#muertarte

[mortemoppetere]

@muertarte from here:

[pm] I did not mean to. I was thinking his grip will be good. Did you get the bracelet I make?

​[pm] Eh, it was funny. Don't think he minded it much, anyway. Yeah, got it. Looks nice. Didn't make you one. Not much good at making shit.

[magmahearts]

TIMING: current. PARTIES: @ariadnewhitlock, @vanoincidence, @muertarte & @magmahearts LOCATION: the magmacave. SUMMARY: as cass prepares to leave town for good, ariadne, van, and metzli show up to speak to her. when makaio finds them, things go south. CONTENT: parental death, child death, emotional manipulation, domestic abuse

Something had shifted with Metzli’s last visit. Cass had always known, on some level, that her father was capable of being dangerous in the same way she was, but she hadn’t thought much of it. Most of the people she loved were capable of being dangerous, and it never made her love them any less. Even now, she wouldn’t pretend she loved Makaio less than she had before. He was her father. She still loved him, would always love him. But… she didn’t think it was safe for him to be around her friends anymore. Not after he’d tried to have her hurt Metzli, not after he’d made it clear that there was only room in her life for him. She loved her father, but she didn’t think he belonged here.

Which probably meant she didn’t, either.

She’d already started planting the idea in his head. The two of them would be better suited for somewhere far from Wicked’s Rest. Alaska had a lot of volcanoes, and would put a whole country between them and the people she loved. It had a lower population, too, which meant less risk of… accidents like what had happened with the security guard. (Or things that weren’t accidents, like what had happened with the hunter. Cass tried not to think about that one.) Makaio actually seemed excited about it, and that was a good thing. The two of them could start over somewhere fresh, where no one she loved was in danger and she could have the family she told herself she wanted. 

So, she was deep within the Magmacave, scribbling letters in a notebook. She knew she couldn’t say goodbye to her friends in person; they’d all ask her to stay, and Cass wasn’t sure she was strong enough to say no. The notebook would be a better option. She’d leave it in the woods near the cave, someplace where one of them could find it. They’d be sad, but they’d be okay. They’d move on. Everyone always did. 

If she were less busy with the writing, she might have known someone was coming before the footsteps echoed off the walls. She might have registered that those butterflies in her stomach that signaled the presence of another fae, of her father, were absent with the approach. But knowing probably wouldn’t have changed anything, anyway, and so it didn’t matter that Cass didn’t hear them coming ahead of time. Her pencil paused in its scribbling as the footsteps finally echoed close by, head snapping up. “You shouldn’t be here.”

—

Van remembered the last time that she’d seen Cass and how tense it had been, of how she re-ran the conversation over and over in an attempt to figure out how to have it better next time. She wanted so badly for things go right that she didn’t heed the warnings. So what if Cass’s dad was dangerous? So what if Cass thought she was dangerous? Van was dangerous, too. She could do things, too. Unimaginable things. For the first time in a long time, Van wasn’t afraid as she walked towards Cass’s cave. 

It almost felt foreign in a way, a forgotten kind of memory that was only linked to the dreams she used to have about all of them beneath the cavern’s edge. She thought about the times that she’d been there to visit Cass, with or without the others– of the comics spread out on the floor, of the movies they’d watch on their phones. Van wondered very briefly if she should’ve brought pizza like before. 

It was just as difficult as before, navigating her way through the cave’s entrance to the opening that would lead her straight to Cass. Before she turned the corner, she could hear her friend’s voice ring out. “You like, said that before.” She didn’t have to do much to dodge the overhanging parts of the cave, as she was already on the shorter side. Instead, she walked right through, feigning authority and confidence. The moment she finally saw Cass, however, it shattered. She was wearing the necklace. It burned itself like a plate against the magma, but she was wearing it. Van stuttered as she spoke, “I just really wanted to see you. I’ve been– it’s– I missed you. A lot.” 

—

Ariadne had missed Cass more than she could put into words. Except that she’d decided that she had to go by the cave now. There wasn’t any other option at this point. Cass could yell at her, ignore her, do anything, but she needed to see Cass. Cass was her best friend and she’d been the person to make Ariadne really understand what it was like to have a best friend who wasn’t part of your family. She also needed to make sure that Cass was okay. Even if Cass never wanted to talk to her again, Ariadne needed to see for herself that her friend was at least okay.

She should’ve brought cookies – M&M, or something like that. Chocolate-caramel-chip. All sorts. Lifesavers gummies too. Except she’d shown up, with only a embroidered piece of fabric that was another volcano. A volcano with stars shining above it.

“I’m sorry.” She nearly walked into Van as she arrived at the cave. “I – uh. I missed you. Also. I’m sorry. I know you said – but you’re my best friend in the whole world and I really, really miss you and I needed to see you because –” Ariande cut herself off. “Please, let me – us – let us in, just for a little while?”

There was something finite about visiting the cave again, feeling the stone beneath their fingertips as they trailed behind the two girls ahead of them. More than ever, Metzli felt like death was permeating around them. Whether it was from a separate source or from within, they weren’t sure, but they saw the way Cass’s father kept himself gripped to her. Quite literally. 

From what they’ve seen and what they’ve experienced, Metzli knew all too well that it would take violence to get Cass away from that man instead of sacrificing the life she made for herself. They couldn’t let her give up the home she had worked hard to make, not for anyone. Especially not a man who abused his position as a father. The very thought of that made Metzli’s stomach sink, gagging them into silence while they listened to Van and Ariadne speak until there was a pause. 

They swallowed, wringing their fingers together several times until the ball in their throat released their voice. “We love you.” Metzli breathed, “It has been too long since we are able to be with you. Just for a little bit, we will like to see you.” Their body stiffened, and they added, “Please.”

It was overwhelming, having three of her closest friends show up at once. For weeks now, Cass had felt as though she was drowning just dealing with them one at a time, trying to keep both her families intact while knowing they needed to be kept separate. Seeing Metzli, Van, and Ariadne all here, all telling her the same things they’d been telling her for weeks… It was hard. More than that, it was scary. Cass glanced towards the back of the cave, where Makaio was resting. Hadn’t he said he’d kill Metzli if they returned? Wouldn’t he do the same to Ariadne and Van? This was why she had to go. None of them could ever be safe so long as she was here.

Half panicked, she looked back to them, getting to her feet. Hesitantly, she put up her glamour, stone and magma giving way to skin and hair. It was the first time she’d bothered with it for weeks now, the first time she’d worn it in her cave since Makaio first introduced himself to her. She took a step towards them, gently pushing the notebook towards Van.

“I love you, too,” she said quietly. “All of you. But you can’t be here, okay? Just — Look, I’m not… We can’t do this right now.” Or ever, really. But if she told them her plans, would they let her go? The best case scenario was for them to leave, and for Van to open the notebook after. By then, Cass and Makaio would be gone, and it would be better. Wouldn’t it be better? “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’ve been — weird lately. But you guys really need to leave.”

—

Van hadn’t anticipated the others, but they were welcomed additions. What better way to prove to their friend that she was loved than to all show up? It might’ve been overwhelming, too. There was no sense in facing the back and forth of what it could mean for Cass, because it was clear that they all thought they needed to be here for their own reasons. She figured from her’s and Cass’s last meeting that there’d be no such appreciation for the sudden visit, but hadn’t anticipated panic. She remembered what it looked like on Cass’s features from the time in the grocery store, Debbie’s blood spilt between them. 

“What is this?” Van didn’t open the notebook that Cass pushed into her hands. Instead, she held onto it tightly at her side, fingers denting the flimsy cover. It was a little odd, seeing Cass in the way that she remembered her most easily, and while Cass might’ve argued that the former was more in tune with who she was, Van thought that they both were. She didn’t really know how fae glamor worked, but it was clear it was different across the board, given Regan only had to hide wings. Well, not anymore, but still. 

“What’s going on, Cass?” This was different than the last time, too, Van realized. “Are you okay?” Her voice trembled slightly as she took a small step forward, catching Cass’s hand with her own. “You can come with us, right? You can come with us, and you can tell us.” Her eyes swept behind Cass where she anticipated Makaio’s arrival, but all she saw was darkness. “You can come with us.” It wasn’t a question this time, instead it was spoken with finality– a plea dressed in the most basic of emotion. 

—

A part of her had wanted to be the only one here, but it made sense that Van and Metzli had shown up too. If Ariadne were honest, it was also a welcome addition, because it meant she didn’t have to convince Cass of her value all alone. Van and Metzli were perfect additions because she knew Cass loved them deeply too. So maybe this would work. Maybe she could get her best friend back. To show Cass just how desperately loved she was.

Cass’s panic was unsettling. Ariadne would’ve preferred anger, preferred being yelled at to go and being told she was annoying, no matter how much that hurt her. Cass’s glamor shifted, and Ariadne opened her mouth to say that Cass didn’t have to do that, that she was so incredibly beautiful in her true form, but maybe now wasn’t the time for that.

“Please come with us.” She echoed Van, taking a step forward and grabbing Cass’s other hand with her own, gaze falling to the notebook, wondering what was in there, if Van knew more, and what that more might have been. She hadn’t met Cass’s dad yet, but figured he had to be somewhere in here. “Just come on, we can – we can do whatever you want to do. Anything at all.” Because even on the most normal of days Ariadne would have done anything on earth for her friend. But now it seemed especially important to highlight that, to make sure that her best friend knew how much she’d do anything on earth for her.

“I missed you. I love you.” A mantra, almost. The way it flowed off her tongue was nearly like a prayer. “We love you. We love you.” She changed, not wanting to ignore the others who were there, even if a part of her wanted to wrap Cass up in their own little world. “What’s the matter?”

The reciprocated love, although quiet, meant everything after the months of pushback. It helped further prove to Metzli that it was never truly Cass who spoke so cruelly. Maybe she once believed the words as they flew off her tongue, but that didn’t seem the case anymore. They recalled the last time they were there, and looked to Cass’s shoulder. Metzli could still see the jagged grip on it, detested the idea that she was left with a bruise and an ache that they couldn’t soothe after they left. 

Quickly, the thoughts were shaken away before more could be conjured in a panic. Their focus was better set on getting Cass somewhere away from her father, somewhere safe. By the looks of it though, with Metzli’s trained eye and propensity for analysis, the notebook Cass was shoving into Van’s hands looked a lot like a goodbye. Their shoulders fell and their posture stiffened at the realization, and it was all they could do to keep their composure. If Cass left, she would be sacrificing everything for a man that did not deserve it. Metzli couldn’t let that happen, and they were glad to have the unexpected help to convince her of that.

“You should not go with him.” It was a quiet plea, much too quiet for anyone to actually hear, so they said it again. “You should not go with him. He hurts you. Love is not supposed to be painful.” Metzli paused with a swallow. “Not like this. Will you please listen? We can help you.” They took a step forward, taking a breath. “We can. Let us help you.”

Van didn’t open the notebook, and that was good. Cass wasn’t ready for her to do that yet, wasn’t ready for the goodbyes to be acknowledged. If they knew she was leaving, they’d argue, and… Cass didn’t want to fight with her friends. She’d done enough of that already. She would be leaving them with this terrible impression, this quiet doubt of who she was and how she felt about them thanks to the last few months of distance she’d forced between them all. The last thing she wanted to do was widen that gap at the end, make any of them think she loved them less than she did. She was sick of fighting with them, but she didn’t know how to stop. This thing with Makaio was a boulder rolling down a hill; the momentum was too intense to keep it from rolling to the bottom.

“I’m okay,” she said to Van, a quiet mantra she’d been repeating for a while now. She was fine, she was loved. It wasn’t Makaio’s fault that no one else understood him; how could it be? They didn’t know him the way Cass did, didn’t know his history. Even if they did, they couldn’t understand. No one understood her father the way Cass did, and maybe that meant that all of this was okay. She could go with him, and she could understand. She could go with him, and she could be understood. It didn’t have to be a bad thing. So, she repeated it, trying to make it feel right. “I’m okay.” It didn’t burn her tongue the way a lie would have, but there was an uncomfortable feeling in her chest all the same. 

She swallowed around the lump in her throat, shaking her head. “I can’t go with you. I’m sorry, but I can’t. I’m — My dad needs me. He’s alone. He’s been alone for such a long time. I can’t… I have to stay with him. I’m sorry. But that doesn’t mean I don’t —”

“What’s this?”

A jolt of panic rose to her throat at the cool, familiar voice behind her. Her guts had been so twisted up in all the things she was feeling that she’d neglected to recognize the fluttering in her stomach that had signified her father’s approach, had missed the tug of the cave around her as his feet padded along its floor. Cass whirled to face him, fear and guilt spreading over her face. “I — They were just leaving. They came to get some things, that’s all. Right?” She looked back at her friends, hoping they’d take the hint and go.

—

Van had done a lot of running. She’d shied away from danger time and time again, favoring ignorance as a means to keep things normal. But the reaction Cass had to her’s, Metzli’s, and Ariadne’s pleas was anything but. She knew that Cass didn’t believe herself to be the girl from the grocery store, but there was another edge to it. Van listened to Ariadne’s voice, soft and delicate, and then to Metzli’s– still soft, but with an edge of knowing. What did they know that she didn’t? She cast a glance in their direction before it realigned on Cass’s face. 

Before she could echo Metzli’s sentiment about having Cass leave with them, the sound of footsteps and a minor vibration beneath her feet had her snapping her mouth shut. She looked past Cass to see her father– not traced in any kind of glamor, but more akin to the way that she’d seen Cass the last few times now; molten and blistering. She swallowed the plea she had tucked at the back of her throat, and instead held onto the notebook tightly. 

It occurred to her then, what it meant. It was a goodbye. Cass planned to leave with him. Metzli figured it out quickly enough, and maybe she should have, too. 

At Cass’s insistence that they agree with her, Van felt the weight of her’s and Cass’s friendship slip over her shoulders– a heavy weighted thing. The idea that if she didn’t fight back against the ill fated reassurances, she’d lose her forever. “We weren’t.” The words came out, never mind how minor, and they surprised her. Before, she would have relented– found her way through the cave’s mouth and escape only to message Cass later. But this had a certain finality to it, that if she turned her back, she might never see Cass again. 

“We’re here to see her.” Her tongue felt heavy and iron pulled from the back of her throat. 

—

Life was dangerous. Ariadne hadn’t been quite so aware of that when she was growing up (and she had a guess that being human then was a good part of it – and then there was how her parents didn’t have a clue about anything, and if they did have a clue, they kept all of that well away from her). But in the past year, and even more particularly in the last half year, and even more recently than that, she’d been terrified for Cass. Because her best friend wasn’t someone to shy away from friends. If anything, Cass was – or had been – ever-present in a way that provided unending comfort.

So her sudden drawing back was weird, especially when it came with confusing reasoning that Ariadne couldn’t find a way to make sense of. Wynne and Van had agreed about that, and now it seemed Metzli had, too. Even though she didn’t know them too well yet, they were Leila’s partner, and if there was someone whose opinion she knew would always be right, Leila was top of the list. Leila was scared for Cass too, she recalled.

Except before she could say anything else someone else appeared behind Cass. Non-glamoured, and beautiful in some ways (though not as beautiful as Cass), and she wrapped her arms around her torso, fingertips digging into each opposite upper-arm.

“Yeah.” She nodded, bolstered by Van’s words. “We’re – we’re here to see her. She’s my – my b-best friend and I just – I miss her. We all miss her.” Ariadne focused on Cass, not wanting to look her father in the eye, feeling incredibly tiny despite her height. “I can’t – can’t go, not yet.” The words burned in her mouth, and she found herself grateful that being dead meant she couldn’t blush anymore. Maybe it gave her an edge. Maybe it would allow her to help Cass.

—

Panic and fear were powerful feelings, sometimes unstoppable, but they brought out a violent honesty that was near impossible to suppress for most people. Metzli could recall countless moments they looked just as Cass did, and their mind went back to a painting still displayed at the gallery. A looming shadow in the background and a being unable to escape its touch. It was a sight Metzli had every instinct to protect Cass from, but they weren’t sure she’d allow for it. 

The truth was far too terrifying to witness, so what would make the illusion fall right then? Metzli wasn’t sure, but they knew they had to try. Even if it meant getting burned. Stepping forward, they placed themself between Cass’s father and the two younger women, becoming a shield. 

