Heartworm

“Oh. I just meant sister like… girl power, or something, y’know? Unless you wanted me to mean sister like family which would be cool! But we don’t have to, I mean it’s really up to you honestly!”

Phern appeared upside down from my current perspective flat on my back, looking up at the woman. I watched her fumble over her words while she fumbled around with her hands. I was personally trying my best to piece together the pieces in my own mind to figure out what I really felt about the whole thing. The word had just sort of slipped out of her mouth into the stale air of the prison to hang there.

I never had siblings. I suppose it had never really bothered me much before, my parents were plenty enough family for me. I had never felt like there was a hole to fill until my family had been taken away. Now, the idea of any sort of family whatsoever was almost alien. If I wasn’t counting the monster who called itself Ffenton, which I wasn’t, I had been without family longer than I had been with. Would I even know how to be a sister?

Why was I even considering this?! Less than 24 hours ago this woman had stolen my loaf of bread! But she had also given me enough money to not become homeless in a few days. She had also thrown herself in harm’s way when she tried to help me with my hunt. Then again, she’d raced through the sewers after me just to save my life. I hadn’t been shown kindness like that since I was given a home at the estate, and even that had been a trick.

“Why do you even care to stick around me? If you wanted to rob me, I’d rather you just do it now and leave. I don’t want a bandit hovering around me.”

“Why would I steal from you?! It’s not like I have any other friends, I wouldn’t want to ruin this.”

“Friends?”

“You saved my life. Doesn’t that qualify?”

“Is there a set of rules for that?”

“I don’t know! I just told you that you’re my only friend! How would I know?”

“You just said saving someone’s life qualifies!”

“I’m assuming so! Doesn’t that make sense?”

Phern had climbed down from the gap of the broken wall, taking careful steps on unsteady bricks. With how fragile the wall of the sewer had been to lead here, it was definitely better to air on the safer side while getting down. I was still unmoving on the dusty floor of the cell. With the adrenaline of the fight draining out of my system, I was becoming acutely aware of the throbbing pain across my back from being thrown into not one, not two, but three different surfaces during the course of my hunt. Even though it hurt like a bitch right now, I knew it’d only be worse in the morning.

“You never answered. Why do you wanna stick around me?” I questioned.

“…I don’t got anything else. Today’s been the most fun I’ve had in years. I wanna join ya.” She smiled at me as she walked around to offer a hand for me to pick myself up with.

“You almost died. That’s fun to you?”

“No. You’re fun. Ivealsoalwayswantedasister.”

I felt like I’d be signing up for a lot more than I could ever imagine by saying yes. But the idea of spending years hunting Deathless alone only to potentially die without anyone to remember me filled me with a kind of crushing weight. I didn’t want to be alone. I didn’t want to disappear when I died. Perhaps having a weird, bread thieving sister wouldn’t be so bad. I clasped my hand around hers to help me pull myself off of the floor.

“Sister, then.”

* * * * *

I’d be damned if I let Phern die in that decrepit prison. I had already managed to slink back into the sewers, using one of my Dahlia’s as a whip to allow me to quickly descend the outside of the prison. Now came the monotonous part of my journey. Running through the underground sewers to avoid foot traffic. I doubted that Lucas would be full on sprinting through the streets towards the prison, which gave me some glimmer of hope that I would be able to make it there before he showed up.

I thought to Sebil as I ran. I didn’t catch a glimpse of him anywhere near the prison, and if Lucas had really turned tail on us, it didn’t spell well for the inventor? Maybe if Lucas had some semblance of sympathy, he would have restrained Sebil inside of our inn while he searched for Bandit. Without the magical restraints on Lucas, there was no telling what sort of magic he could have utilized to subdue Sebil.

I’d worry about that later. There was no point in worrying about something that I wouldn’t have time to solve. Once I got Bandit and Phern free, we could go on yet another hunt for our electricity infused half-metal man. I would certainly get my steps in today, running through the sewers like I was setting a new personal record for my runs.

* * * * *

“Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The Council will be here soon, beast.” Markus spoke slowly and confidently, in a way that was obviously supposed to be a mixture of gloating and intimidation. The only frightening thing about him to me was the lengths at which he seemed to avoid bathing. I silently wondered if he would melt away into a writhing little monster if you dipped him into a soapy body of water.

The fact that the Council would ‘be here soon’ was concerning. Phern and I had been operating completely in the dark when it came to their specific arrival time, but ‘soon’ was just about the worst update we could get aside from ‘oh yeah they’re here now’. Did we even have the time to get out of here? There was no telling how long Markus would spend with us rubbing in just how hopeless it all felt. The time that we had between him leaving and the Council arriving might be uncomfortably short. I could only hope that Phern would be able to make her alchemical fire- or lava in a short time.

