi? Was that the Guardian's name?
“Brother.” Tobias replied.
The wave of shock from Aco and Ren almost overtook Lyssa, for a moment threatening to make her faint. She gathered herself together and found that she could only stare at the revelation. Persience had a brother who was one of the enemy?
“Don't tell me you finally revealed this place to your superiors.” Persience said, narrowing his eyes accusingly though his tone indicated that he knew otherwise.
“No. I come of my own accord, brother. I'm no longer one of the Guardians. It's a long story, brother.” Tobias faced the woman with eyes with violet flames and bowed low. “Lady, I mean no harm. I would greatly appreciate it if I could rest and tell my tale to all of you.” He stumbled over his words slightly, nervous.
The woman looked at him for a moment as if judging him, then spoke a single word.
“Come.”
She turned and serenely glided towards the lodge gracefully. Her voice was the same as the voice in the butterfly-induced vision. Did this Daughter of the Moon have some form of control over butterflies?
Tobias muttered something that sounded like “Thank you, Lady.” and he hefted his pack and followed the woman at a respectful distance, avoiding eye contact with the others except for Persience.
The others followed behind and Psycho muttered to Ren, “I don't trust him. We're inviting a snake into our midst.”
Ren nodded in agreement and replied, “Yet it is not our place to decide. This is her home after all. Who knew Persience had a brother? A brother who is evidently a Guardian no less?”
Lyssa walked beside Aco and clutched his hand nervously. She was still new to this, she still had no idea why the Guardians were against them and she still wasn't entirely sure what she was if not human. Aco held her hand tightly in return, his own emotions more of surprise at this turn of events than uncertainty.

Persience handed Tobias a mug of coffee and folded his arms. Without waiting for Tobias to drink, he started speaking.
“So, little brother, what brings you here after all this time? Finally decided to betray your brother? What? Tell me.”
“I have left the Guardians, brother. I.. don't agree with them. What they hold true goes against my ethics.”
“You and your ethics led you to join them in the first place.” Persience was angry and he didn't restrain himself. “Why now? After that time when I came to be who I truly am, after that time when you were angry at me and you left them for your high-and-mighty morals, now you come running to me, telling me that they aren't the righteous saviors you believed them to be?”
“It's all changed. They didn't use to be like that. Now they just want genocide. It's all changed.”
Persience snorted derisively. “Please, don't be dense. They always wanted to kill us. We're just bugs and you're the exterminators, wasn't it?”
“No, no, brother. They only retaliated when darkers- I mean, you Children of the Moon attacked.”
“But now they have gone from peacekeepers to hunters and so you leave them? Don't make me laugh.”
“I am not lying, brother.”
“Yeah? Sure could have fooled me.”
The woman with the violet fire in her eyes laid a hand across Persience's chest, an obvious signal to tell him to back off. Tobias looked to her instead and found that he couldn't look away. Those eyes with a fire that couldn't be there, impossible eyes that seemed to see everything, unreal eyes that held his gaze there, immobilising him. Her lips curved into a small smile as she looked at him.
“Tobias Albans.” She pronounced his name slowly.
“Lady.” He inclined his head in respect. He didn't know anyone there except for his brother, but he could see that she was clearly the one in charge.
“You know me.”
“No, Lady.”
“I am Kaia Allende. You may call me Lady Allende, or Mistress Allende. Tell me, how is Karldon Grave?” The Lady's voice grew hard.
“You assume that I'm still his good friend, Lady.” Tobias' voice matched hers and he stood up to face her. “He is the reason I left. How do you know of him, Lady?”
“That,” She replied softly. “is none of your concern.”
“I apologise for interrupting, Lady Allende, but can we stop reminiscing about the past and settle on the problem here?” Ren cut in, clearly impatient. Lady Allende, in return, gave her a condescending and infuriatingly patronising look but nodded.
“Of course, dear Ren.” She replied dryly. “Now, should I grant you sanctuary, Tobias Albans? You clearly mean no harm. But.” She tapped her long fingers against her chin. “You might bring hunters down on our heads.”
“I would never-”
“Not voluntarily, of course.” The Mistress Allende smoothly continued in that soft, controlled voice.
“I was careful, I left no traces-”
“No, you did not, there are two trackers currently outside the forest, reporting to their superior, presumably Grave.”
Persience tensed noticeably and looked as if he would throttle Tobias right there and then. Instead, he asked the Mistress, “What do we do now?”
“What do we do now? We kill them.”