“Her friends miss her. I miss her too.” They stated firmly, keeping their eyes low and avoiding any gaze, but focused. Fear didn’t drive them to look away, not exactly. Looking at the man would only drive Metzli to violence, and they didn’t want to find out how Cass would react if that happened. “If you want to be good father, then you will be happy that she has so much…” Taking a breath, Metzli’s nape bristled, uncertain whether or not they were choosing the right words. “Family. She deserves every love. All of it. We will not leave her, and it will be w-wrong to make us leave. Wrong. Wrong.” 

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. 

They felt the emotion begin to run their mind in circles, and before they could trip over it, Metzli wrung their fingers against themselves and counted softly to themself until the episode passed. 

For a moment, it felt as though the world stood still. Cass was beyond hoping that her father would have a positive reaction to something like this. Maybe months ago, in the very beginning of their companionship, she would have longed for it. She would have imagined a world in which he cracked the smile that, until now, had existed for her and her alone, would have crafted a universe where he invited her friends to stay for dinner and listened to stories of Cass as she had been before he knew her. But naivety wasn’t the kind of thing she’d ever been able to afford, and she knew better than to hope for the impossible. The world stood still, not in anticipation of something decent springing it back into action, but to ask the question of just how bad things would be. 

Van was insisting that they were here to see her, not leaving as she’d suggested. Ariadne was saying, again, that she missed her, and Cass ached with the words. Metzli was standing in front of a man they knew wanted to see them turned to dust with their fists clenched and their jaw set. Makaio glared at the lot of them, fire burning behind his eyes. And Cass loved them all. She loved Van’s stubbornness and Ariadne’s bravery, loved Metzli’s careful words, but she loved Makaio, too. She loved his protectiveness, loved the way he said her name like it was a precious thing. And she wondered if she was supposed to. 

Her friends looked at him like he was a monster, and Cass loved him. She loved him even now, with her hands trembling and fear crawling up her throat. Could you be terrified of someone and love them still? Could you adore a person and still have nightmares about the things they were capable of? 

Makaio turned to look at her, and she shrank beneath his gaze. She felt smaller than she’d ever felt before, felt like an insect at the foot of a giant. “I told you,” he said coldly, “that they didn’t respect you enough to understand your decision to be apart from them. I told you this.” 

“It’s not — It isn’t like that,” she insisted, unable to meet his eye. “They’re just worried. And I was — I was going to tell them to go. Before you got here, that’s what I was doing. They just — They don’t understand.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “They don’t.” For a moment, she thought that might be the end. She thought, maybe, he would let her handle it. But Makaio sucked a breath, and Cass stilled. She knew, in a way, what he would say before he said it. Loving someone meant being able to predict what they might do next, after all. “So it’s time that you make them. You say you want us to be equals, Cassidy. This is how you can achieve it. Get rid of them, and you and I can carry on in peace. It’s the last thing I’ll ask of you, keiki. Kill them, and it can be just the two of us. The way it was meant to be from the beginning.” 

—

Van could understand to a degree where Cass was coming from. The idea of having somebody that loved you enough to stick around was something that drew her forward, too. But this was not right. The way that Makaio looked at the three of them, and then at Cass… there was something deeply sinister about it, and it made her stomach twist. She listened to Ariadne trip over her words, but the strength was still there. Metzli’s steeled voice sounded authoritative, and it had hope blooming through her. 

Cass, however, seemed frightened. She was being split in multiple directions. Between their begging words and the stern look from Makaio, she knew what kind of weight must be pressed onto her right now, and Van felt bad that she was making it worse. That there might be repercussions once they did leave. But if she, Metzli, and Ariadne had it their way, the repercussions would come later, after they managed to get Cass out of the cave and talk some sense into her away from Makaio. 

Defiant words crawled up and over Van’s tongue, pressed against the back of her teeth as she clenched her jaw. This was gaslighting 101, right? Like, how could Cass not see that? But she knew it wasn’t fair to impart that thinking on her friend, especially given the fact that when on the side of things where you thought this was love, it was hard to see it wasn’t. Maybe Makaio did love Cass, but not in the way that she deserved. Not in the way that everyone else in Wicked’s Rest did. 

Their prior conversation rattled around in Van’s head like a bell calling the livestock home, but home looked different now that she was in front of Makaio who was telling Cass that her friends didn’t understand, and that– 

“Whoa, whoaaaa–” That had to be what turned Cass over, right? Van’s gaze slipped over Makaio, then back to Cass, her hand still locked around her friend’s wrist. If Cass really wanted her to let go, she could pull back. Van wouldn’t stop her. “Are you serious– Cass, are you listening to him?” A nervous sweat licked at the back of her neck, and her throat suddenly grew dry. “Cass,” Van tugged on her hand, begging her to take a step away from Makaio. “She’s our friend! Why are you doing– why are you asking her to do this? She would never do that, not to us. She wouldn’t.” For once in Van’s life, there were no tears. Her magic was absent, held back by the ring wound around her finger. She could feel it bubble, but there was no spilling. 

—

It wasn’t that Ariadne wasn’t happy for Cass to have family in town. Ariadne knew that she was lucky to have the parents she had. Ridiculously lucky, and shouldn’t she want that for her best friend too? She did want it, but with everything that had happened recently, she wasn’t sure just how much joy she could feel. She didn’t like how Cass’s dad was looking at them. It kept making her feel small, feel like she could just shrink into herself. 

Her friend’s voice wavered and it made Ariadne feel sick. Cass was so often giddy and excitable and sure-footed. There was no judgment about her not being this way all of the time – and there never would be – but it was so much unlike the Cass that Ariadne knew that she had to do a double take. She didn’t want Cass to be afraid. She wanted to devour every hint of possible fear that her friend could have, keep them away from her. To never let her be hurt, not even one bit.

– so why couldn’t she move? She took another step toward Cass, on the opposite side from where Van was. Trying to keep her friend safe, as best as she was able. Which might have not been so very much, but something was better than nothing. Looking for any free space, she hooked her pinkie finger around Cass’s. Treasured the warmth from her friend.

Even if her dad did care about her, why would he want her friends to go away? Ariadne’s parents had practically literally jumped for joy when she’d admitted to finally having a few real friends. They’d wanted to meet them, for her to have them around for as long as it was possible. So it didn’t add up that Cass’s dad seemed to want them to go away.

Then he was saying to kill them and Ariadne shook her head right away. “Hey, uh, no. No thanks – there’s, uh, there’s no reason to do that! You know?” She was squeaking again, and she was maybe weak, but she could be better than that. She could be anything but weak. “Cass?” She echoed Van’s words. “Hey, Cass. I love you. Come on, you can – you don’t want to hurt us.” Didn’t say kill, because she couldn’t get the words out. “She won’t hurt us.” She narrowed her eyebrows, the hand whose pinkie was not around Cass’s clenched into a fist. “She’s not that sort of – friend.” Person, she almost said, but maybe Cass’s dad wouldn’t like that. Maybe Cass wouldn’t like that. Friend, however, was indisputable. “We can all hang out. We all love Cass so much.”

—

There was a sensation coursing through the vampire that they hadn’t felt since Chuy broke the news of his string of betrayals. It was an anger that had gone long past a simmer and a boil. Silently and with a bit of hyperventilation, Metzli wondered if that was what it felt like for Cass. The heat of her own body mixing with the anger. Her devil was dancing with her father’s demon, and the fiddler’s tune was only just beginning. Each pizzicato from the bow sent another rippling burn in Metzli’s belly, and before they could stop themself from speaking without thinking, they snapped. 

“You make her work to be equal?” Parents weren’t supposed to do things like that. Being alive, just existing was supposed to be enough. Every moment was precious, and Cass had such little self worth from her life of abandonment that she couldn’t tell what her father was doing. “You make her do things for you so you can love her? How…how dare you?” The words came out in a growl, acid dripping from their tone. Looking up, Metzli’s eyes were already red and their fangs were sharp. They had to unbury Cass’s eyes to the truth, expose the man’s secrets to the glare and reflect it out like a grotesque carnival mirror. 

“What-what is wrong with you?!” Their voice shook, but their spine was made of steel. Taking a step toward the two fae and van, Metzli swallowed, shaking with an anger akin to a volcano ready to erupt. With every plea that came from Van and Ariadne, the tremors grew, and when the man spoke of what was meant to be, Metzli vehemently shook their head. 

“If she does not want to kill us, you will be a bad father if you make her. What kind of father does not want their child to be loved? Why does this family threaten you?!” They took another step forward, staring daggers into the bigger fae with their lungs filled with a mixture of courage and anger. “You are not good father. A good daughter like mijita deserves a good father.” Metzli’s fist was balled tightly while they kept the last shred of composure they had. “Be one. Be better. Maybe I leave one time, but I choose better and listen to Cass. Listen to what she wants!”

Makaio’s eyes slid to Van and Ariadne, and Cass was fairly unfamiliar with the feeling of being cold — volcanoes seldom froze, after all — but a chill ran through her all the same. She wanted to tell him to stop, but the words were caught in her throat. She could feel them stick to the inside of her mouth, feel them cling to her tongue and refuse to leave it. The world seemed to be closing in on her, two universes colliding in a way she’d always imagined would be joyous but was anything but. 

“She’s killed for me before,” Makaio said, and Cass flinched. “More than once now. It’s asking very little for her to do it again. Things like you die so easily.” 

They’re not things, she wanted to say. They’re my friends. I love them, just like I love you. Why can’t I have both? I want to have both. Please. Was it a selfish thing to want? She’d spent all her life longing for one family, and now she was throwing a fit over her inability to have two. Would she spend every waking moment wanting more? She wondered, with a sharp pain in her chest, if it would ever be enough. If her father had wanted to merge with the family she’d found in Wicked’s Rest, would Cass be happy? Or would she still long to add to it, still want in the way she always had? Maybe nothing would ever be enough for her. The thought was a stifling one, a thing that ached. 

People were taught not to want, weren’t they? People were taught to be happy with what they had. Maybe Cass’s life would have been easier had she ever learned that lesson. But she didn’t. She wanted, even now. She wanted this moment to be different, to be better. Ariadne was scared, Van was confused, Metzli was angry, Makaio was close to eruption. Cass closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, taking a moment to steel herself. 

He wasn’t expecting her to pull her wrist from his grip. She’d never done it before. So when she yanked, her hand came free fairly easily, and Makaio’s expression shifted to one of surprise. Cass planted herself firmly between her father and her friends, trying not to look as nervous as she felt. “Stop it,” she demanded. “I’m not — I’m not going to hurt them. They’re my friends. I’m sorry I’m not what I wanted you to be. I’m not — not what anyone wanted me to be. I know that. But I’m not going to hurt my friends.”

The surprise was still present on Makaio’s face. It rippled, a rockslide that shifted his features from shock into rage with a quiet rumble. His hands, now free without her wrist in his grip, clenched into fists at his side. Cass had seen her father angry, but never at her. In spite of everything, it hurt. She chewed her lip, standing firm despite her nerves.

“Stupid girl,” he said lowly. She flinched as if it were a physical blow. “I thought, with time, you could be shaped into something worthy. Perhaps it isn’t too late. If you won’t do what needs to be done here, I will. Let the slowness of their deaths be a lesson to you.” 

He took a step forward; around them, the cave rumbled.

—-

Ariadne echoed her sentiments about not wanting to be killed, and Metzli conveyed the anger that stirred inside of her, displaying it for both Cass and Makaio to see. Van stayed still– silent in her disbelief that somebody could request this of somebody they claimed to love. The idea that Cass had killed for him before didn’t bother her, not in the way she thought it might at the confirmation. Instead, she thought of Debbie. Of the branding she and the others shared on their stomachs after being slashed with what Van knew now to be iron. She considered telling him, but what did it matter if she did?

Instead, she made eye contact with Cass. She hoped that her expression conveyed a certain neutrality, but the kind that was loudly on Cass’s side. Even if Cass had killed before, it was clear that it wasn’t in the vein of cruelty, but in something else– the hope for a connection, maybe. It was clear that Makaio had made their relationship all about what she could do for him, not what they could be together. Van hated him in place of Cass. Hated him enough to envision him dead, crushed beneath the weight of his choices. But now wasn’t the time. Her magic was stagnant, a boat out to sea with no power to move forward. 

She listened to the way Cass fought back, insistence laced with longing. Van couldn’t completely understand the way that Cass felt, but she knew what it was like to love somebody who had the wrong idea. Would Jade ask her to kill a friend for the sake of her duty? Was it wrong to impart that idea onto her? Her chest tightened as Makaio began to speak, calling Cass stupid of all things. 

Cass was the opposite. She was kind, compassionate– loving, fierce, loyal. She was everything Van had hoped for in a friend, so when Makaio began to shake the walls of the cave around them, Van enveloped herself in the love she had for her friend and she stepped forward, grabbing onto Cass’s arm. “She’s better than you’ll ever be, and she’s– she’s everything, and if you don’t see that, then you’re…” Van shook her head, fear beginning to worm its way through the adrenaline as the walls around them continued to rumble, “I don’t know what you are, but you’re not a father. You’re somebody who wanted something, and Cass is more than anything you could’ve hoped or dreamed for, and–” She held onto Cass’s arm tightly, partially forgetting that the other two were there as well, “she’s killed for me, too– protected me, and that’s what it should be about, love and protection, and maybe she did that for you, but I did that for her, too, and I helped her, and we share something, and I don’t think you’ll ever share it with her because you don’t know her and you never will.” The words came tumbling out laced with something that was hard to identify. She turned to Cass, “we can leave, we can go– he can’t hurt you when you have us.” 

—-

Cass was one of the bravest people she knew, full stop. It was something Ariadne had believed forever, and right now was only further proof of that. She just wished that her friend didn’t have to be so brave. She deserved a break from things, and she deserved to have support from people closest to her. From her father, of all people.

“I don’t care if she’s killed. She’s still my best friend!” Ariadne shout-squeaked, wishing she had the ability to seem just a bit more frightening in this moment. She’d never really wished to be scary, but if it could get Cass’s father to back off, she’d wish for it a thousand times over. Wish for it until she couldn’t wish any more.

Van looked over to Cass and Ariadne did too. “She’s my best friend for-ever and always, and I love her no matter what.” That much was true. Her stomach turned as she thought back to the hunter who’d almost killed them both, and how that seemed to be when Cass had stopped talking to her in the same way. Ariadne should’ve followed after her. She knew that. She should’ve reassured her – or maybe not even stopped her. Even though she didn’t like the idea of that, and she didn’t know if she could go back and let Cass kill someone (even though maybe they did deserve to die, if they tried to kill her. Maybe, maybe.). What she did know was that she wished she’d never let go of her friend’s hand, literally or metaphorically.

Cass spoke, but her words wavered and Ariadne’s heart hurt. She shouldn’t be feeling that way. She was a volcano. She was bright and powerful and sometimes pretty loud and excitable and it felt wrong to see her looking small. It felt even worse when her father called her stupid. That wasn’t what parents were supposed to do. Van seemed to think along the same lines, and Metzli would too, Ariadne knew. They’d talked about protecting family. Cass was family.

You didn’t let go of family. Cass was family. She moved closer to Cass. “She’s not stupid. She’s one of the most brilliantest,” okay, not her finest word choice, “amazing people I know. She’s anything but stupid. She’s clever and caring and so so smart.” The cave’s walls were rumbling, but Ariadne didn’t move. “We’ll keep you safe.” She echoed Van again. “We’ll keep you safe and I’ll make sure he never hurts you. Make sure you’re happy.” It was all she wanted. She wanted to wrap Cass up in her arms and protect her, to tell her what familial love should feel like. Her parents could adopt a grown up, right? She could give Cass a family who wouldn’t force her to do what she didn’t want to do, right? “I love you. I love you forever.”

—-

“You do not scare me with your threats.” Metzli growled, unwavering in their place as Cass’s father attempted to strike fear in them by weaponizing the truth. Cass had killed someone, but that didn’t shape her into anything different in the vampire’s eyes. They were more worried for her mental well-being, knowing the guilt that riddled her heart for smaller things than murder. Taking a life was never easy, even when it was right, and Metzli wasn’t going to let a strange man perpetuate an idea he had no ground to uphold. 