“Nothing to say? I thought dogs were good at begging.” Markus laughed in a hearty sort of chuckle. In the same exact fashion as the previous night, he had two guards flanking him that remained outside of the cell while he entered. I saw Phern push herself back into the corner of the cell once more. Thankfully, he seemed incredibly focused on me. That was all I needed. I suppose it was time to start taunting him. Never thought I’d be hoping to be tortured vigorously enough for a weapon to break apart in my skin, but hey, first time for everything. At least I wasn’t having to behead myself like Lilith had mentioned doing.

“Sorry, I’m trying to inhale any of your musk. Speaking makes that hard.”

Markus wasted not time at all bringing the crudely improved baton down across my face. Gods that hurt. I needed to keep going. If I couldn’t get enough pieces of his weapon for Phern, I’d be stuck in this cell until my inevitable execution. My mind wandered towards how exactly the Council had planned to get rid of me. Deathless weren’t easy to kill, but clearly there were ways to get it done. Cecelia was proof enough of that. I had no doubt that the Council was capable of giving me a final death, but the actual method was a burning question in the back of my mind. My rattled mind, that is. Markus seemed to be focusing on hitting my head a lot more than he had the previous day.

“You think you’re so superior. With your unnatural abhorrent regeneration. I worked to become captain of the guard!” Markus had gotten into the habit of punctuating his statement by swinging the baton into my body, sheared metal cutting into skin that had only just begun regenerating from the previous day. “Years of my life, climbing to the top of that fucking city!” The baton had become lodged between two of my ribs in the most recent swing, something that actually drew an anguished scream from me as part of the metal broke off. “And I lose it all to a fucking animal that stumbled in and ruined everything!”

“I just wanted to leave! I never even wanted to hurt anyone until you drugged my friends and I and stuck a crossbow in my face!” I wasn’t sure why I had decided to speak to him like he could be reasoned with. I had every reason to want him dead. But his anger felt raw and uncensored in a way that made me more sad for the world that had fostered it than the grimy man himself. It was so easy for him to blame everything going wrong in his life on a Deathless that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just as I had been told day after day in my isolation that a demon’s interference in our society could ruin everything. The hatred for demons in the Empire ran further than I had ever considered until I became one. The Empire spun a tale of blacks and whites, where they have everything to gain by painting themselves as the undisputed force for good.

It seems my attempt at defending myself had only angered him more. I wouldn’t even have a chance to goad him any longer at this rate, he was already dead set on gouging my stomach with his lackadaisically constructed baton. My skin already felt raw from the previous day, which made every single swing feel like fire was snaking across my body.

‘It’s time, little morsel. I’ll take it from here.’

For once, the sensation of letting control was nice. It was a release from the onslaught of the captain of the guard. It wouldn’t be a relief from the pain, but it would allow me to retreat into the corner of my mind and ride out the throes of my misery while Lilith kept the unphased and intimidating appearance that would keep him attacking.

I was taking control, not as an act of kindness towards the fledgling, but instead out of necessity. The half elf woman had an inane plan centered around emotional alchemical elements, but it was the only plan that the three of us had to escape. I would not die in this filthy prison. Not at the hands of the Council that I’ve wanted destroyed for centuries.

I’d sooner die to this miserable whining man than the Council of Varenthell.

“Hah! Not speaking anymore, huh? Do you still feel superior, you fucking monster?!”

On second thought, maybe not. Dying to a man with a paper thin ego that could be swept away in a slightly strong gust would be deeply insulting. Dealing with his temper tantrum of torture was a task teeming with aggravation. He had very little skill, absolutely no tact, but it mattered little. When you have a weapon, and a completely restrained individual, even a child could do serious harm with enough time. I’d tortured people enough to know there’s an excellent way to go about savoring the pain while still being efficient with your time. This was anything but efficient. It started to make me question just how much he knew how to fight in the first place.

The only fortunate part of him being so sloppy and untrained in the art of suffering, is that his shoddy weapon was falling apart more and more as he grew angrier. I wasn’t sure just how much that odd short woman needed to make her alchemical fire, but hopefully the shards of metal decorating my skin would be enough.

“SIR! COUNCIL HAS ARRIVED IN THRIEVE!” The voice hadn’t come from the two stationary guards that lingered just outside of our cell. It instead seemed to echo from down the forgotten hallway of this hidden prison. The way that Markus froze plastered a happy smile across my face. He seemed mortified that his victory lap had been cut short, as if he would ever be able to attain the satisfaction that he sought in the first place. I knew what he desired. He wanted to feel like he had truly bested a Deathless, defeated one with his very own hands. This was only a pale imitation of the fantasy he craved.

“Aww. The human doesn’t get to play pretend any longer? Here I thought you’d make me scream.” I twisted my smile into the largest, cockiest grin I could manage. I’m sure it looked more terrifying to Markus than I even knew. I could feel some of the skin along my cheeks flayed and peeled apart. I’m sure it made for a delectably grim taunt.

