I needed to find the others.
Despite the hype Cordis was trying to build for himself by threatening me, he wasn’t going to physically attack me himself. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t risk the self-harm to prove a point but if distance was a factor, I was starting to wonder if he would use that to his advantage. With that in mind, I glanced over my shoulder to see the Umbra looking elsewhere.
But then again, one could never be too sure where one was looking if you couldn’t see their eyes.
All too soon did I spot the eyes shift towards me before they closed from the intensity of their sharp-toothed grin while giving my shoulder a squeeze.
“Don’t you want to go home, Animae?” I looked over at Cordis before flinching as the blade tilted my chin upwards. “Don’t you miss our old life? Think about; we had that new movie coming out,” he mused longingly. “All that time wasted, and we didn’t even get to see the final product.” The movie wasn’t his end game. “Don’t you want to go home to Aidan?” There it was. “Don’t you feel bad for making him wait?”
“Once upon a time,” I replied, glancing at the blade, “but now I don’t.”
“That’s heartless.”
“Whose fault is that?”
He lowered the weapon a bit. “Let’s go home to Aidan. We can’t keep him waiting any longer than what we have, Animae.”
“No.”
“Don’t you care?!”
“I do… I did. Now I don’t.” I took a step back, holding up my hands as I stared at the point of the scythe pointed at my face. “What, didn’t I answer your goddamn question?!”
“Not the way I wanted.” I turned my attention to Cordis. “Don’t you want to go home? We can’t keep Aidan waiting.”
I grimaced. “There’s nobody and no body to go back to.” I shook my head slowly before running a hand through my hair. “I swear, it’s like talking to a fucking wall with you, Cordis. Get it through your head that Aidan left us! He got tired of waiting and left! And could blame him?! He waited three years!” I shouted. “You should be happy that he waited that long!” The idea of that made my chest ache. “H-he waited for three… years and then he moved on.”
“Moved on?" I gradually lowered my hands as he removed the blade to turn away. “Moved on…” It was quiet momentarily before he chuckled, “No… he’s just playing around with some person.”
“How do you know?”
“He visited me every chance he got!” he exclaimed before wrapping an arm around himself. “He was so sweet.” I noted the small smile in his voice. “The way he would talk to me when he came by, the way he caressed my cheek, the way his hand would comb through my hair. He loved me. He loves me.”
I held my chest as it ached. “Aidan…”
He then rested the weapon over his shoulder as he ran his hand through his hair, laughing a bit louder. “So, it’s ok if he acquires a plaything or two. That’s ok. We made him wait a long time so it’s ok if he plays around a bit. People can get bored.” His attention was then set on me. “It’s only playing around. I can forgive him for that. He’ll throw them away once we get back.”
My eyes narrowed. “That’s not going to happen. We lost the chance to go back because you broke the minute he said he was leaving.” My chest ached again. “We’re not going back.”
“Well, not with that attitude.”
“You’re soulless, not brainless, Cordis! You know why we can’t go back!”
“Why?” His grip tightened as he lowered his head. “Why? Is it because Runihura said so?”
“It’s n–”
“Do you like him more than Aidan?”
“It’s n–”
“That’s it, isn’t it?!” he shouted as he stomped his foot. “Or is it because that Omega says we can’t go back?”
“That’s n–”
“Why work under someone that won’t even let you go home?! Why work for someone that won’t give two shits if you die?!”
“You don’t know that!”
“Then why work for someone that won’t even allow you judgement?!” I looked down. “Why?! Do you plan on doing this until you get wiped out completely?!”
I tightened my hand at my side. “I trust Runihura to not let that happen. I mean, I made it this far after all and you should’ve seen me in the beginning. As for Omega, he has reasons to do what he does whether I agree or not. I doubt you really get any say when you’re dealing with Death himself, you know?”
He sucked his teeth. “Let’s go home, Animae.”
“No,” I replied, looking up as the hand at my shoulder fell away.
“I wasn’t asking!” Cordis snapped before swinging the scythe at my head. I staggered back, ducking as the blade went over my head. Glaring up at him, I flinched at the crazed look in his eye before looking back over my shoulder to see the Umbra’s head was cleanly cut from its shoulders and on the floor behind me. “We’re. Going. Home.”
Seeing two yellow eyes roll into place before a smile started to work its way back onto the face, I chucked it at Cordis before bolting after I got to my feet.
“Heartless bastard,” Cordis grumbled, kicking the head towards the outstretched arms searching the floor. “Pull yourself together and help me find him!”