A/N: Okay guys, I am a terrible, terrible person. I am so very sorry for taking so long! I stonewalled for quite a long time on this one, particularly towards the end. Chapter Four has not been started and likely will never be. Yes, I know, I promised to finish this story, but its hard for me, particularly because whenever I feel like writing, it tends to be in school where I don't have my computer at hand to type in. I also can't write on paper and then transfer because I can never remember just what line I stopped at. Incidentally, I have started several new Floaters, stories that I haven't decided whether to continue or not. Bleh, I am so sorry, people, I've just been really emotional recently. I hope you guys enjoy this story. I certainly didn't. This isn't one of my better ones. Honestly, I ought to consign this to the Great Recycling Bin in the Sky. Okay, I'll stop babbling. Once again, I am so sorry. Have a good time, unlike me!
-Agoraoptera.Ben

Chapter Two: Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya.

Lyssa awoke, but kept her eyes closed. She might have been unconscious, but she could still sense the jarring minds all about her. Slowly, warily, she looked about with her mental eye, discerning several minds a distance away from her. One mind, in particular, stood out like a sun among candles, blazing bright. It had purpose about it, purpose Lyssa could not discern. This skill of hers was frustrating, revealing bits and pieces but not enough to assemble a picture of a person. Then there was a collective sense of... Lyssa couldn't put a word to it. Gratification? She didn't put much more thought into it as the fiery mind started to approach her.
“Wake up, scum.” Her eyes snapped open with fear as he grabbed her hair and pulled her up roughly as she yelped in pain. “Don't bother pretending to be asleep.”
She stared wide-eyed at him and took notice of her surroundings. She was in a cold, concrete room, an interrogation room and prison cell of sorts. An opaque glass panel beside the metal door told her how they observed her. The floor was dusty and cold, causing her to shiver slightly.
“Don't try looking so innocent. I know your kind.”
“I don't.. I don't understand.” Lyssa stuttered out in fear. “What do you mean? My kind?”
“Of course, you would be the newly awoken one. It took us a few days, but we have you at last.”
“I don't know anything!”
“Your kind cannot fool me. I know what you scum do upon awakening. My own parents were murdered when one of you woke.” His voice was full of bitterness and hate; Lyssa could at least discern that clearly as well from his mind. It was overwhelming.
“I didn't do anyth-”
Her words were cut off as he slapped her.
“Shut up, worm. I saw the remains of your classmates. You sucked the life right out of them, didn't you?”
Lyssa found those words to be quite interesting. Had she sucked their life out, or merely extinguished the candle flames of their lives? If she had sucked their lives out, then did they in some way dwell within her own-
Her thoughts were interrupted as the man hit her again and yelled at her.
“Look at me! You are a parasite, a leech, a cancerous tumor upon humanity. You and your kind will die, but as all diseases, we shall study you first.”
The man kept on talking, but Lyssa was more concerned with his mind. Was that a hint of panic mixed with guilt? Something to do with the man's past. Was it someone he loved? His lover?
“I didn't kill your parents!” Lyssa croaked out, surprised at how rough her voice was.
Surprise bloomed in his mind, she could feel that clearly. Outwardly, his face was thunderous.
“No.” The man's voice was low and hateful. “You didn't kill my parents. Your kind did. And your kind killed my sister.” The man's composure cracked slightly and he glanced away for a moment. “Your death will only be another payment of this blood debt I owe to you monsters.” He seemed as if he wanted to say more and his conflicting thoughts confirmed it. However, after a moment's hesitation, he left the room, slamming the door loudly.
“And I don't even know his name.” Lyssa sighed theatrically and coughed violently. Her throat hurt much more than she had expected.