“Cass, it is okay. I still love you. It does not scare me that you have killed. I have too. It is scary and heavy when it is new, but we can be okay again. Come with us,” Metzli breathed shakily, eyes glistening with hope when she talked back to her father. “I love you, okay? You are not stupid.”

Family loved, unconditionally, and Cass dreamt of having her father fill his role the way he was supposed to. She fell prey to her own wishes, making excuses and rearranging the image of a family in hopes of the pieces fitting together seamlessly. You couldn’t force them to fit, and despite the pain, Metzli could see that Cass was beginning to accept that, in her own way. Even if she was still telling herself she was the cause of the puzzle not being cut correctly. They could work on that later, help her see that she was always perfect the way she was. When her father was out of the way and they were all safe, Metzli and Van and Ariadne would help her, and others too. 

It looked like it was time to leave, anyway. Cass’s father was throwing a tantrum violent enough to shake the cave, endangering everyone who wasn’t stone. They had to act quickly. 

“Come with us, mijita.” Rubble began to bounce off Metzli’s shoulder, and they looked up to see the integrity of the cave diminishing. They stepped closer to be a shield, watching Van pull Cass toward the group. She came to her senses, so she was going to leave with them. She had to. Right? 

“We will take care of you. Come with us.”

She was wavering. She knew her father could feel it, knew he saw the way her body language screamed of her uncertainty. Where she’d previously leaned towards her father, she leaned back towards her friends now, making no move to shrug their hands off of her or step away from their comforting words. Makaio’s eyes flickered between them, glowing faintly with his rage as he scoffed.

“They rally behind you because they know you don’t want them,” he told her bluntly. “They’ll leave the moment you’re more accessible to them. They’ll walk away freely, as everyone always has. Who has stayed with you, Cassidy? Who besides me?” 

Cass swallowed. Those old fears were swirling in her gut, reminding her of all the times she’d felt alone. But — but Van’s hand was on her shoulder and Ariadne’s words echoed in her ear and Metzli stood beside her the way she’d always imagined a parent would, in a way that spoke of the pair of them as equals. Makaio had never done any of this for her. 

“They love me,” she said quietly. “They love me, too. Why can’t — Why can’t you be okay with that? They love me, like you do. They —” 

“How could anyone love you?” Makaio snapped, and Cass’s mouth shut with such force that her teeth gnashed together painfully. “You are a disappointment. You are a failure. I thought you could be made useful, thought something good could come from you, but I was wrong. I spent months playing pretend for a sad little girl, and now I see it was for nothing. If I can’t make use of you, Cassidy, I’ll be sure you pay for wasting my time.” 

It was jarring, this shift. For months, she’d been so sure that, if nothing else, her father loved her. Whatever else he was, he was still her father. He still cared for her, still wanted what was best for her. That thought had driven her all the while, had inspired her to push everyone else away and to defend him to the bitterest of ends. And now, standing here with the cave rumbling around her, she realized it was a lie. Makaio wasn’t someone who loved her. The people who loved her were the ones standing behind her now.

Cass turned back towards her friends, her heart in her throat. They wanted her to go with them. She wanted to go with them. But…

“I won’t leave you. I promise, I won’t.” Her words, the ones she’d spoken to him months ago, echoed in her mind now. She glanced towards him, saw it in his eyes. He remembered, too. He was probably tugging the bind now, causing that anchored feeling in her chest. There was only one way for her to go with her friends, only one way for her to leave.

Her father had to die.

In spite of everything, the thought made her stomach twist in violent discomfort. He didn’t love her, and maybe he never had, but Cass loved him. Even now, even standing in this trembling cave. She loved him, and she wanted to go, and the only way for her to do that was to force the bind to shatter. 

The cave rumbled violently, the two oreads’ control warring with each other. Rocks fell on Metzli’s head, and they were small enough not to do any real damage, but a few feet away a much larger chunk of cave ceiling came loose and shattered against the ground. She glanced back to her father, and he was stepping forward. He burned dimly — never as bright as Cass herself, which might have been why he’d sought her out the way he had — but it was a dangerous glow all the same. A hand snaked out, trying to grab Van behind her, and Cass shoved him back. 

“You think you can protect them?” Makaio sneered. “They’re going to die here, Cassidy. And when they’re gone, you’ll have only yourself to blame. And only me to fall back on.” 

Cass whirled around, panic in her eyes as she faced her friends. “Go!” She yelled over the sound of the rumbling cave. “Go outside! I — I’ll meet you up there, I promise! But you need to go, now!”

—

Both Ariadne and Metzli continued to echo her own sentiments. If it were just her and Cass alone with Makaio, would they have gotten this far? Would Van so clearly be able to see the shift in her friend’s demeanor? The stark realization that she’d been manipulated? It wasn’t Cass’s fault, and Van didn’t blame her. Despite the hurt she felt due to the growing distance between herself and her friend, Van wasn’t angry at anyone other than Makaio. This was his fault. He preyed on the fact that Cass wanted nothing other than to be loved and he twisted it like a knife until it was too late to pull back without any blood loss. 

But now, Cass was hemorrhaging. They all were. 

Small rocks from above began to rain down, hitting the ground with enough force to make snapping noises. Van’s anxiety had begun to show its head in the way that iron coated her tongue, slipping down through her throat. She pushed it away. There was no room to be afraid, especially when Cass needed her. What good would it do, anyway? 

Makaio’s words lit a fire beneath Van and she clenched her jaw, her magic still stagnant, but glaringly obvious now that she’d become more aware of it. It was there, and she would allow it to help if needed. She would trust her magic to protect them all if it came to that, but she knew she also needed to trust Cass, too. Van had learned that fae could not lie, not without some level of discomfort, and so the vitriol that Makaio spewed told her that he believed she was nothing. “Cass is the greatest thing to ever happen to you, the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and the fact that–” She looked towards Cass, recalling the night with Debbie– of their blood spilled, of dumping her into the pit, of everything else. The late night talks, the sweets shared between them, the jokes, the reassurances. How it had all come to an end because of him. 

Makaio reached out for her and Cass put herself in between them. Van’s hand was still on her shoulder, grip loosening only due to the constant rock fall. The sound of the cave groaning made her skin crawl. This would likely be all of their ends if they didn’t leave, but Van couldn’t leave without Cass. “Not unless you come with us– you can’t– we can’t leave you, Cass.” Her grip tightened almost instantaneously, a hopeful thing laced with an edge that reached her tone as she dared Makaio to challenge the three of them. “Please, come with us. Don’t stay here. Just leave. Please!” Worry spun circles around her as her vision became hazy from the dust as it bloomed around them, larger chunks of rocks beginning to fall at their feet.  She could see the look in Cass’s eye– had seen it a dozen times. There was a promise there, and she knew it to be binding, but what if she didn’t make it? Van enveloped Cass into a tight hug from behind, attempting to drag her backwards. “Come on, help me!” It was said to the other two behind her as she tried to bring Cass towards safety. 

—

Her best friend’s father wasn’t really much like a father at all. Fathers weren’t supposed to act like this, to do things that made their children scared or uneasy or even significantly uncertain. Ariadne knew that she’d won when it came to parents, but she also knew that right now, Cass’s dad wasn’t meeting even the bare minimum requirement. Cass deserved so much more. Van and Metzli were echoing the same sentiment, and she knew that Nora and Wynne would think the same. Cass had so many people on her side, Ariadne just wished she could make sure that she knew that. Because Cass doubted the love people had for her, and she’d been given love, but the love she’d been given hadn’t been real, and yet she’d been convinced that it was.

And now she was realizing just how much it wasn’t and Ariadne wanted to take away every bit of sorrow and fear that Cass must have been experiencing now. She was grateful that she wasn’t alone with Cass and her father, but in the same thought, there was a certain part of her that wished it was just the three of them. Because then maybe, somehow, she could deal with this. She could prove to Cass that she could be strong, that she could do anything for her friend. For her forever friend. Or at least as close to forever as she was going to get. Hundreds and hundreds of years sounded pretty neat.

“Cass is the best thing in the world. I didn’t know anything really about friends – best friends – until I met her.” Ariadne didn’t look right at Van, mostly because she didn’t want to hurt her other friend. She and Van had been friends, but Van had been closer with Chance, and the two of them had grown apart until just over a year ago. Besides right now was all about Cass, and Ariadne was intent on keeping it that way.

The cave made a sound that was unsettling. One it had never made when it was just Cass around. Because Cass loved the cave, and the cave loved her, and things were balanced, then. With her father around, things were darker and cloudy and Ariadne opened her mouth to speak as Cass stood between them and her father. She wanted to scream that she couldn’t die, that she was already dead, that it didn’t matter, so long as Cass lived. Not in any form of a ‘want to die again’ way, but Cass mattered more than anything right now. She grabbed Van, reached out to touch Cass’s arms, to pull her as tightly as she could. “Just come now. Please, Cass. Please.” She had to listen, didn’t she? “You’re still my favorite superhero. My favorite friend. I – Cass, please.”

—

The structures around them all groaned and cracked, but nothing sounded louder than the way Cass urged them to leave. Van and Ariadne protested, and Metzli kept their hand out for just a little longer until a larger piece of stone crashed into their shoulder. Their arm went numb momentarily from the sudden impact, and it suddenly became very clear that they might have to do as Cass says instead of convincing her to join them. 

She was promising, becoming an anchor to two tethers in separate directions, if the look in her father’s eye was any indication. It looked a lot like the look in both Eloy and Chuy’s eyes when an opportunity to exploit a weakness presented itself. The smug smile on his face was taunting and arrogant, making a pit in Metzli’s stomach as they pondered on the possibilities. He had something to use against Cass, but they just didn’t know what and time wasn’t on their side to figure it out. 

“Van. Ariadne.” They swallowed, placing a hand on the young mare’s shoulder, but it fell quickly when another rock landed on them. With a hiss, Metzli tried again and tugged her gently toward them. They didn’t want to force them to follow, but if Cass was promising she’d meet them outside as the cave around them collapsed, Metzli didn’t really have an argument. No matter how badly that they wished they did, unsure if an oread could prevent themself from being crushed by their own nature. They loved her, so they had to listen. 

With a little reluctance, the vampire tugged again, ignoring the way panic marched up and down their skin. “We have to trust her.” Metzli’s voice shook, but they did their best to not waver as more and more rubble began to surround them. “We have to go. She is promising!”

She couldn’t concentrate. It was taking all she had to keep herself together, to keep her father from getting too close to her friends, to make sure he didn’t hurt them. She knew she needed to take a more offensive stance, needed to fight him off directly, but with Van’s arms around her and Ariadne trying to help their friend pull her from the cave, Cass couldn’t focus on any of that. With the rocks falling around them, she couldn’t focus on any thought beyond the desire for her friends to be safe, for them to get out and get free. She could deal with Makaio, she knew she could. She recognized now that her strength had always surpassed his, that he hadn’t offered to help her destroy tourist sites or hurt hunters not because he wanted her to learn, but because he wasn’t sure he could. Cass was the stronger oread. She knew that now.

She just needed to prove it.

Maybe there was something selfish in the desire for her friends to leave the cave. She wanted them safe, of course she wanted them safe. But, at the same time… she didn’t want them to see what she was going to have to do here. She loved them all, and she knew now that they loved her, too, that they always had, but some dark voice in her mind still whispered that if they saw her cross a line — if they saw her do what needed to be done to separate her from her father — that love would falter. They would look at her differently, they would flinch away. Cass didn’t think she could handle it, not after everything. She wanted them to be safe. That was the main drive behind the insistence that they go. But it wasn’t the only one.

Makaio took another step, his face twisted into something terrible. For months now, Cass had thought the rocky features of his expression an immovable thing. His face was like that of one of the sprawling cliffs near the Magmacave — constant and smooth. Seeing it now, she realized she’d been wrong. Rage was capable of causing an earthquake that could shift that cliff into a crater, could make it into a terrifying thing. She thought of the Allgood pit, with the steep edges and the stench of death. Her father was much the same.

Pulling her arms free from Van’s grip, she moved to shove her father back, a resulting crash echoing through the cave as stone met stone. Her expression was one of desperation as she looked to her friends, locking eyes with Metzli. Of all of them, she thought, Metzli understood the most. Hadn’t she helped them take out Chuy in that crypt, when they were still mostly under his control? Hadn’t they said nothing when she’d let her magma seep into his skin? Her expression turned to one of pleading as the vampire called out.

“I promise!” She repeated desperately. She looked at Metzli, begging with her eyes. “Metzli, I can’t — I can’t do this with all of you here. I can’t keep them safe. Please. Please help me keep them safe.”

—

Van could barely hear Metzli or Ariadne over the sound of the cave splitting at the seams. Its groaning was a mournful thing– the acknowledgment of what was to come if they all left this place without Cass. Van’s fears were becoming a reality; that she would lose Cass forever. She tried her best to keep her arms around her friend, dodging the litter from above them by burying her face into Cass’s shoulder. She committed the feeling of Cass’s frame to memory, because it was the only thing that eased her into pulling away. 

That, and Metzli’s arm snaking around her waist. Van let out a yelp as she was torn away from Cass. “Please, please– we have to take her with us!” She knew the ending of this story. She knew Cass may never come back from beneath the rubble, and who would she be if she left without acknowledging that? “Cass, please!” She shouted again, struggling against Metzli’s grip, but it was no use, they were far too strong for her to remove herself from. She tried to twist the ring from around her finger, to let the explosion of magic take them all down– to at least sacrifice herself in favor of the others, but Cass was becoming harder to discern from the dust and rubble. 

Ariadne hadn’t followed them out, and thus another wave of panic washed over Van as she tried to peel herself away from Metzli. She gulped in the fresh air as soon as they broke free from the cave, and just as she managed to wiggle free, she watched as a large chunk of the cave came crashing down into the entrance, sealing them off from those left inside. “Ariadne is still in there! Cass!” Van threw herself at the rubble and immediately began trying to clear it away. “Cass! Ariadne!” She screamed as she scooped away the debris. The larger chunks were unmoving, and so she turned towards Metzli. “Help me,” Van pleaded. 

There was a look in Cass’s eyes that Metzli had seen only months ago. Suddenly, the fiddler’s tune began to ravage the strings with fervor, and the devil began its dance, though to the blind eye, one would only see Cass’s father. She needed to join in, and everyone else needed to let her, trust that she could out-tempo his tune. They just needed to get the others safe, but they only had one arm. 

For a few beats, the vampire looked around, trying to figure out a way to get both of Cass’s friends out in their arm. Then it clicked. Ariadne would be fine. 

“I love you.” They said shakily, “I am proud of you.” Squeezing their eyes shut, Metzli nodded their head and tears rolled down their cheeks. They wanted to stay and fight for the girl they saw as their own, but the world had other plans. It always did, and before Metzli knew it, they were dragging Van out of the cave, only looking back to see Cass disappear in the clouds of dust. “Ariadne will be okay. It is night time. We have to trust.”

When they made it out, they were welcomed with fresh air, still warm from the day. Metzli looked back to the mouth of the cave and finally set Van down, arm ready in case she tried to run back in. “We will wait.” Their voice was shaky yet firm in its command. “Too dangerous to be inside with flesh.” Taking a breath, Metzli added, “I want to stay inside too, but no one ever listen to Cass when she was child. Loving is listening. I am sorry.”

Cass was telling them all to leave and Ariadne was five again, refusing to leave the ice cream store. Except this was much more important than that. This was about her best friend. Her best friend who was desperate and afraid and it made Ariadne shake with anxiety, because Cass wasn’t listening and her stubbornness was one of Aria’s favorite things about her, but right now she just wished that her best friend would listen. Except she wasn’t, and now Metzli was dragging Van out and Ariadne ducked out of the way.

She’d help Cass. She’d get her out. Everything was dusty, and it was becoming harder to see. She was grateful that she didn’t have to breathe. Except Cass did. But maybe because she was part rock and volcano and maybe that meant that it would be okay for her?

“I’m not leaving, Cass!” She screamed as loud as she could manage. Doing something that made her lungs hurt like she’d run for too long in the cold. “I’m not. Not until you leave. We’re best friends, and I love you, and come on, please!” She ran forward, grabbing onto Cass’s arm. “Collapse it or whatever you’ve gotta do and then hold my hand and we’ll run and you can — it’ll be okay, right? Please.” She wasn’t going to cry. Ariadne was going to be brave, for her and Cass’s sake. And also for Van and Metzli who were outside, and safe – because they had to be, because she could only worry about so much right now.