If I had one, I was sure I could hear my heartbeat pulsing in my ears. I managed to take refuge in one of the jumbled buildings to catch my breath. The creaking sound of the unstable architecture had me on edge as I looked around to see what looked like a hodgepodge of what once was a movie theater and the mall I had come across earlier before.
Making my way over to the fountain I had seen, I stooped down when I noticed something at the base. Despite the lack of light, I could see that it was a doll. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it resembled that of the latest addition to our party. The idea of someone making such a thing made me laugh a bit as I toyed with the short, brown tresses. Whoever made this even put in the effort to get as much detail as possible.
I glanced behind me as I heard something topple over before looking back at the doll after confirming it was a ceiling tile. When the hairs on my neck suddenly stood on end, I whirled around to have a hand grab my face. It felt like I had just been punched in the gut when I saw that Umbra standing there. Its eyes opened then closed from the intensity of its grin.
“Found you~” it cooed in a watery lilt. “When I let you go, don’t run.”
It talked.
Honestly, I should’ve expected as much but it didn’t hold that grating quality in its voice like the others. I didn’t know if I should’ve found that fact even more unsettling. This was a Level Four Umbra. This was a Level Four Umbra that was working with Cordis. I wanted to bolt the moment it let me go. It advised against it and seeing how it had gotten this close already, I knew I wouldn’t have gotten far.
“S…so, are you going to drag me back to Cordis?”
It tilted its head before one corner of its mouth ticked higher. “Is that what you want?” Its eyes then came into view. “Well?”
I took a step back as it took one forward. “Are you here to eat me?”
“Don’t you think I would’ve done so by now?”
That was a good point. I didn’t know it had gotten right up behind me until it was too late. If it wanted to eat me, it could’ve done so without announcing itself at all.
“If you’re not going to eat me, what do you want?”
“I never said I wasn’t going to eat you. I just won’t do it right now,” it giggled. “But why don’t we start with a thank you. I lost my head because of you.”
“Thank you?” It tilted its head before realization donned on me. “You let me go on purpose?”
It shrugged before grinning. “Cordis does have a bit of a temper. If you think about it, him offing your head would have been a waste of my time,” it uttered as it walked around me. A finger tilting my head up had me shiver before I heard watery laughter in my ear. “When the two of you get back together, your taste is going to be exquisite.” It slowly licked my cheek as if to emphasize their claim. “I’m patient enough so I suggest trying to stay alive until then.”
“I don’t have any intentions on reuniting with Cordis.”
A hand simply patted the side of my face before I tilted my head to see that sharp-toothed grin. “I don’t think he’s going to give you any say on the matter,” it replied before it started walking away. “He’s not going to let you go and I’m not going to miss the opportunity to get a good meal. Take care, Animae.”
Cordis wasn’t going to give up. He wasn’t going to let me go. He was going to kill anyone and everyone who got in his way.
I frowned at the idea of that before looking at the Magpie doll.
“How am I going to get you all home?” I murmured as I made my way back outside. I was then met with a large pillar with markings running up the length. “Huh?”
I walked around it, running my hand along the surface before kneeling when I noticed another doll. It had brown hair just like the Magpie doll but this one had a cute little dress as well. I didn’t recall anyone in a dress but the mark on her cheek then brought everything together.
It was Nu, our healer.
She needed to go home.
Everyone needed to go home.
Looking between the two dolls, I sighed before hearing a loud crash in the distance. Peering around the pillar as the ground shifted, I was expecting to see Senshi destroying a group of low-tiered Umbras up the street. What I saw was a plume of dust from a collapsing building. As a second building collapsed, sending up another plume, I was really hoping to see that little spitfire causing the collateral damage.
“S…Senshi?” I called as a third building went down.
A crack racing up the center of the street told me otherwise before seeing Cordis coming out of the dust with the scythe over his shoulder.
“And here I thought you were going to make me level an entire block just to find you, Animae,” he mused as he started to smile. “Good to see you finally grow a pair.”
I sucked my teeth, taking a step back as the Umbra poked its head from the side of the pillar. “You…” It just flashed its signature smile before its yellow eyes shifted towards Cordis. “You’re not going to give up, are you?” I asked.
Cordis just held out his hand. “Let’s go home.” I looked down at the dolls in my hands. “Let’s go home.”
“No!” I snapped before turning on my heels.
A smile started to tick in the corner of the Umbra’s mouth. “Shall I…?” it questioned as its companion walk past, swinging the scythe in the process. “Cordis?”
“Find him.”
Gold eyes shifted towards the column to see a faint line appear up the middle prior to the pillar splitting cleanly down the center. “Is that all?”
“Find him.” Green eyes transitioned to gold then back again as the grip on the scythe tightened. “Don’t let him escape!”
ns 15.158.61.23da2