The man made a conscious effort to calm down as he stepped out of the room, but his fellow Guardian saw through it instantly.
“Karl. That girl-”
“That is not a girl.” The man Karl replied icily. “That is a threat to humanity.”
The other man shrugged. “Yeah, it reminds you of her, doesn't it?”
The man Karl kept quiet.
“Nadia was about her age when-”
“Don't ever compare Nadia to such beasts!” The man Karl's voice rang out, hard and filled with loathing.
“Let's talk somewhere more private.” The other man pulled him aside, noticing the stares of their fellow protectors of humanity. “Karl, you're not the only one who misses Nadia.”
“Then you ought to recognise my hate; it should dwell in you too!” He accused.
“Karl, I loathe them too. But I loathe them for their acts against humanity in general. Let go of this vengeance, Karl, it's poisoning you. Our duty to humanity is clear; we must eliminate them wherever they threaten mankind. But you-”
“When they threaten mankind? Tobi, their very existence threatens mankind. We have to exterminate them and prevent them from ever taking root on our Earth ever again, not eliminate whoever threatens.”
“Karl, I'm speaking to you as a friend. I'm appealing to your humanity, man. Let go of this vengeance. It poisons you. A duty of protection gets corrupted into an all-out genocidal impulse. Stop this before it goes on further, Karl. We can't afford to lose our humanity in the process of defending it.”
“I'm willing to sacrifice my humanity, and more, to see them wiped off the face of this Earth.” Karl's eyes blazed with self-righteous fury.
Tobi shook his head. “Karl, you're my superior and we've been friends since childhood. You know I'd follow you into Hell and back again if I had to. But Karl, this is a corruption of our duty. We can't let personal emotions get in the way of our duty. Honour and duty is everything.”
“You don't understand me, Tobias Albans. You don't miss Nadia as-”
“I don't miss Nadia as you do?” Now it was Tobias' turn to flare. “I loved her, Karldon Grave. I still do. Your sister Nadia Grave was what my life revolved around, before she was taken from us.”
“You don't seem to place that much of an importance on her.” Karl retorted.
“I still love her, Karl. I still miss her. Every night I think of her, as I know you do. But I remember what she always said, how she always believed in morals and ethics. We have principles to stand by, and her memory is what holds me to my principles.”
“And my principles tell me to kill each and every one of those beasts.”
“If you so say, Sir.” Tobias replied stiffly, knowing that his stubborn friend would not be convinced. “We have spoken many times of this.” Tobias turned about and went back to observing the girl who looked so much like his dead, lost love.
Karl looked long and hard at his friend's back. Poison. What an ironic word choice. Karl looked down and pulled up his left sleeve. A limb of necrotic flesh, withered and foul greeted his sight. He clenched his good hand into a fist. If he ever saw that boy again, that boy who had tried to protect his siste- no, it was a beast. If he ever saw him again, he would make him pay for this.
“Sir?” A female voice roused him from his dark thoughts of vengeance. Karl turned to see an apothecary.
“What is it?”
“Sir, the results are out. There is no other choice but to amputate.”
Karl didn't reply and his eyes looked into the distance.
“Sir? If it matters, I'm sorry.” The apothecary lowered her head in respect and quickly made her way.

“No.”
Ren stopped her pacing abruptly.
“No?” She narrowed her eyes. “Psycho, what do you mean by 'no'?”
“It's not worth it. We don't have to get that girl out.”
“You would abandon her?”
“Yes.”
“She is one of us, one of our kind. She is as much our relative as any other Child of the Moon.”
“She's mad.” Psycho said, as if it settled the matter.
“I don't think so, Psycho.” Now she glared at him venomously. “You remember how it was like for you at first. I would have thought that you of all people would sympathise with her.”
“Look, I'm trying to provide the voice of reason. She's likely dea-”
“She's not dead.” Aco interrupted softly.
“Okay, fine, if you say so. Even if we somehow locate the Guar-”
“I seeded that one Guardian with a poison. I know where they are.”
“Look, stop interrupting me. Even if we can somehow break through all their defenses, the three of us alone, I think we wouldn't get out without injuries. Chances are, that girl's too weak to run by herself, so if Aco carries her again, that means there's only two of us. We are putting our lives on the line for a crazy girl who is likely to go on a killing streak at the slightest trigger.”
“We are more than a match for them, Psycho.” Ren pointed out. “They are just... human. Only human. And we are... much more. Lyssa is strong, Psycho. Her powers may come in handy when we make our escape.”
“Okay, assuming that we are even going to go and rescue her, if we hit the Guardians in the day, we would be weakened and our exit would be compounded by so many problems. But the Guardians aren't fools, I'll bet they have additional security in the night. Only complete idiots wouldn't.”
“Which we can still take on. It's not as if they have guns. You know that now for some reason the Guardians take captives. This chance will tell us what exactly they are doing.”
“C'mon, Ren, don't do this.”
Ren ignored him and started planning with Aco. After a few minutes of watching them uncomfortably, Psycho reluctantly joined their discussion.