“I’m staying and then we’re going together.”

—

Metzli pulled Van out, and Cass hoped they understood the flood of gratefulness that flowed from deep within her chest even if there was too much chaos to properly voice it. With two less people to worry about in the cave, the oread could focus more of her attention on holding her father at bay and a little less on where the stones were falling around her. Van and Metzli were safe; Makaio couldn’t use them against her so long as they were outside the cave, and Cass could focus more of herself on defeating him and joining them at the surface. Van and Metzli were safe. 

But Ariadne wasn’t.

It struck her all at once, her friend’s voice echoing through the cave. Metzli couldn’t drag the pair of them out, not with only one arm, but she’d hoped Ariadne would go with them all the same. Instead, the mare was gripping her arm and begging her to leave, and Cass wanted to shout her frustrations into the collapsing structure around them. I can’t, she wanted to yell. You don’t understand. I can’t leave him, I promised. But saying it aloud felt like saying too much, and there was always a risk that Aria wouldn’t understand the weight of it, anyway. She’d explained promise binds to her friend, but wasn’t it the kind of thing that was impossible to understand from the outside? 

She couldn’t leave her father, and she couldn’t do what she needed to do with Ariadne watching. She wanted — She wanted an after, a place where all of them could exist unchanged. She wanted a world where her friends wouldn’t see her differently, a place where she could exist outside of this moment. It was already a slippery concept to hold, already like trying to grip a stream of water between her fingers. But if Ariadne stayed, if she bore witness to what Cass knew needed to be done here —

Even if she got out physically unscathed, the bond between them wouldn’t be the same. Cass knew it as surely as she knew her name, as surely as she knew what she had to do here to free herself from her father. She needed Aria to go. She needed the cave empty for this next part, needed it to be only herself and her father the way it had been for months now, even if she needed it for different reasons than she had then.

She set her jaw in a stubborn line, stomach churning with the knowledge of what she had to do next. There was only one way to get Ariadne to leave the cave quickly, only one way to contain the damage. “You thanked me,” she breathed, the sound of her voice rumbling along with the cave. “Back — months ago. You thanked me and I didn’t — I never cashed it in. I’m cashing it in now. Go outside, Ariadne. Get out of here. Now.” She made the bind with practiced ease, even if doing so made her feel a little sick. This was what needed to be done for all of them. Cass knew that.

—

Cass seemed mad. Which didn’t make sense – she couldn’t actually be mad, could she? She was stressed and maybe Ariadne had overdone it with the staying, but she couldn’t help herself. She also couldn’t not stay. That wasn’t an option. Friends didn’t let friends stay down in a cave that was falling apart alone, or something. Some modified version of the actual phrasing. 

You thanked me.

Ariadne’s stomach turned and she wanted to refute that fact, but it wasn’t really possible to, because Cass couldn’t lie and Ariadne was sure she’d messed up more than once with her expressions of gratitude, even though Cass had told her not to do that. But she was forgetful and she loved her friend so much, so messing up was something she was bound to have done.

She just wished Cass wasn’t so keen to use it. Cass hadn’t really ever cashed in on thanks or promises before, and Ariadne didn’t like the implications of what Cass was doing right now. “I – no!” She shook her head. Except, of course, that did nothing. It was nighttime, and with her friend’s words, she found herself suddenly outside, cursing herself that she actually was good at astral projection. That wasn’t how things should have worked, and she collapsed onto the ground, in front of Metzli and Van and shook her head.

“She – she made – I – she made me go. She’s still there!” Turning towards the entrance, Ariadne screamed again, “Cass!” Turned back to the other two. “I – she’s – I – why did she do that? She – I – Cass!”

Dust and rubble collected at the entrance of the cave, and Metzli watched in horror as it covered it completely. Their heart begged their legs to move, but they wouldn’t comply. Cass wanted them to trust her, believe that she could do the impossible when her father so clearly did not. Metzli gritted their teeth at the thought, keeping an eye on Van. “Please,” They whispered, watching and waiting. Their entire body continued to tense, and it wasn't until Ariadne appeared out of thin air that Metzli allowed themself to relax. Slightly. 

“You are out!” The vampire blurted, still keeping an eye on Van as they embraced Ariadne tightly Leila surely would have somehow had a heart attack if anything happened to either of them, and it was a relief to Metzli that they would have no bad news to share once Cass was out. They swallowed, “She wanted us safe. We have to trust her. We have to. She is strong. Her father is not. He is a weak coward.” Squeezing a little harder, Metzli planted their cheek atop Ariadne’s head in a soothing manner, shifting their eyes back to the cave entrance in hopes of seeing Cass crash through soon. 

Van was not gentle with the rocks she pulled from the small mound blocking her entrance to the cave. Instead, she threw them behind her. Some were too large to throw, so they rolled at her side. She could hear voices behind her– Ariadne’s, but she made no move to turn and see if her friend had escaped, because the question of Cass and why she’d forced Ariadne out had come to light. 

She focused on the rocks, pulling each one back, hopeful to see Cass’s face on the other end. “Help me! We can– we can dig her out!” She knew that realistically, Cass would be able to get herself out, but what would happen if she didn’t? Would she think that her friends ran away? Cass had spent so much of her time worrying she wasn’t loved that Van needed to show her she was. “Please, help me.” Exasperated, Van could feel the sweat begin to bead at the back of her neck, and her eyes burned from both the tears and the salt. “We can get her– we can get her out! We have to try!” 

Ariadne disappeared from the cave, into the astral and off to safety. Relief was a palpable thing, a pressure pushing down on her chest hard enough to force all the air from her lungs at once. Ariadne was safe. Van was safe. Metzli was safe. She hadn’t doomed them with her stubbornness, hadn’t been too late to save them from her downward spiral.

She hoped she wouldn’t be too late to save herself, either.

Rocks still fell from the ceiling, from the walls. The safe haven she’d built for herself felt anything but safe now, and she felt a piece of herself crumble with it. She thought of a story she’d read once, years ago, when the public library was her safe haven and she’d picked books off shelves with a desperation built from bricks of wanting to understand and be understood in return. It hadn’t been one of her favorites or anything, but it wasn’t a bad story. 

It was about a chicken, because most children’s stories seemed to star animals in the place of people. He’d gone outside one morning and been so sure that the sky was falling. He’d run through town, warned everyone he saw with a desperate plea: the sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. And everyone took shelter, everyone hid away in their homes trembling and afraid because the sky was falling, and no one knew what to do with that.

And then came morning, and the sky was still there. It hung above the Earth the same as it always had, and that silly chicken realized that the piece of the sky he’d been so sure had fallen on his head was a tiny acorn. It must have felt so much bigger in the moment, Cass thought. It must have felt like the world was ending.

It was the kind of thing she realized she could relate to now. All her life, the smallest acorns had convinced her that the world was at its end. The people she loved never loved her back the way she wanted them to, they left when she needed them to stay. Every time she stood staring at someone’s retreating back, she was that stupid chicken running through town, screaming for all to hear. The sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. And the next morning, the sky was still there. 

There was another fable, wasn’t there? About the boy who cried wolf. It taught that if you made enough false claims, no one would believe you when the claims were true. If you screamed about a wolf in the bushes over and over again, if you convinced the shepherds to come with their guns and their staffs only to find the bushes empty time and time again, they’d eventually stop coming at all. There would be no one left to save you from the wolf, no one left to keep it from devouring you. 

For years now, Cass had felt as if every acorn that fell on her head was an apocalypse. The sky fell, but only for her. She warned everyone around her, and maybe it meant something the first few times. Maybe it scared them, too. But there had never really been a wolf hiding in the bushes and, sooner or later, the shepherds had stopped coming to save her. 

So what was left for her, now that the sky really was falling? What would Chicken Little have done, had his piece of sky wound up being larger than an acorn?

Hands grabbed her, slamming her against the wall. The cave shook harder, her own fear crumbling the walls the same as her father’s anger. His eyes were glowing a faint orange as he glared at her, rocky face twisted into something rageful. Cass wondered if she looked the same. The thought that she might no longer felt like a comfort.

“Stupid girl,” Makaio snapped. He sounded different than he ever had before; it took Cass a moment to realize that he was afraid. “Do you understand what you’ve done? You ruined everything. For the both of us. Do you truly believe that those… insects you drove from this cave are capable of loving you? Of staying with you? I am the only one who could have done that. I am the only one who could have made you great.”

She thought of all the things she wanted to say, all the things she could tell him. She thought of Metzli, who took her to the zoo and asked her to help them name a baby giraffe. She thought of Van, who ordered takeout while she sat upside down on the couch and played Go Fish. She thought of Ariadne, who saw every movie Cass dragged her to even when she probably had no interest in them. And she thought of other people, too, of people not outside her cave waiting for her. She thought of Kaden, who let her call him her sidekick with only a faint roll of his eyes. She thought of Leila, who had always been willing to fight for her even when Cass wasn’t sure she was willing to fight for herself. She thought of Wynne, who asked for her opinion on things. She thought of Mack, who liked her even after she accidentally threw her down the stairs, or of Thea, who talked about comics with her even after Cass accidentally shaved her head. She thought of Elias and Nora and Regan and Jonas, of Alex and Ren and Luci and Milo. 

She thought of all the people she loved and the ones who loved her back, and she couldn’t find the words to name them all to tell Makaio that he was wrong, but she knew he was, anyway. He held her against the wall, and she stared at him for a moment before her mouth fell open, words tumbling out: “Would you believe me if I said the sky was falling?” Makaio’s expression flickered — rage turned to confusion, but only briefly. Cass decided not to let it stop her. “Everyone believed Chicken Little. I never understood why. He said the sky was falling, and everyone believed him. Would you — Would you believe me?”

Makaio pulled her forward, went to slam her back into the wall again. Cass let her arms shoot out, let them land hot against his chest and shove him back with all her strength, magma surging forward. He grunted, stumbling back. She was stronger than he was; it was the only reason he’d ever wanted her around.

“Because I think… I think that’s what love is. You know? Believing someone when they say the sky is falling, even when it’s right outside the window. And they —” She gestured towards where the mouth of the cave had stood before. It was gone now, buried by rocks and rubble. “They would believe me. If I told them the sky was falling, they’d go into their houses and they’d lock the doors and they’d be afraid, but they’d believe me. I could tell them there was a wolf in the bushes a thousand times, and they’d still come to look.”

Makaio stared at her for a moment, but he made no move to step closer. His face was still twisted in that strange, unfamiliar expression that she now knew to be fear. It wasn’t the rocks he was afraid of anymore, she thought; it was her. She didn’t know if it felt good or not.

“I won’t release you from your promise,” he told her in a low, gravely tone. Cass closed her eyes, nodding her head.

“I know,” she admitted, barely a whisper. She opened her eyes, saw larger pieces of the cave falling now. A chunk came down to Makaio’s left, close enough to shake the ground beneath his feet. He didn’t move. Another landed just behind Cass, so close that she felt the sharp pain of it brushing against her spine. She didn’t move, either. 

Rocks fell between them until she couldn’t see her father anymore. They fell beside her until she couldn’t see the walls of the cave, either. She took a deep breath. She closed her eyes.

The sky was falling. 

—

Metzli held tightly onto Ariadne, careful not to crush her, but enough that it might've been uncomfortable. They didn't let go until the rumbling stopped, only a few smaller rocks tumbling down here and there from the disturbance. Silence surrounded the trio and it was as if an symphony had died, unable to swell into a crescendo and keep rhythm with the pace Metzli's heart would've set if it could leap. 

“Please,” They whispered beneath their breath, as if some higher being above could hear their petition over the billions of others. Closing their eyes, they counted, over and over again, only opening their eyes when something in the wind changed. Their eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and relief at the sight of Cass outside the cave, and without another moment of hesitation, Metzli let go of Ariadne to run to her. They stopped short, restraining themself in case she needed a moment to not be overwhelmed. 

“Y-you did it!” They grinned and blinked, squeezing their fist tightly shut to keep their excitement from bubbling over. “You-I…I am so proud.”

She fought against Metzli’s hold on her as the cave seemed to collapse into itself. She screamed as it did so, falling to the ground the moment that their grip on her loosened even just by a fraction of anything. Ariadne didn’t bother to look down and see if her knees were scraped, if glitter was on them, because she was fine and Cass was the only real priority now. The only priority, full stop.

Then she was outside of the cave and Ariadne ran toward her, with little regard for the concept of personal space. If Cass didn’t want a hug, she’d deal with apologies after. She needed to hug her best friend, she needed to pull her away from the falling rock and hold her and never ever let her go again.

Except as she went to grab Cass, she found that her best friend was intangible and Ariadne screamed again, completely collapsing on the group as she let out a loud sob. “She – she’s not – she’s not here! You – Cass!” She gulped for air, feeling suffocated even though she didn’t need to breathe. “Where are you? You’re there but you’re – where are you? Please – just come over here. Hold my hand. I’ll make sure things are okay.” 

—

Pain was sudden and intense and everywhere. It was an all-consuming kind of thing, and Cass couldn’t bite back the scream that came on its heels but she didn’t think it mattered, anyway. The sound, ripped from her throat against her will, was lost to the deafening boom of falling rocks. The sound of stone hitting stone swallowed up everything else; she couldn’t hear her own thoughts bouncing in her head, couldn’t hear if her father was still trying to speak to her, couldn’t hear anything outside the cave at all. It was is if nothing existed except for her and the rocks falling around her; they were the same. They were a part of her just as much as she was a part of them. 

It was overwhelming, how much it all was. The pain, swallowing her up with gnashing teeth and an acidic burn, knew every part of her. Her head, her shoulders, her legs, her stomach. There was nothing that didn’t hurt. Even the tips of her ears ached in a way she’d never known possible. Her eardrums, too, hurt with the noise of it. The rocks falling, her own hoarse yells, the rumbling and the pounding. Light was swallowed up, until only the faint glow of her own magmic veins remained. And then those, too, disappeared, falling beneath stone that cracked everything open with its weight. She thought of Atlas in the myths and wondered if his shoulders had hurt as much as hers did now. 

It went on forever, somehow. The pain, the sound, the darkness. And then, abruptly, it all stopped. Nothing hurt anymore; silence surrounded her. She hadn’t realized she’d closed her eyes, but there was the barest hint of light visible from behind her lids. She opened them slowly, afraid of what she might find.

The sky was still there. Hanging above her head, just as blue and endless as it always was. She stared up at it for a moment, heart in her throat as she wondered if, once again, she’d built an apocalypse from an acorn. Something felt strange, felt wrong; she felt different in a way she couldn’t quite put her finger on. 

But then, a voice called out her name, and the worry and fear that came with that strangeness seemed to melt away. Metzli was running towards her, Ariadne was calling out. She’d saved them and, impossibly, she’d saved herself, too. Ariadne went to wrap her up in a hug, but she — she missed, somehow. Cass didn’t quite register it as strange, adrenaline making it difficult to focus as she scanned the surrounding area. Ariadne and Metzli were here, were in front of her, but she couldn’t fully relax until she saw —

“Van!” She stepped towards her friend, still crouched by the stones that had once been the cave’s entrance. She was out. Didn’t Van see? She’d promised to meet them outside the cave and, somehow, that fae magic had pulled her out to let her keep it. “Van! I’m here! It’s…” But Van didn’t look up. She was still at the rocks, still looking distraught as if Cass hadn’t spoken at all. “Van…?” 

Dread built up in her stomach, gripped her by the throat. No… 

—

Van only dared a look over her shoulder as Metzli spoke. Their gaze was trained on the nothingness in front of them, and then Ariadne followed suit. She twisted around, watching them, hopeful to see what they could. Cass was out? Cass was– 

But Ariadne was stumbling forward, desperation whistling from her open mouth. Van couldn’t stand. She couldn’t move. She remembered what it was like watching Erin speak to somebody that wasn’t there. She remembered the absent feeling, of being on the outside of something that she couldn’t put together. It was uncomfortable, and it revealed everything that Van needed to know. 

“No, no– no!” She turned back towards the rocks. The majority of what was left were too heavy for Van to lift, so she started to kneel against the ground, arms hugging them as she tried to wedge them from the spots they’d landed in. “Cass!” Van screamed, but not behind her towards the others– of where Cass was presumably at, but to where she’d been left in the wreckage of her father’s doing. “Cass, I’m– I’m going to get you, I’m going to figure it out, I’m going to– we have to–” She turned towards the others, eyes glossy. “We have to get her out of there. She’s not out. She’s not out.” 

Van had lost, and she had lost again, and she would continue losing those she cared deeply about and she knew that she would. It would consume her, twist her insides until she couldn’t breathe, and then over time, she would heal. But at the moment, she wasn’t sure she’d ever heal from the loss of Cass. Of one of the truest friends she ever had. “The necklace,” Van choked out, turning back towards the rocks, “the necklace is in there, too.” But the notebook was there, on the ground a few feet behind her, dropped from when she beelined for the cave’s entrance. She scrambled towards it, still on hands and knees and gathered it to her chest. It was the last thing any of them had of her. She had to keep it safe. 

“She’s– Cass?” Van knew from Erin that the others on this plane of existence could hear her– could see her in a way that she could not see them, and so she hoped Cass was listening. “I’m– I’m sorry.” 

—

“N-no. No!” Metzli shook their head vehemently in disbelief, rejecting the sight of Ariadne passing through Cass. “We-I-I can fix this!” The march of ants became frenzied, each step accompanied with a fierce bite full of venom. It was overwhelming and Metzli feared it would eat away at the beautiful music that Cass had brought into their life. They met that silence with a sorrowful noise, choking on sobs as they leapt into action. 

“I know first aid.” The vampire used their strength to toss aside the larger stones, urgently trying to make an opening. With each reach, their nails dug against the rubble, tearing off when Metzli’s movements became too erratic. 

“Can-does-does my bite–Cass!” They pleaded, building an opening and trying to crawl inside only to find there were more rocks. “No!” Metzli's voice became a scream, the crunch of their knuckles slamming against the wall of stone joining in the noise. There was nothing but a crack left behind with a smear of black ooze, and Metzli quickly turned to Cass and ran back to her. It was no use to panic. Being a ghost couldn't have been easy to realize, and as someone who loved her, Metzli knew they had to set everything aside to provide a safe space for the one they called theirs.

“You should not be dead. You-you…Mija?” Parents weren't supposed to outlive their young, they weren't supposed to put them in a position that led to their death, so maybe, Metzli thought, they were just as bad as Makaio. They had outlived everyone in their bloodline, and now, they had outlived another. 

“I…am sorry.” They sniffled, nearly hovering their damaged hand over Cass's cheek before thinking better of it. “You saved us. You-you…are hero. Our hero.”

Cass was her first real best friend. She’d had friends before but none were quite like Cass. Van couldn’t see her and Van was the only one of the three of them who Cass had forced outside of the cave who was alive, and that had to mean – no. She didn’t want to say it out loud Didn’t want to think it, either, but thoughts had minds of their own (which wasn’t like, physically possible but still, it seemed right, and somebody smart had probably said that before) and so Ariadne couldn’t stop her thoughts from racing – from going ghost ghost ghost.

Which meant Cass was dead and another sob escaped from Ariadne’s mouth, loud and eerie enough that she wasn’t sure if she even recognized it herself. “No!” She looked around, desperate, “Cass, please, please come back. I’ll do anything!” She shook her head, and she kept shaking her head, “we were supposed to be friends for hundreds of years!! Not just – not this short of a time.”

Cass couldn’t be dead. Her best friend, who was so full of life and light and fire (quite literally, as a matter of fact) couldn’t be gone. She’d touched Cass not even ten minutes ago, and now she couldn’t. It seemed impossible. “Please!” She scream again, and she felt like she was going to be sick and she couldn’t think and Cass was dead and she’d known Cass might die before her, but that wasn’t supposed to be a problem she had for like, almost a thousand years. Cass wasn’t supposed to be dead yet.

“There’s so many movies I wanna watch with you, and places we’ve gotta go! You need to take me to the best volcanoes – Cass! I love you. Je t’aime beaucoup, pour toujours.” I love you so much, for always. “You’re the bravest and best person I’ve ever known. You are my superhero. I love you. I love you so much. I’ll never stop.”

Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. 

It felt different hearing it this time. She’s dead, they’re dead, he’s dead– they’re all dead. We killed her, it killed him, the fire killed them and others– how many different ways could something be said that made her feel this lost? Suspended in something she couldn’t quite identify. Her muscles felt like jelly as she watched Ariadne plead with the space in front of her. She forced herself to memorize the way Cass felt beneath her arms just moments ago, of how she smelt of ember and pine. Metzli called Cass her their hero and the word echoed, morphing itself into the word dead and can’t. Heroes can’t die. Hadn’t that been what her father had told her time and time again as he lifted his dvd’s up for her to see, X-Men on the cover? 

But that wasn’t true, right? Heroes died all the time. Cass was dead. Behind the rocks, submerged in them– probably an unrecognizable thing. Was it cruel to imagine her in that way? Van imagined her father, Makaio in that way– of his eyes opened and unseeing, of blood trickling from his mouth. Something akin to relief rose in her. It made her feel sick, too. 

Ariadne continued to plead with the ghost of her friend she could no longer see, and Van was left on the ground with the notebook pressed to her chest. Her mouth felt dry. “Have to tell– have to tell Thea, tell Nora.” She needed to tell others before she could completely fall apart. How would she be able to get in contact with Ren? Would Ren care? Her mind raced as she stared at the ground, memorizing the way the rocks she’d managed to carve away from the entrance had gathered at her feet. 

“She’s dead,” Van croaked. It was a confirmation for nobody but herself, because she already knew that. She already knew that Cass was dead and she wouldn’t be coming back. She knew that life would be forever changed. Whatever was in the notebook she held would be her final goodbyes, and that in itself made Van bite the hand of grief, drawing its blood until there was nothing left but skin and sinew. She couldn’t fall apart now, not when others would need to know. When Cass deserved a burial. When– She looked at Ariadne and Metzli, both grief stricken. Van wasn’t sure what to do for either of them, but she would figure it out. 

“I’m sorry, Cass,” Van said again, a small half-sob building in her throat as she got to her feet, legs wobbly. 

—

Van finally looked up and, for the briefest moment, hope was a living thing in her chest. It fluttered and rose and sang until the moment her friend’s eyes looked past her, looked off into the middle distance and then back to the rocks. Van couldn’t see her, even with Metzli and Ariadne looking at her, speaking to her directly. Ariadne’s hands had gone through her, not past her. The rocks had been falling from every direction, the pain had been everywhere. And Cass knew. Cass knew what it meant, what it all added up to. The pieces came together like a puzzle no one wanted solved. Cass knew the answer, and everyone else did, too.

The chaos that came after the realization was an immediate thing. Everyone was yelling, stones were being tossed aside. If there was ever a physical embodiment of love, it was in the way Metzli’s hands gripped at those rocks, the way Van dug at the dirt, the way Ariadne screamed and sobbed. She’d been right, down in that cave when the sky was falling. The people here loved her enough to come to her aid every time she called for them. She’d been stupid not to realize it all along.

There was a certain tragedy that came with a certainness that arrived too late. If she’d known weeks ago what had been proven to her now, she wouldn’t have slipped as far as she had. But what had been proven to her now couldn’t have been made certain without what had preceded it. It was like one of those stupid riddles, the ones with no right answer. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If you can only be saved by knowing you’re loved, and you can only believe in the love your friends have for you when they’re mourning your loss, did you ever stand a chance?

They were all apologizing, and Cass wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to shake the Earth with all that she felt. But already, her form was flickering; she’d had a promise to keep, and she’d kept it. She’d met them at the top when it was over. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t finished; she wasn’t meant to stay. 

“I’m sorry,” she choked on a sob, though there was no wetness on her face. Maybe ghosts didn’t cry; maybe they weren’t capable of it. “I’m — Tell Van. Tell her, too. Make sure she knows. I’m sorry. I love you — I love all of you.” She looked to Ariadne and Metzli in turn, looked to Van who was trying to look at where she stood but couldn’t quite find the right position. The ache in her chest wasn’t a physical thing; on some level, she knew it. 

That didn’t make it hurt any less.

The world flickered around her, going from black to golden white before resetting back outside the cave. “It wasn’t your fault. Okay? I need you to know that. It wasn’t any of your faults. It was — It was me. Or it was him. Or — Or maybe it was both of us. I don’t know. But it wasn’t your fault. You were — You were everything to me.”

She looked to Aria, forcing a smile. “You’re — I think you’re the best best friend I could have asked for. When I was a kid, I never could have imagined that I’d find someone like you. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t a good friend to you in the end. I’m sorry I couldn’t be what you deserved, what I — what I wanted to be. I’ll still love you for a hundred years, even if I’m not here to do it.”

Turning to Metzli, she swallowed. “And you… You were my family. Not him. I should have seen it sooner, I should have —” She could fill an ocean with should haves now, couldn’t she? She closed her eyes, willing herself to remain a little while longer. “Please don’t… Please don’t hate yourself for this. It wasn’t your fault. You deserve a family. And you have one. With Leila, with Aria, with so many people who love you. Please don’t… Please don’t let me be the thing that ruins that.” 

Van still couldn’t see her. Cass choked on a sob at the realization, looking back to her friend still standing by the ruined mouth of that empty cave. “Tell Van… Tell her I’m glad we were both in the supermarket that night. Tell her that everything that happened, all of it, was worth it just to get to know her. Tell her I wouldn’t change any of it, not for a second. And… and tell her she was right. We would have been friends either way. All of us. The Allgoods were written in the stars, I think.” 

She smiled, looking back to Metzli and Ariadne. The world flickered again. “I’m okay,” she told them. “I need you to know I’m okay. It doesn’t hurt. I’m going to be okay. Whatever’s next… I think we’ll see each other again someday. Just not too soon, okay? I don’t mind waiting.” 

Another flicker, and it was over. The space she’d occupied was empty, without so much as an echo left behind. The final rumblings of the cave silenced as the ground came to settle beneath the remaining three pairs of feet. There was no more cave; there was no more oread.

And the sky was still there, in the end, still hanging above the Earth as it always had. There was just one less person to see it.

[kadavernagh]

@muertarte replied to your post “[pm] A death has happen.”:

[pm] Not always. My daughter is dead. Does not feel beautiful right now.

​[pm] What? You don't have a daughter. ...Do you? What happened? Where is the body? Would you even give it to me? Not that I'm – but what about Dr. Rickers, the morgue? You wouldn't. You didn't even let Leila– why didn't I [user feels guilty about thinking this but also still confused]

[saithebatguy]

@muertarte from here.

[pm] Am glad. Have new appreciation for them. Yes. I own it.

[pm] There are some great places in the area to go see them if you ever want to get to know the local bat populations better. If you ever want a tour or anything like that let me know.

Do you mostly serve vampires and those sorts of people, or is it generally humans who come through?

[banisheed]

@muertarte replied to your post “[pm] My daughter is dead. She was fae like you....”:

[pm] I know death is impartial but I am still angry. It hurts. She was the color. She is stuck in a cave with her father of blood and I cannot get her out. Everything hurts but there is only one injury in my hand. I do not like grief. I should have stayed in the cave with her.

​[pm] [user consults her very worn copy of "understanding grief for emotionally unattached banshees". the book says all emotions are invalid and disgusting. the next page shows a detailed drawing of a skeleton with giant, skeletal boobs. user closes book.]

It's a natural reaction. I'm sorry that How can I Impartial or not, Death is not easily forgiven. Grief is the response of affection; it is as natural to us as water, blood or air. Grief is its own language. Many people have tried to translate it; I'm not convinced it has ever been plainly written down.

How are y What can I'm sorry for It's very human normal to grieve. What was she like? What do you want to talk about now? What happened?

[ohwynne]

@muertarte replied to your post “[pm] Leila tell me what happen to Aria. Are you...”:

[pm] It is a difficult world that we have to be in. Am sorry there is not much to do about it. Do not worry about me. [user is not fine]

​[pm] I am sorry too. [...] If you're back, would you teach me some moves for fighting?

I will worry a little. Ireland is not a kind place.

[zombiebabysitter]

[pm] Are you still moist?

[pm] Luckily I have clothes at home, so I'm dry now. But that was fucking sick, how did you do that?

[wonder-in-wings]

@muertarte replied to your post “[pm] It is your birthday. Very good job...”:

[pm] She did. Am glad she did because celebrating is important. Surviving is hard and people are idiots. But you are not. Can I bring you a present? I [...] do not remember. My parents did not tell me my birthday but I see it once on document. Think it is in November. Am about maybe 160. That is all I know. But I do not celebrate day of change. Was a bad day. How old are you now?

​[pm] I was always told that birthdays were just days. My brother gets a lot more excited about his birthday... I think he enjoys receiving gifts. [...] Metzli, you're always welcome to come over regardless of whether or not you bring presents. [...] Being friends with you feels like [...] a gift in of itself.

I see. I apologize; other undead I've interacted with sometimes see it as a positive thing. I wasn't [...] sure if you did.

[...] I'm turning 48. I'm roughly between 15 and 20 years older than I should be.

[chasseurdeloup]

[pm] Cass is dead.

[pm] No. She's just--

No she--

No.

No.

N--

[user types and deletes no over and over and over]

What happened?

[vanishingreyes]

@muertarte replied to your post “[pm, in Spanish] Thank you for talking to me. It...”:

[pm, in Spanish] Maybe yes. I am thinking a lot about what you said. And I am trying to weigh options. Is it possible to start over after hurting people? It must be on their terms, yes? I took their choice when I left so I should give them all the control I can.

​[pm, in Spanish] That is a good step to take. Thinking about what we talked about and what you want.

Yes, it is. I think it can be on mutual terms -- even if you hurt them, this was not your intent, and I think they deserve control but you also deserve to have control over parts of your life. Over much of your life, even. I think working with people will help you most, in the long run.

Does that make sense?

[stainedglasstruth]

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Dandridge Barn PARTIES: Zane (@rn-zane), Wynne (@ohwynne), Zack (@zackbanes, Arden (@stainedglasstruth), Emilio (@mortemoppetere), and Metzli (@muertarte) SUMMARY: Wynne, Zack, and Arden find out what the vampires have in store for them. CONTENT WARNINGS: Kidnapping

Zane was only one of many that had pondered the purpose of the giant barn on Alma Dandridge’s lot, seemingly pointless as there were no animals nor farming happening on the big spread of land. Despite every bit of doubt and apprehension, the true purpose could not have been conjured up in even the vampire’s wildest nightmares. Alma had run this sort of mission many a time before, practice runs she liked to call them instead of mistakes, so of course a nice and big basement underneath an inconspicuous barn had been the first matter of business when moving to Wicked’s Rest. 

It had been empty for many years now, patiently waiting. Finally, it was serving its purpose. 

Descending the dark, musty stairs, whose entrance had been well hidden until now, was akin to being swallowed whole. Zane could still not decide whether staying behind had been the right call. Whether contacting Emilio was just adding another soul lost to whatever was about to transpire. There was no turning back now, stairs creaking with every step, his body flanked by more vampires as the group traveled down. Somehow, Zane hadn’t expected the shouting.

The noise grew louder once a door was opened, light flooding the dark stairwell and bringing with it the sound of pleas and banging on metal. Zane hesitated, not the only one in the group to do so, but all of those who paused were given a pointed shove to the back. And then there they all were. 

The vampire spawn grabbed everyone’s attention first. Alone in its cage, for now, it slammed against the bars and snarled at anyone who would listen. Zane’s eyes didn’t linger for long, dragging over the sight which filled the rest of the big basement with his stomach sinking further every second. The floor-to-ceiling bars looked old, like they had been waiting for years to house the desperate humans that now huddled inside. A quick count provided for fifteen people, hands tied and some of them definitely looking like they’d put up a fight while transported here. His instinctual step towards the wounded was cut off by someone’s hand on his chest. “Easy, tiger. There will be plenty to snack on later.”

Except they weren’t here to be snacks. They were here to be soldiers. Here to be turned into the creature that still trashed in its cage, right up until the moment Alma suddenly appeared amidst the throng of vampires, only a few of whom looked as confused and petrified as Zane. Alma placed a single hand on the spawn’s cage and it cowered away, head bowed. Dark spots danced in Zane’s line of vision and before he could know whether he would pass out or throw up first, Alma was turning to the prisoners with a soft smile and speaking. 