Lyssa was cold. They had left her alone in the bare prison for... She could not tell how long it had been since she had that meal Ren had cooked. Thinking about it only made her hunger pangs feel ever more aching. The worst thing was that she couldn't shake off the presence of minds just outside the room, more than likely observing her like an animal. She had enjoyed probing the minds of the people outside- technicians of some sort, she decided- but after a while, the novelty had lost its charm and then the minds became an irritance, a torment. She didn't like the minds. She didn't like the sensation. It felt like a large crowd all around her, muttering inane things that she couldn't make out clearly, things on the verge of being shown and revealed, but frustratingly vague. In the end, Lyssa just crawled to the corner and curled up, trying to keep herself warm as best as she could. She covered her ears with her hands, but it didn't keep out the sound of their subconscious. She started crying, but it didn't wash away the feel of their emotions. She started screaming then, screaming till her voice grew even more ragged and she pounded her fists against the grey concrete wall over and over.
When Tobias opened the door, he saw her limp and shivering, lips bloody from where she had bitten them in an effort to drown out the muffled voices with pain. Her hands were bruised and her skin was pale. When was the last time she had eaten or drank anything? A day? Two? While Tobias could sympathise, having starved for several days on end as part of his training, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt towards the girl. Despite her nature, she still appeared as a perfectly normal human being.
Lyssa looked up at him with swollen, bloodshot eyes.
“I.. Help.. Cold...” She chattered out through shaking lips.
Was it really that cold? Tobias removed his right glove and reached to take her pulse. She didn't draw back, evidently too weak to even respond in the slightest save for the slight look she gave him through glazed eyes. Tobias recoiled instantly upon touching her wrist; it was freezing cold. Not just the temperature of her body, he had noticed slight wisps of shadow curl towards his hand where he had touched her.
Tobias quickly strode out of the room, still silent. As he shut the door behind him, he asked the technicians, “Why has she not been given food and water? Her temperature is far too low for her to be healthy and-”
“Sir, Captain Grave told us to wait for a while more before we took her blood for testing. Nourishment is only to be provided after the blood has been drawn.”
“That's inhu-” Tobias stopped speaking and took a deep breath. He realised that it was Karl who had given the order. It would not do to appear as if he was going against his friend's commands. “When exactly will nourishment be provided?” He asked, forcing his voice to keep level.
“Not too long, Sir.” The man checked the clock on the wall. “Actually, I believe we just missed the timing, Sir. We shall see to it now.”
Karl's hate had reached many of his men too. It wasn't too unexpected; each of them had lost someone close to the darkers, as the Children of the Moon were colloquially known. This level of vehemence was rather regular, Tobias supposed. Yet, it was still startling. Had they intended to let her starve, if he had not said a word? Were the protectors of humanity losing sight of the very thing they were trying to save?
He shook away the heavy thoughts and saw that his fellow Guardians were taking their own time in bringing water and food for the girl. He decided to bring it in to her himself.
“I'll take that for you; I don't have much to do right now.”
“My thanks, Sir, I have no wish of being in the same room as that darker.”
Tobias did his best to ignore the comment and took the tray. The food was meagre; a small bun and a cup of water.
“Wait a moment, Sir, I'll go in first to take some blood samples.” Another man called out.