“A warm welcome to our guests. They have been brought here to serve their purpose in making this town a paradise for all of us.” 

—

It might be the middle of summer but Wynne felt like they had been shivering for days. Here, in this basement, it felt like their teeth had been clattering ever since their forced arrival, and there was no way of stopping it. Sleep had been hard to come by, coming in increments by resting against the soft flesh of the people that had been dragged down here with them. Arden and Zack hadn’t left their side and they hadn’t left theirs. Tied hands searching for each other in the dark. Inklings of hope shared when it was lacking in the others. Wynne was familiar with this kind of dread, but they had never shared it before. It somehow felt worse.

Back at the commune, there had been rooms like this, but they had been smaller and looked less like cages. They were rooms for solitary reflection, where the door remained shut. Wynne had been placed in them twice, not often blamed of insubordination, and they’d sat in silence and quiet and dark until the time was done. But nothing could have prepared them for this, this depravity and hopelessness. When they had awaited death at home, they’d done so under flannel sheets and in a soft bed. 

By now, it had been days, the numbers in the cage having grown, a vicious humanoid creature having joined them one cage over. Wynne’s cheeks were dry and red from the shed tears, their senses dulled and numb, their fight seeped out. The arrival of new figures had them perking up, though, heart hammering — there had been no explanation, no full one, as to why they were here.

And these new additions to the crowd weren’t dragged in or unconscious, weren’t dripping blood from their noses the way Wynne had five days ago. They walked in willingly, staring at them as if they were cattle. Wynne felt like they were cattle, like they were sheep being herded. But rather than being prepared for grazing, they were being prepared for something much worse. 

Their throat was too dry to fashion a response, but their eyes did fall on a familiar face in the crowd. Zane was a vague acquaintance, nothing more, and yet Wynne’s gaze got stuck on him as they shuffled closer to Zack and Arden. There was no use in pleading, that was a lesson hard-learned half a decade ago. The only solution was to run, but in this basement there was nowhere to go.

—

When they first got jumped, laughing and on their way to the Wormhole, Zack had assumed it was just another night in Worm Row. He had almost been annoyed about it, expecting to hand over his wallet and move on with the night. But of course it couldn’t be something so innocuous, so simple, as that. Of course there was some kind of kidnapping plot involving the spooky farm and cages and a veritable monster.

And he was useless. He had tried –carefully, just once or twice– to summon up his fire but the spark wouldn’t seem to come. And then, as the days went on, more and more people were added to the cell, and he didn’t want to risk trying. With no control, he couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t end up hurting someone. And he couldn’t say why his abilities weren’t working in the first place. Maybe he was too scared or maybe it was from the meager food they were given. Zack still barely understood how any of it worked, and never had he regretted it more than right then. If he could control his fire with any accuracy and dependency, it could have actually helped. 

Instead, all he could do was try to keep as close as possible to Arden and Wynne. Cast a watchful eye over any injuries the two had accumulated in their initial attack to try and make sure they weren’t too hurt, make sure they both got enough food and water, when it came. And wait for any kind of opening.

When there was the stirrings of a commotion, Zack sat up straighter, struggling with his bindings. A group trudged in, including the ones who had been there the night they were all taken. Anger rose in his chest at the sight. Next to him, Wynne flinched and he turned to find them staring into the crowd as well. But not at their attackers, like Zack, at some other face he didn’t recognize. Casting a look to Arden and assessing her first, he nudged Wynne as best he could. “All right?” he asked, voice an undertone.

When the woman at the front began to speak, dread settled heavy in Zack’s stomach. He wasn’t sure what exactly all she said meant, but he was certain it wouldn’t be good for them. Apparently there was a plan. A purpose. He was reminded suddenly of Wynne's commune. He wouldn’t bet against another instance of human sacrifice. 

—

Metzli would be proud of her; Arden had put up a fight. She had gotten a few hits in and everything, but unfortunately the knife they had gifted her was iron and that didn’t exactly help her when she was being attacked by Fucking Vampires. Again! At least she had managed to get some of that training in during the past few weeks. 

She had tried so hard, for Wynne and for Zack, but ultimately she was still just a useless human in the face of the supernatural. The point of the training had been to be able to protect herself and her loved ones, but she hadn’t been prepared enough, and they had been hurt and taken. Logically, she knew she couldn’t even blame herself– she had been working diligently, pushing herself probably a little harder than she should with the workouts and sparring sessions. They were just outnumbered, and they were outnumbered by vampires. Still, Arden couldn’t help that feeling in her gut, the little voice in her head that told her she could’ve done more. 

They had been down there for days. It was hard to keep track of time, but the vampires had come in with food for their ever-growing little collection of humans four times. However long they had been down there, they had at least been able to speak freely. And while Arden couldn’t exactly say she was grateful for Wynne and Zack’s company– she much would’ve preferred it if they weren’t involved in this mess– it was comforting, having them there. If not for them, she wasn’t sure how she would be staying sane. They had each other's backs, sleeping in shifts and offering comfort however they could. 

She tried her best to keep a level head, watching over her roommates, of course, but also trying to keep a close eye on their captors. While they were stuck there, she had also informed them about vampires as much as she could, telling them everything she could remember about them, save for their weaknesses; Arden didn’t think the person keeping watch over them would react well to that. 

The spawn had freaked her out. She didn’t want to panic Zack or Wynne, or piss off the vampires, but the spawn had made their plans clear to her. Her stomach sank when the vampires entered the room. They were really outnumbered here, not that they would be able to do much even if they weren’t. They were just human. 

Arden eyed the vampires, before once again turning her gaze to the room around them, hoping something that could help them might have magically appeared when she wasn’t looking, knowing she would find nothing. They weren’t even going to die down here, they were going to be turned into mindless, undead bloodsuckers in this stupid fucking basement. She had hoped someone would find them before it was too late. Their absence had surely been noticed, at the very least by their bosses, Sully, and… Teagan. Probably Ariadne and some others, too. However, it seemed like they were well and truly screwed. 

At the mere thought of the nix, her eyes began to water. The necklace she had gifted her hung heavy around her neck, a constant comfort, a constant reminder. She bit the inside of her cheek, refusing to let out the tears that threatened to spill. Instead, she turned her attention to Wynne, leaning closer in an attempt to provide them some comfort. Her gaze then turned to Zack, who was focused on Wynne, of course. She once again had to blink back her tears. No matter what happened, Arden would fight for them. Until the end. 

—

Alma’s voice had been enough to finally quiet the sound of heart wrenching pleas but it did little to lighten the situation. As much as his stomach sank with every new face he registered, Zane couldn’t stop himself from taking them all in. They looked tired, angry, scared, hurt. Confused, the feeling properly mirrored in the nurse’s eyes when they met a familiar gaze. Wynne looked even younger now than they had during the two’s first and only meeting. He had helped her out then but now, he was just as useless as the people inside the cages. 

“This spawn is only the first of many that will help us claim what is rightfully ours. A place where the strongest don’t have to cower in fear and scrounge for food. This is only the beginning as our new recruits will help us build up an army of spawns.” Alma was gesturing towards a few of the vampires, a small and separate group Zane hadn’t noticed forming until now. There were six of them, including him, flanked by the half circle of vampires that had all been here for a long time and none of whom looked disturbed by the basement’s set up. 

This was all happening too fast, Alma was still speaking but it didn’t register as English to Zane’s frazzled brain. He couldn’t get all of these people out of here, there were so many vampires here and no way past them. Even though the people closest to him, lovingly dubbed ‘freshmen’ like himself, looked wary and confused, Zane couldn’t count on them to help. In his line of work, he had witnessed every possible response to overwhelming danger. Never before had he experienced first hand the seldom mentioned ‘freeze’ response, blankly watching the situation in front of him unfold, feet glued to the ground. 

The nervous vampire standing next to him stepped forward, the sound of jangling keys was deafening and there was more movement. There was no way to tell whether the blurry vision was due to panic or tears but everything became clearer the moment Zane finally realized who had been pulled from their cage and destined for a new and worse sort of prison. Wait. It took a moment to register why no one responded to his voice - Zane’s mouth hadn’t actually moved. One more glance at Wynne’s resigned face was enough to finally spur him into action. 

“They didn’t choose this.” Numerous pairs of red eyes converged on him and Zane swallowed thickly, taking a step forward on legs that felt like they wouldn’t carry him. A protest from behind that Zane could only assume was Razul was quickly quieted by Alma raising a hand. “I… this is wrong. We,” shaky hands gestured vaguely at the surrounding vampires, “all chose but they… we can’t do this. This isn’t right.”

Alma approached slowly, a comforting smile on her face as she cupped Zane’s cheek with one soft hand. “I always figured you’d be opposed,” she sighed. In a blink, the soothing touch was a vice grip on the back of his neck, pushing him towards Wynne. They were being held by an annoyed looking vampire, making sure Wynne’s neck was properly exposed. “So why don’t you start us off and just get it over with, dear?”

—

The keys rattled and for a dumb, naive moment Wynne thought they’d open the cage and let them go. They had asked, hadn’t they? Pleaded, tried to reason with the people that kept watch of them and then grown so silent that they were afraid they’d never talk again. Even Zack’s question they couldn’t answer, their gaze just landing on his for a moment as both their roommates put themself in closer proximity to them. But it was little use, was it?

The keys rattled and the vampire that entered the cage left no room for stragglers, no room for escape attempt. He pushed past others and eventually Zack and Arden too, fingers enclosing around the back of Wynne’s neck. “What are you —” they began, trying to struggle against the tight grip but unable to do so, strength larger than their own (and that of any other human) dragging them forward. There were no words now, just an animalistic noise. They could feel the vampire’s fingernails break the skin and they let out a yelp of pain. “Please.” 

Once out, away from the other dozen-or-so trembling humans, Wynne felt eyes on them. They thought about home and that engraved altar, of Jac laying down with his hands tied behind his back, Siors bringing down the knife to his throat. They hadn’t wanted to die and they didn’t want to die now either, even if it meant coming back. They had grown tight and tense but not hard enough not to be moved around, their body like a stiff doll in the arms of the vampire. He had turned them around, bend their head to expose their neck and all Wynne could do was whimper and close their eyes and look at Zane and tremble like a meek little lamb.

When he spoke up they watched the woman speak to him, so soft and then so cruel and they thought of Siors again, of all their elders and their parents. How many times had Padrig cupped their cheek like this? Squeezed their chin until their skin turned red? 

Zane was like them — not just a vampire’s friend, but one of them. Wynne did not trust him, but he called this wrong. He did what no one at the commune had done when they’d prepared Wynne for the slaughter and when the two came eye to eye, with their neck exposed and their breathing falling from their mouth in rapid succession, they thought there was something to appeal to.

“You don’t have to do this,” they said, their voice constrained from the way their neck was bent and the tears flowing down their cheeks. At least if they’d had died at home it would have been beautiful. Their hair laced with flowers and their body warm with scented oils, a splendid meal beforehand and a speech in the last moment. It would have been honorable. But even then, Wynne hadn’t wanted to die. “Please, Zane.” 

—

Zack didn’t fully understand all that was happening, but he knew enough. He knew that the people who had taken them were not human. And he knew that whatever that thing in the cage was (spawn, they called it), they planned on turning all of their captives into that, somehow. 

Apparently, they were going to do that now, with one of the group stepping forward with a set of keys. Of course, of course, he came right over to their little group. Zack tried to put himself in front of Arden and Wynne, but they grabbed for the youngest of them all. “No, don’t!” Zack struggled to get himself up, to put himself between their captors and Wynne. But it was no use – with his hands behind his back he wasn’t even able to stand up, let alone fight back in any way. “Not them.”

Some of the group seemed amused by his weak protesting, with one comment, “Don’t worry. You’ll all get a turn.”

Sick dread slipped into Zack’s stomach at that. That was likely true, but if there was a chance of somehow stopping this, it meant that Wynne couldn’t go first. Wynne who had already had their head on the chopping block once, in that awful place they had called home before coming to Wicked’s Rest. Before making a home with Zack and Arden and Sully. “Please, just don’t take them first.” 

Zack wasn’t the only one trying to stop this, though. One of the group tried to reason with the leader, someone who Wynne knew, apparently. And there were a few others, not many but a few, who looked similarly conflicted. In the end, it didn’t matter. Their leader was uninterested in any protests and forced the man who had spoken out, who seemed to know Wynne, over to do whatever it was that would start this horror show.

Desperately, Zack tried to call up the fire that lived somewhere inside him. “Please,” he muttered to himself. “Please, please…” Since they had first made their appearance, his abilities were nothing less than a plague. A shadow that lived over his every move as he tried to contain and control it all so it would never hurt anyone, never cause any harm. And here, now, there was the chance that it could help. If he could only bring it forth. If he had only learned, in any of his years, how to use it in any way that mattered. 

The fire never came. Distraught and ashamed, Zack turned to tip his face against Arden’s shoulder. He couldn’t help and, in the end, he couldn’t watch.

—

This was it, then. The beginning of the end. 

Arden couldn’t help but think of her last vampire encounter. She had been convinced she would die, certainly would have if not for the cross around her neck, if not for Emilio. She had barely taken it off since that night, but, of course, it had failed her, and she, in turn, had failed her friends. 

That night, the sheer panic of staring down that vampire, knowing she would die, had been so overwhelming it had almost been peaceful. Now, though, there was no peace. Not when Zack and Wynne and all these other people were here. Not when she knew they wouldn’t even have the dignity of dying as themselves. They were simply pawns in some fucked up game of chess. Dying here meant an eternity of mindlessly harming others, and for what? Some insane vampire’s power play? No, there was no peace now, just dread and terror and rage and regret. 

The awful pit of dread in her stomach only widened as one of the vampires came to grab one of them to be the first sacrifice, and it just grew and grew the closer they came toward their little trio. Of course, Zack tried to put himself in front of them, and Arden had to swallow back the wave of tears that threatened to spill. And, of course, they didn’t even grab her. 

The horror that shot through her as they grabbed Wynne was unlike any other she had felt. “No! Wynne!” She struggled against her binds, trying to do something, aware Zack was doing the same. They had only recently told her about their home, about why she had run, the fate she had run from. Wynne was one of the sweetest people she had come to know in her twenty-eight years on this Earth. Of all the people who could’ve been subjected to such a fate, they damn well hadn’t deserved to live their life in fear, knowing that in the end, they were simply a sacrificial lamb to appease some demonic entity. And they certainly didn’t deserve this. No one did, but not them, not Wynne. 

Their plea, Zack’s pleas, they broke her. Arden had tried to keep it together for so long, tried to be strong, especially for Wynne, but she couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down her face. “Take me first,” she choked out. But the only response she received was laughter. Since her father, since Jo, since coming back to this goddamn town that she considered home, she had felt so small, so useless, so human. Never had she hated it as much as she did then, moments before they would all be turned to monsters. 

When one of the vampires spoke up, she had a moment of hope– maybe they weren’t all convinced on this plan, maybe this didn’t have to happen. It was quickly crushed as the leader forced his head down. He would be the one to turn Wynne for his insolence. 

Beside her, she heard Zack’s quiet pleas and it broke her heart. Arden closed the space between them, the only way she had of comforting him. She remembered back when she had first moved in, she had been a little jealous of how close Zack and Wynne were, how much they seemed to care for each other, how much she had wanted that after years of not letting herself be close to anyone. But that was months ago, and now she had her own relationships with them. She loved how much they loved each other, and she loved the both of them so much. She would do anything, give anything, if it meant they could be free of this situation. Arden would turn into a monster, become a spawn, become whatever these vampires wanted if that meant they could survive this. 

As Zack burrowed his face into her shoulder, Arden only had her eyes on Wynne. This was it. The beginning of the end, and it was starting with Wynne. 

—

You’re walking into a trap. It was something his mind kept repeating, over and over again. A vampire gives a slayer intel about the clan they’ve sworn loyalty to time and time again. Tells the slayer to come to a remote location, ready to fight. They don’t trust each other — they never have. What else could it be? 

On some level, Emilio knew Zane wasn’t the type to kill him outright. He’d proven that time and time again, helped him instead of hurting him, saved his ass against another vampire even when he knew it meant signing that vampire’s death warrant. But that didn’t necessarily mean he was safe here, did it? He was walking into a trap. It was the most obvious answer, the easiest one to default to. He was walking into a trap. He knew he was.

But he was walking anyway.

If it was a trap, after all, it was a well-laid one. If you told Emilio that there were people in trouble and that he could save them if he only had the courage to show up, you’d get him where you wanted him every goddamn time. It was a slayer’s job, wasn’t it, to die for a cause? To fall on a blade, to bleed himself dry? If there was a chance, even a small one, that Zane’s information was good, Emilio had to take it. He knew that. 

Asking for help was a rare thing, but he’d thought about Nora. About Ren, about Leticia, about Rhett. About all the people who, for some unfathomable reason, gave a shit whether he was alive or dead. He was bound to die for his cause sooner or later, and he was probably walking into a trap, but maybe if he put up half a fight they wouldn’t hate him for it. Metzli was the only one he could really ask; Rhett or Owen would have wanted to kill all the vampires involved, including Zane, and he couldn’t stomach the thought of taking any of the kids along. Leading Kaden into something that was probably a trap, too, would have felt cruel, and Andy was retired. So it was Metzli or it was no one. And it was a miracle that he picked the former.

“This is it,” he said gruffly, nodding to the barn. “Got a guy on the inside. Zane. Don’t kill him, or the humans they’ve got locked up. Everyone else is fair game.” When he was done here, either the clan or the Cortez family name would be wiped out. There was no room for anything else. “Got it?”

—

When the barn came into view, Metzli couldn’t help but stare at their hand, feeling the weight of what was to come, keeping it from being consumed by tremors. Emilio had requested their help to fight, to take out a small army of vampires. They’d done it before, dead blood coating their skin not an unfamiliar sensation. By the end of the night, Metzli was sure they’d be painted like a warrior, and Leila would likely be all over them for it. But it didn’t matter. Not then. Emilio needed their help and so too did innocent people inside.

“I will do what you ask.” The vampire replied with no personality in their tone, falling into the role of soldier once more. Metzli’s thoughts began to drift far away, body functioning as whatever Emilio needed it to be. Whether shield or sword, it didn’t matter. Metzli wanted to help their friend and atone for every atrocity they had a hand in. It was one mission, but it was enough to be a start.

“Let us begin before it is too late.” Metzli trained their attention to the entrance, retrieving their blade as they slipped inside. They could feel the truth in sharp velocity, of knowing the odds of survival to be shaky at best. 

There was much to fight for, the fear of death not overwhelming but still biting the back of Metzli’s neck to remind them of what was waiting for them at home. They carefully descended down the steps, the sound of chaos consuming them with each step. Looking back at Emilio one last time, Metzli gave him a nod, tensing their body in preparation. 

Whatever was to come, despite the way they were created to oppose one another, it felt bittersweet to find a brother in the midst of so much blood. To have a man like Emilio trust Metzli—a vampire—enough to help him and run into danger without hesitation. It was an honor to extend their hearts to one another, whether the slayer saw it that way or not. The role of soldier fell and Metzli quickly became an ally instead. It fit just a bit better, they thought.

—

Sharp nails were digging into the back of his neck, the fact that it was Alma causing him harm somehow much more painful than the physical sensation. Zane had wanted information on her way back when but never could he have imagined this to be the answer to his nagging doubts. Someone who would go this far for power, who would take another’s free will, whether human or vampire. Tears were relentlessly brimming in his eyes now, lips parted in a desperate attempt to say something, anything, as a response to Wynne’s pleas. To reassure the people that seemed to be their friends that he wouldn’t hurt them. He wasn’t someone who hurt people. Or so he had always thought. 

When Alma grew impatient, nails dug further, feeling monstrously elongated inside his skin. The pain was enough to push out fangs, eyes turning red behind the tears. He couldn’t do this, not to Wynne, not to anyone. The whole point of joining what he had thought was a new family was having choice. For the first part of his life, choice hadn’t been an option. You adapted and fit in or, in Zane’s case, got cast out. What was there if not choice? “I won’t,” he whispered, voice trembling. Alma could hear him, he knew, because she was snarling in his ear now. 

There was no actual response from her and for a moment, Zane let himself live in the delusion that maybe his words had an impact. That he had a choice. 

Strong hands, his sire’s, moved quickly. There was no time to register what was happening - he had expected to be tossed aside, maybe even a swift death. Blood filling his mouth had not been one of the expected variables, his teeth sinking into Wynne’s neck, held in place by the strong grip of the woman Zane had once thought would rescue him. Innate enjoyment overpowered panic, mixed in with pure revulsion at the new emotion. Greed fought with regret, hunger struggled with disgust and the last bit of hope that Emilio had received his message flickered out. 

—

Metzli was right — they were on a strict schedule here. Vampires intent on doing as much damage as possible didn’t tend to take their time. They’d tear through those people in that basement in a matter of hours at the most, and then they’d start ripping into people in the streets, in their houses, leaving bodies in living room floors and —

— No. No, he couldn’t think about that right now. He couldn’t be a man when what Zane had asked for was the weapon. There were people in that barn that needed saving, or there were vampires in that barn that needed killing, or there were both. Either way, it was Emilio’s job to step inside.

“Let’s go, then.” He pushed the door open without waiting, without pausing to see if Metzli would follow. He knew they would. And that was a strange feeling, too; the hair on the back of his neck was standing up straight, refusing to allow him to forget that they were a vampire, that he was built to put a stake in their chest just as much as he was built to take out the monsters in the basement. But he trusted them, somehow, knew that his back was safe so long as they were the one watching it. It was strange, wasn’t it? Learning to rely on someone you’d been raised to hate, to kill. It was nothing you could ever recover from.

There were stairs, just like Zane said there would be. Emilio took them two at a time despite the pain in his knee. Any element of surprise they had would hinge on timing. If the vampires were paying close enough attention, they would have heard the barn door open, would have heard the feet on the stairs. If this was a trap, there would be no surprise, anyway. But when Emilio shoved his way into the basement, everyone seemed surprised to see him.

And they weren’t the only ones surprised.

His eyes immediately went to the center of the large basement, to the main event. There was Zane, his teeth buried in an achingly familiar throat. 

Wynne. 

There was a flash of something else. Of bloody hands, of still-cooling bodies, of a living room floor. Emilio quickly pushed it all down, pushed it all away. That story was over. There was no one in that living room that he could still save, no ending that he could pretend was happy.: It was finished, it was gone. But this wasn’t.

Time seemed to slow, for a moment. He took in the cage full of people, met Arden’s eye and noted Zack with his face buried in her shoulder. There was another cage with a spawn already there, and for a moment, he felt an awful relief. The spawn was unfamiliar, wasn’t someone he cared about, and he wondered when he became the sort of person who was okay with death so long as it was the death of a stranger. What did it make him, he wondered, that he said a silent prayer of gratitude that the spawn in that cage wasn’t Arden or Wynne or Zack? If God was listening, would He forgive this sin, too? Or was Emilio more sin than man now, too far gone to save?

Turning to Metzli, he tried to control his breathing enough to speak. It was a difficult thing. “I’m saving the kid,” he said, no room for argument. He was saving Wynne, because he had to. Because he didn’t know what he’d do if he couldn’t, because there was no other option here. Wynne wasn’t dying in a goddamn basement with a vampire’s teeth in their throat. “Keep me alive long enough for that. Then do whatever.” It was all the warning he gave before he was shoving his way through the crowd of vampires, desperate to get to the center. 

Whatever Zane was doing, he was going to stop it. If he had to put a stake in the nurse’s chest to do it, he liked to think Zane would prefer it that way.

—

The tremors that Metzli had been able to fend off continued to bite at them, persisting until they had managed to consume their hand. Flashes of their childhood stung their eyes, the intensity growing as Eloy’s voice boomed in Metzli’s thoughts. They were back in their clan again, the urge to attack growing.

Especially when they saw Wynne. 

Metzli took a single step, stopped by Emilio’s plan, command laying just beneath his words. Right—Eloy’s voice dissipated and they looked at their friend. It appeared they’d be Emilio’s shield, using their newfound ability to feel as fuel for the ferocity of the punishment they’d lay thickly onto their enemies. 

With a feral and guttural growl, Metzli surged forward, following closely behind Emilio. They plunged their blade into one neck, drawing a squelching smile across while they ripped out another throat with their teeth. Flashes of red orbs, the last thing the vampires saw before theirs went blank.

There was no time to stop or hesitate, the horde catching wind of the anomalies. They were going to swarm them before Emilio had the proper chance to stop the monster from hurting Wynne fatally. Metzli knew that because they were a monster too. 

“Oye,” They head-butted another vampire, wrapping their arm around Emilio, “Jump.” Metzli lifted the slayer over the crowd, sitting him on their shoulders briefly before throwing him toward Wynne. When he made it to his destination, Metzli turned back to their victims, eyes filled with violence, striking the others into a moment of submission. It was enough to give them the upperhand, leaving a few vampires headless and spewing black blood in their wake.

To Be Continued...

[recoveringdreamer]

@muertarte from here:

[pm] You […] like […] pans? I will not judge. Tell me your address for gay gift.

​[pm] Oh, no, sorry. It means I like [...] all people.

[........] You don't have to get me a gift or anything! That's nice of you, but [.....] I'm gay for free!

[magmahearts]

TIMING: current. PARTIES: @muertarte & @magmahearts LOCATION: the magmacave. SUMMARY: metzli makes another plea for cass to return to her family, and makaio reacts poorly. CONTENT: emotional manipulation

It was another quiet evening, just the two of them. These days, these quiet evenings were Cass’s favorite, much preferred to the nights when Makaio decided they needed to go out and ‘take action’ in one way or another. She preferred sitting in the cave and doing nothing to things like making the rounds throughout town, especially now that her father seemed to believe that the death of that first security guard had graduated her from ‘property damage’ to something a little more concrete. She tried not to think about the bar full of hunters and the way they’d laid in wait outside of it, though it was sometimes hard to think of anything else.

The quiet evenings were almost pleasant. Cass could sit in the cave with Makaio, could pretend not to miss Wynne or Nora or Ariadne or Van or Thea and the way they all used to sit in the cave with her at different times. She could keep her phone locked and in her pocket and pretend not to know that tonight was supposed to be her weekly dinner with Metzli and Leila that she hadn’t shown up to in months now. The distance was a good thing, she told herself; doing it this way allowed it to be her choice instead of someone else’s, and wasn’t that better? Wasn’t that what she wanted? 

Beside her, Makaio shifted. Cass, ever the faithful shadow, shifted with him, straightening her back and turning towards him expectantly. 

“Another visitor,” he rumbled, low and with a hint of distaste to his tone.

“I’ll ask them to go,” she replied quietly, already aching.

“They rarely listen. I suppose they don’t respect you.”

It stung, but he must have been right. Didn’t people accept the decisions of those they respected far easier than those they didn’t? She respected Makaio, and she accepted every decision he made. She looked down at her hands, nodding. 

“I’ll come with you,” he decided. “Perhaps they’ll respect me more.”

It scared her, but she knew better than to argue. He’d never liked it when she disagreed with her, and Cass needed her father to be happy here. She needed him to stay. She didn’t have anyone else anymore, even if it was by choice this time. (It was her choice. It was.) Swallowing around the lump in her throat, she nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed, trying to keep her voice from quaking. “Okay.”

They stood together, heading for the mouth of the cave.

—

Nothing about what was going on with Cass was normal. Everything she enjoyed was turned down for the sake of a man who called himself her father. True or not, he seemed to be using her propensity for pleasing others to his advantage, severing any tie she had with anyone else. He was isolating her, using her, and making her choose him because they supposedly shared blood. His tactics weren’t unfamiliar to Metzli, having been the victim of silent abuse. For what reason, they didn’t know, but they had to get to the bottom of it, for her sake. 

Because when it came down to it, Cass’s father was no dad. Neither were they, but Metzli was convinced that due to their desire coming from a place of love and protection, that it rendered any excuse this man had, moot. They didn’t need Cass isolated, and they didn’t want to ask anything of her that would be to her detriment, but it seemed her heart’s injuries were too severe.

Abandonment was a harsh wound that never healed. Its repetition, a plague that festered and putrefied into fears that could not be treated by normal means. It took a kind of patience so uncommon that it bordered on heroic, making anyone in need tie a cape around a person’s neck. But Metzli was no hero, and there was no tickertape parade for something that should be ordinary, a given. They showed up without being asked, all while knowing they might be met with rejection. Possibly even death, if this man truly wanted Cass to sever her ties with those she loved. Despite being pushed away, Metzli knew they were still loved, and they would fight for her. Even if she wouldn’t fight for herself. Even if she didn’t know she had to.

“Cass.” They breathed, refusing to acknowledge the oread next to her. “I am visiting because people are worried.” A pause, “I am worried.”

Makaio’s presence was a looming thing, hanging over her head like a shadow. Even on the rare occasions where he left the cave without her, Cass could feel him. She told herself it was a comfort, the way he was there even when he wasn’t there. She told herself it was a good thing, a thing she wanted. But her hands shook sometimes, and she swore there was still blood in the cracks of her stony skin even though she’d washed her hands a thousand times now. 

He stood behind her as she made her way to the mouth of the cave, recognizing Metzli’s tall form long before the details of their features came into view. She felt her father stiffen behind her, felt the displeasure rolling off him in waves. Did he recognize them? Cass didn’t think they’d met before, though she’d spoken of Metzli often in the beginning. Maybe in his quest to get to know her friends better by borrowing her phone, he’d read over some of their old messages. 

“It’s Metzli,” she said quietly before they were in the vampire’s earshot, in case Makaio didn’t know.

“The vampire,” he commented. “The one with a penchant for leaving.” 

The description ached, but she nodded anyway. “I can make them go,” she said. She’d done it before — to Van, to Wynne, to Nora, to Leila. Telling Metzli to leave would be just as simple. But…

“I should assist you. You aren’t very good at doing it on your own.”

Cass chewed her lip, pretending the words stung less than they did as she nodded. He was right — she didn’t command respect the way he did. Not yet, though he’d assured her that she someday might. She had to learn from him first. So, she led him the rest of the way to the vampire, closing the physical gap between them in the interest of widening the emotional one.

Metzli spoke to her directly, not looking at Makaio at all. She could tell that it upset him, could feel his anger burning in the magma of his veins. She glanced to him, waiting to see if he wanted her to speak. He didn’t. He stepped forward himself instead, placing a hand on Cass’s shoulder.

“Worried. Why? Because Cassidy knows how to better stand up for herself now? You liked her better meek. That isn’t who she is now.” Cass told herself that he sounded proud, even if she didn’t think it was true. A lie only burned when you said it aloud. 

“Just go, Metzli,” she said quietly, but the grip on her shoulder tightened. 

“No. They’ll only come back later, confuse you more. Perhaps this is a problem that should be solved more permanently.” 

—

“I did not speak to you.” Metzli’s posture stiffened, and they mentally reprimanded themself for responding so poorly. They had a plan to stick to, keeping themself from resorting to violence of any kind. What they just did might as well have been a punch a swing to the man’s face, but Metzli flexed their hand and relaxed again. They took a deep breath and ignored the permanent idea he was trying to offer Cass. She was a lot of things, but she was no killer. 

Without justifiable cause, Cass wouldn’t harm someone. She had a good sense of morality, even if the man behind her, who was gripping her neck too hard for Metzli’s liking, was trying to make her into something he needed. 

“I like you however you want to be.” They swallowed, choosing their words carefully. “We have worry because you are alone with him. Have only him.” Rolling their shoulders, Metzli knelt down to get to Cass’s eye level and couldn’t help but smile at finally being close enough to hug her. That would have to wait though, what with how her father wouldn’t release his grip.

“You want big family before, and-and if he wants to be good father to you then we want that too. He can come to dinner and I will make his favorite food just like I do for you.” Tears of hope began to form, and they had to blink them away to hold some type of composure. “I do not want to go. Will not leave permanently,” They added, almost like a hiss, “You are family, mija.”