Lyssa was so weak that she did not even lift up her head to see who was coming in. When the needle pierced her arm none too gently, she didn't even squeak. The only indication that she was still awake was her half-open eyes.
“Girl, here, have some water.” A warm voice suddenly came from in front of her. She did not react and Tobias slowly lifted her head as she just looked at him lifelessly. He put the cup to her mouth and let her sip a little. The warm water seemed to give her a slight bit of strength and she slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position against the cold wall.
“Cold...” She murmured as best as she could through her parched throat. “Cold...”
As if realising that the person feeding her would be warm, she slumped forward onto Tobias and weakly lay her arms around him. He froze, unsure of whether she was going to attack him or not. She just continued letting him support her and after a period of time, her eyes closed in slumber. He slowly pulled back from her embrace and placed the food on the floor at a side; she could feed herself when she woke. He was just about to turn and leave when her eyes snapped open and her mouth curled weakly into a grin.
“They're... coming.. for.. me.” She somehow contrived to force the words out and she started laughing softly. Darkness started to bleed from her, gathering as a black mist about her. Tobias started to run for the door, but found that he could not move. The black mist entwined itself around his limbs, apparently inducing paralysis. Tobias knew fear then.
This must have been what Nadia felt like. The thought went through his head unexpectedly and brought with it a storm of emotions. Guilt, hurt, anger, hate. Abruptly, his limbs were free once more and he stumbled backwards unsteadily.
He saw the girl buoyed by the mist, standing up. Tears glistened in her eyes and she mouthed to Tobias a single word. Run.
The command seemed to echo in his mind and he obeyed without thinking, throwing open the door and realising that the alarms were blaring loudly. He hadn't heard a single thing while in the room because the room was soundproof to prevent the captive from hearing anything. There was no one in sight and he ran out of the building unthinkingly.
It was all that saved him from the ensuing death that came sweeping through the halls of the Guardian's base of operations.

Something like savage joy appeared on Ren's face as she and her shadowy twin cut through the Guardians, her with her knives and her shadow absorbing the life force of the personnel manning the posts. She did not know where Lyssa was being held, but that did not matter. She would kill as many of them as she had to before she could find her. A stun baton caught her arm and the limb fell limply after spasming for a few moments, her knife clattering on the floor. She snarled even as a Guardian kicked her harshly, pain blossoming in her abdomen. Abruptly, the Guardian collapsed. She quickly stood her ground once more, just in time to see Psycho dispatch the last Guardian by forcing the Guardian's blood to burst out of his own skin.
Psycho turned to her.
“See what I mean? If I hadn't saved you there, you would have been caught and nothing would have been accomplished.”
“But you are here and that is what matters. Aco, done yet?”
“Yes. I've found it.” Aco had been rifling through the bodies of the dead, taking access cards. He looked up and his eyes widened in concern. “Mother, you're bleeding.”
Ren lifted a hand up to her brow; the hand came away with sticky crimson fluid.
“No matter. We have to keep moving. They might decide to kill Lyssa rather than let us save her.”

As the trio raced around the corner, they suddenly started hearing screams. Picking up their pace, they saw a man thrown from a side corridor and hit the wall with a sickening crunch. Black fog followed after him slowly, entwining around his torso and the tentacle of black suddenly solidified, crushing his spine.
“Lyssa?” Ren called out.
“Ren...” They heard the reply come softly, followed by a wracking cough. They turned into the corridor and saw Lyssa sprawled on the floor, surrounded by unmoving bodies of Guardians. The black smoke covered much of the corridor, but Ren could clearly see that Lyssa was still weak, especially from her apparent exertions in taking out these Guardians.
“Lyssa!” Aco rushed to her side, lifting her to a half-sitting position.
“Aco...” She gave a short laugh. “I knew... I knew you would come for me... Thank you..”
“Don't say any more.” Aco carried her into his arms and looked to Ren.
“Well, now that we have what we came for, let us depart, swiftly.”
As they ran towards the exit, there was nobody to stop them. In Aco's warm hold, Lyssa sank into pleasant unconsciousness.

A/N: Heyo, this one is distinctly shorter. Still too long perhaps. Anyway, if it seems a little rushed, with all the events happening all at once, I apologise. Anyhoo, read and critique! Oh and if you didn't get the title, go google it and click on tvtropes. But do that at your own risk, for I hold zero responsibility in the event that you waste a large portion of your life there. Just saying. I'll be away for CCA camp from 10th to 13th, so uh, even though Chapter Three is semi-done, don't expect it to be posted. In fact, I probably won't post it until Chapter Four is done. Yes. Yeap, have fun this holiday (which, incidentally, does not appear to be a holiday due to extreme time constraints and... other stuff.) and enjoy yourselves wherever you may be!
-Agoraoptera.CerebrateBen