Dread built in her chest at her father’s words, the idea of a permanent solution to Metzli’s meddling not one she wanted to entertain. But then, Metzli was snapping at Makaio, and Cass felt defensive of him. That feeling was a more comfortable one, and so she clung to it. “Don’t talk to him like that,” she snapped, and the tightening of her father’s hand on her shoulder was one she had come to know to mean approval. She could salvage this, she thought. She could still salvage this.

“I… I am who I want to be. Right now, here. And you — you’re here telling me to — to change.” Weren’t they? They wanted her to push her father into things he wasn’t comfortable with, wanted her to force him to change when she was the one who’d been put together all wrong before. “Just — Just stop it.”

But Metzli continued, and Makaio stiffened behind her. “Do not presume to know what kind of father I am,” he said, his voice low. The moment Metzli said mija, Cass felt her father’s attention turn to her. “Cassidy. This monster comes to you, pretends to be a parent. Is that really what you want?” She understood what was unsaid beneath it. She could have one, or she could have the other. She couldn’t have both. And Metzli had left her before.

“I… no. No, just — I told you to go. Didn’t I tell you to go?”

Makaio hummed. “Some problems,” he said quietly, “cannot be solved by telling. Haven’t you learned that by now?” She thought of the security guard at the viewing station, of the hunters outside the bar. Her hands trembled, and she clenched them into fists to stop them shaking. “Solve the problem, Cassidy. The right way this time.”

—

“I am not doing that.” Metzli said firmly, “Be whoever you want,” For the briefest of moments, they paused, a much more petty side of them winning out. “Choose what you want, mija. Let me choose what I want, too.” Their chin trembled with a toxic mixture of anger and dread. If they couldn’t get through to Cass, Metzli knew she was in danger of becoming the very thing that plagued her own existence. 

The only thing they couldn’t understand was why her own father was putting her in that harmful position. Why history had to repeat itself no matter how hard you tried to prevent it. Because the hand on Cass’s shoulder looked a lot like the one that still ghosted Metzli’s own, and the sight made nausea twist their insides uncomfortably. They could already feel the ants marching up and down their nerves, biting with every step. Metzli pushed it all aside. Because when there were too many people petitioning their god for an answer, and family gripped you like a snake, love was the next in line. 

Metzli picked up. 

“Let me choose, too.” They croaked, “I choose you. I choose our family.” Taking a breath, they looked hesitantly into Cass’s eyes, allowing vulnerability to cloak them in its unassuming warmth, and they smiled again. No matter how bleak everything looked, there was just something in Cass’s hues that always made Metzli comfortable with being seen. Maybe it was because she knew what it was like to be invisible. Or maybe it was because there was an unmistakable glint of need that matched theirs. Maybe it was because they were always meant to see each other, make one another feel real again. “I can choose him too, if that is what you need. We can be family. We can. All of us. I am not leaving until I know that you know this. That-that a threat,” Metzli growled quietly, “Will not make me leave you. Because you do not have to choose. I want you to have both of us. You deserve to have all options.”

Wasn’t this what she’d wanted? To have both the family she chose and the one she’d been robbed of in birth. Metzli was offering that to her, and Cass wanted desperately to believe them. But… Metzli still didn’t have all the facts. And even if they did, even if they’d somehow known about the bodies she’d dropped without necessity or excuse, Cass wasn’t sure she could believe the claim that they weren’t going to leave again. Wasn’t it still impossible to forget the way Metzli, a year ago, had left to lock themself away despite Cass’s desperate pleas for them to stay? Wouldn’t they still run headfirst into dangerous situations, not caring if they lived or died? 

Her father wouldn’t let her have both. On some level, Cass knew that. And if she had to choose, shouldn’t she choose the person who promised to be a permanent fixture in her life? Shouldn’t she focus her attention on the one who had always wanted her instead of the one who would leave time and time and time again? She felt herself wavering, felt her resolve slipping.

Makaio felt it too.

His grip on her shoulder tightened to something undeniably painful, and she wondered if it would bruise. She felt him tense each time Metzli called her mija, and Cass — Cass understood jealousy better than most. She’d been that kid fighting so hard for a place in other people’s lives that anyone else vying for the same attention had felt like competition. Her father was envious of Metzli’s place in her life, she realized; jealous that they had gotten a chance to slide into a role that would have been his and his alone if he’d found her sooner. 

He wouldn’t let it go. She knew that. If his jealousy was the same as hers, it wouldn’t be enough for her to convince Metzli to go. He already wanted her to prove herself, was already asking for her to find a solution that was permanent. And she knew what he meant, knew what he wanted, but…

She couldn’t hurt Metzli. She knew it as certainly as she knew the ground beneath her feet or the air in her lungs. She’d killed that security guard, she’d hurt hunters, but she could never hurt Metzli. Would Makaio do it if she refused? Metzli swore they wouldn’t leave, and weren’t there only so many ways this could end? 

“Cassidy,” her father said firmly. “You need to take care of this. Solve the problem so that we can move on.”

Makaio couldn’t see her face. He couldn’t see the feelings crossing over it, or the resolve that took their place. For a moment, to an outside observer, it might have looked like she was going to do it. But then, she shook her head. “Actually…” She trailed off, steeling herself. “Don’t you think it’s giving them too much credit?”

Makaio shifted behind her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean — doesn’t killing them imply that they have… an important place in my life?” She was careful. Makaio would know if she was lying, and to say that Metzli didn’t hold an important role in her life was a lie. But phrasing it as a question? That could help her skirt around the rule. “They left me. Multiple times.” That was true. No need to be careful with that one. “And they’ll probably do it again. Killing them would make it seem like I believe them when they say they won’t, like there’s no other way around it. Why would I give them that?”

She didn’t know if Metzli would catch on or not; either way, she thought, the plan should work. Either Metzli would understand what she was doing and go… or they’d think she meant what she was staying and walk away all the same. Either way, Cass could save them. In this moment, it was all she really wanted.

—

Let her go, they wanted to scream, swallowing their anger down and ignoring the acrid taste building on their tongue. Their eyes were widened with fury, betraying whatever composure they wanted to mock. One of the bigger lies that had managed to come out of Metzli. So they held their breath, unsure if Makaio or Cass would call them out on it. They held it, and it hurt, their air sticking at the lining of their lungs and clawing at it to fight its way out. It grew in tandem with what they bore witness to, becoming something feral the moment Cass spoke ill of who Metzli was.

For a moment, they believed what she was saying. Twisting and turning the words into an animal they could hardly recognize, adding pressure from the constriction in their chest until there was an inevitable pop. Eyes never lied like a person’s tongue. Anything could come out of that, but what the vampire read in Cass was the truth. She couldn’t choose what she truly wanted right then, not without losing both Metzli in the process. By her own hands, no less. 

“Please.” They breathed, “I-I-I do not want to leave you.”

They didn’t like it, but in order to ensure they wouldn’t leave Cass alone with her father, in a more permanent way, they were going to have to let her push them out of the cave. In other words, they would have to lie. Lying was wrong and was a coward’s way out, but Metzli swallowed that down and felt their tears begin to sting at the corners of their eyes and at the tip of their nose. 

What better answer was there anyway? When Makaio was wrong and a coward himself.

“You block me and I cannot see you, and now I-I must l-leave?!” They stood up and paced, trembling and tugging at their hair. “You…!” The lie stopped short in their throat, but Metzli’s resolve proved stronger. “Choosing you is not…enough.” Shoulders fell, but their hand remained in their forest of curls. “I…I am-am not enough. Too m-much credit. Okay.” Taking a few steps back, Metzli sniffled, chest aching. They watched Makaio’s hand curl happily on Cass’s shoulder and they had to fight their instinct to pounce. Reluctantly, Metzli had to let the swelling crescendos they created with Cass die, the last of its echoes no longer able to keep rhythm with a heart that no longer had room for them. 

For now.

I do not want to leave you. 

The words seemed to ricochet, Makaio’s hand tightening as they did. Cass chewed her lip, shaking her head slightly. “I don’t think that’s ever been true.” It wasn’t a lie. Maybe it would have been months ago, when the pain of Metzli’s departure the year prior had faded and no one had yet picked at the scab it left behind, but now? Cass couldn’t imagine a world in which Metzli — in which anyone — knew who she was and still wanted to stay. Their friendship had started with a promise, with a bind she’d wrapped around them and anger that had burned through them because of it. How had she ever let herself believe anything real could grow from such rotten soil? 

But she loved them, still. She didn’t want to hurt them, didn’t want to be the person her father wanted her to be. And that hurt, too, in a way; she couldn’t be who her friends wanted, but she couldn’t be who Makaio wanted, either. What was left for her? Who was there that could see what she was now, this twisted hybrid of two different extremes, and love her anyway? Nora had faltered the moment Cass confessed to her crime, and she’d added more to the rap sheet now. The necklace Van gave her hung at her throat, but without the promise that built the Allgoods, how long would Van’s affection hang with it? She’d alienated Wynne, ignored Ariadne. Her isolation was half her own making, and she was digging the hole deeper by necessity. 

For half a heartbeat, she thought that this attempt would fail. Maybe part of her hoped it would, in spite of the consequences; maybe part of her hoped that Metzli would see through the deception. But that was never going to happen, was it? Metzli hated themself too much to allow themself the grace of understanding that Cass was only trying to save them. This method was always going to be successful. She could never love her friends more than they hated themselves. That had always been part of the problem.

Or… maybe not. Could Metzli be lying, too? Cass tried to let herself believe it, tried to cling to the idea that maybe her friend was in on the plan. But Metzli hated dishonesty, didn’t they? They’d probably be angry with Cass for using it now, would probably be upset with the idea of being lied to. It must have been real. She must have succeeded, must have done exactly what she set out to do. 

She wasn’t sure why it hurt so much.

Makaio was smiling; she didn’t have to turn to face him to know it. She could feel his satisfaction in the low hum that vibrated his chest. “You’re right, Cassidy,” he allowed. “To end their life would be to confirm an importance they simply do not carry. They know what they’re worth to you now.” Addressing Metzli, he nodded. “Run along, then. Know that if you return, I won’t be so kind. You may not be worth killing to my daughter, but I’m tired of being disturbed.” 

Cass swallowed, looking at the ground beneath her feet. She hoped Metzli would listen, even if they hated her for it.

—

“Do not lie.” They responded quickly, adamantly. “Not lying about love. Never about love. That is being coward. I have…learned a lot.” Metzli emphasized the last part, hoping Cass would catch on to what they meant. Lying was an awful thing, but they’d utilize the tactic for Cass because they loved her. There was nothing they wouldn’t do for her. 

Even lie.

Taking a few more steps back, the vampire sniffled, and couldn’t help themself as they reached the mouth of the cave. There was no world in which Makaio was a good father, nor was there one in which he had tricked Cass into thinking he was right in that situation. He had hurt her, even if Cass hadn’t really seen it yet. So, they opted to hurt him one last time, letting Cass know they were still themself. “That is…interesting.” Metzli growled at Makaio, repressing a smile to keep what little peace there was in the air. If one could call it that. Not that that mattered. “I am threat to you. Have worth to you.” 

Metzli’s focused returned to Cass, a renewed sense of awareness washing over them as pain and betrayal washed over her. She still wasn’t sure if they would lie for her, likely thinking Metzli would think differently of her for using it then. 

Without hesitation, as they took a final step out of the cave, they recalled a memory. “Remember when you trick me and I bring you all those hotdogs? You requested many. I…” A tear creeped down their cheek, and they smiled softly. “I will never forget that memory.”

“Everyone lies, Cassidy,” Makaio hummed, and Cass knew he was right. Maybe Metzli wasn’t lying on purpose — not everyone did — but didn’t history prove that they wouldn’t stick around forever? The way they hated themself would outweigh everything else someday, just as it had a year ago when they locked themself away. Or maybe Metzli was telling the truth. Maybe they did love Cass.

But maybe it just wasn’t enough.

She wanted them to stay; she’d wanted everyone who had come to speak to her to stay, even when she was the one telling them all to leave. She wanted Ariadne to come over and watch movies, wanted to read comics with Van, wanted to talk to Nora and cry with Leila. She missed them all in a way that ached, but… Makaio’s hand gripped her shoulder still. Wasn’t family the be-all and end-all of everything? Wasn’t it what you could count on the most? Your parents loved you more than anyone; that was what all the movies said. 

But was Metzli family, too?

The two ideas were at war in the oread’s head. On one hand was her father, who swore to her that no one but him could ever love her as she was. On the other were her friends, who had loved her before he came along. She didn’t think she could have both, no matter how much she wanted it. Maybe she had to make a definitive choice, one way or another. She didn’t think she was ready for it. 

Makaio’s grip tightened as Metzli addressed him, beyond the point of bruising now. It hurt, but Cass knew better than to make a sound. She took a breath and held it in her lungs, waiting for the grip to loosen up. “You are no more a threat than a fly swatted for causing persistent irritation,” he replied. “And you have no more worth than one.” 

Cass bit her tongue. She wanted to tell Metzli to stop, to just… accept their safety and go. She didn’t want to break their heart to save them just for them to anger her father and end up as dust, anyway. But she could offer no warning without exposing her dishonesty, and if she did that, Makaio would hate her, too. Despite everything, she couldn’t risk that.

Metzli turned to her, reminiscing about… hot dogs? The furrow of Cass’s brow was hidden to Makaio, her back still to him. Hadn’t it been sandwiches she’d demanded Metzli bring to her a year ago, when she bound them into friendship? Her eyes darted up to meet theirs, a question she didn’t dare ask hanging in the irises. A code, maybe? Hadn’t they watched a few silly spy movies with moments like this? She was supposed to play along.

“Did you really think the hot dogs meant anything to me?” She kept her voice cold, hoping that the fact that she was playing along would tell Metzli more than her tone. “I was hungry. How could I resist making you feed me after you were stupid enough to get bound?” A question isn’t a lie. Please. She hoped they’d understand. 

—

Metzli rolled their eyes at Makaio, no longer interested in his empty words. What he said meant nothing, in the end. Cass was who Metzli needed to focus on, and they did, happy to see the grip on her shoulder loosen when they kept their mouth shut. They would chide at themself later for putting her in more danger. 

For the time being, it looked like Cass had caught on to what they were doing. 

They nodded with a slight bounce of their brows, still keeping the slight ache in their expression. Their nose was surely red at that point, but it didn’t feel so fruitless to have visited anymore. “I am glad I was stupid.” Metzli wiped their tears and turned to head home, saying one last thing. “Knowing you is a gift. I will be happy to be stupid again as many times as possible if I can.”

Metzli turned away, and Cass ached more than she should have. They were glad they were stupid, they said; she wanted to tell them that they weren’t, wanted to argue with her own words, but she knew she couldn’t. Metzli understood; she had to believe that Metzli understood. 

She watched as they walked away, and the grip on their shoulder loosened just a little. She schooled her expression, made herself look neutral and uncaring; it wasn’t as hard as it should have been. After all, she was still made of stone. “Hopefully this will be the end of it,” her father said, sounding irritated. 

“If it’s not…” Cass paused. “I don’t like this town very much, anyway. We can just go somewhere else. Alaska has a lot of active volcanoes. I think… I’d like to start over there.” 

Makaio hummed in acknowledgement. She knew he liked the idea; it didn’t fill her with the same joy it might have weeks ago, but that was okay. If she left with him, she could keep her father… and her friends would be safe.

Maybe that was the closest thing to the best of both worlds that she could have.

“Come,” he said, giving her shoulder one last squeeze. “It’s time for dinner.”

Casting one last mournful look at Metzli’s retreating figure, Cass turned to follow Makaio back into the cave.

[kadavernagh]

@muertarte replied to your post “[pm] I still want to kill J have a gift for you. A...”:

[pm] Leila can deliver them. Have thoughts that they will be good for you to have while you are resting.

​[pm] It will be easiest if Jade can come pick them up from somewhere. Leila's store?

[pollen-warden]

[pm] Are you gay?

[pm] Do I know you ?

[banisheed]

@muertarte replied to your post “[pm] I miss you”:

[pm] You are here but I have not seen you. So I miss you. Your breasts are very large but I prefer butts. Leila has a nice butt.

​[pm] I miss I miss I can't be seen. I can't have friends. I can't

I don't want to hear you talk about her average, undead butt. Which is average. Though I understand you are sentimentally drawn to it. [...] How is she? How are y