To my surprise, Markus hadn’t tried to get in one last remark. Unless you could call a wrathful roar a ‘remark’, which I did not. His roar was accompanied by him bringing down the baton onto my head with a vicious strike.

‘MOTHERFUCKER!’

I would not blame the little morsel for her reaction. His final blow was by far his most painful. The only upside I managed to gleam as I twitched and writhed to avoid giving the bastard any satisfaction of reacting was that the baton he had been using was now firmly embedded into the top of my head. As far as ingredients went, that was just about the most we could hope for. A fortunate spin of luck if you could ignore the spiked baton brutally stuck into the top of my head. Markus slammed the cell shut behind him and gave us one last look before turning to leave. I could see his bubbling anger churning amongst the features of his face. But I also saw something else entirely. A glimmer of fear, was he afraid of the Council? It’s possible, those who committed their lives to the Empire would always be some level of anxious to meet the beating heart of the Empire itself. His emotions mattered very little to me. The moment I was out of this cell and not a bleeding pile of gore, I would pluck out his other eye and dine on his misery.

As previously agreed upon with Lilith, she relinquished control back to me once Markus had left with his other guards. If the Council had just arrived, we had practically no time at all to be free from this forgotten jail. Phern, it seemed, had made the same realization that I had. The scattered ingredients that we had collected were already being arranged on the floor of the cell.

“Pebblestink! If the Council is here, we’re as fucked as a Cembil in a funeral service!”

“Phern, focus! How quickly can you make the alchemical fire?”

“I-I uh- I can do it quickly! I just need all of the bits of the baton that you currently have… y’know. In you.”

“Then take them out!!! We don’t have time for you to worry about my pain, just start yanking!”

Phern took my words to heart. I couldn’t really blame her, after all, I had just told her to ignore my pain and pull it all out. That didn’t change the fact that the curly haired half elf was now tugging and pulling at all of the shards that had found their way into muscle and sinews across my body. It was the world’s worst massage, like a masseuse with razor bladed fingers was giving a deep tissue across my entire body. I couldn't help but utter a few cries of pain, much to my dismay. I could see the regretful expression of Phern each time I made my pain obvious, but despite trying to hide it for her sake, a few gasps slipped from my lips.

Soon enough, everything had been ripped from my body and laid onto the ground with the other ingredients. Everything except for the obvious baton that stuck out of my head like a gruesome depiction of a unicorn. It seemed that was the final thing needed for her to start her alchemy. A loud crack resounded through the hallway from the direction that Markus had left towards. Was it the Council? We sure as hell didn’t have the time to figure it out.

Thoughts raced through my head at a rapid pace, putting my usual overthinking to shame, like it was but a child’s attempt at overthinking a problem. If I were to be released from these cuffs, as I was now, I would have far too many injuries to heal instantly. I’d be feral in only a few minutes, leaving me all but a hungry animal in a city with far too many innocents. I shuddered to think what I might do if I went feral on the surface of the city itself, let alone what might happen if it happened while trapped in a cell with Phern. The thought of my guttural hunger leading me to try to eat Phern made me want to cry then and there. It was like I was being put in an impossible situation no matter what decision I made.

Except one. It made the most sense, logistically and strategically at the current moment, but it didn’t make it any more appealing. With our time coming to a close with the imminent arrival of the Council, we didn’t have the luxury of any other options at our disposal.

‘You become less of a coward the longer you live, little morsel.’

“You’re gonna need to kill me, Phern.”

Her eyes widened with concern, her entire body froze as she finished placing the ingredients in the strange order she had been working on. “What? No! I-I’m not just gonna- no! That’s- what?!” I knew that it was a sudden thing to ask of her. It’s not everyday that your demon friend asks you to kill them, but it was today.

“You need to break my restraints for me to heal, but I’ll go feral almost immediately. If you kill me, it gives you about ten minutes to get us somewhere safe.”

“But we’re breaking out together! You just told me a super personal thing about yourself and now you’re asking me to kill you?!”

“I’m not going to risk killing you, Phern! Please! We don’t have much time, just trust me!”

She was looking around the room frantically, as if there would be some sort of mystical solution to our situation that had eluded us up to this very moment. I knew Phern had killed before, but I doubted she had ever had to look a friend in the eyes while she killed one. It wasn’t permanent, sure. But the permanency of my death was clearly not the concerns racing through her mind. The story she had told me of her first meeting with Cecelia illustrated a lonely girl that just wanted a friend. She was so desperate for that kind of connection with others that she had followed around Cecelia for eight years as a Life Hunter. I felt truly cruel to have to ask such a loyal friend to do this, but there simply wasn’t a better option.

“No… no we can just find you some meat! M-Maybe there’s some rats in the other cells? Or- Or maybe if we get to the surface we can grab something from a butcher shop or-”

“We don’t have time, Phern!” I reached out towards Phern with bleeding hands to pull her towards me. “I trust you, okay? Do you trust me? Do you trust your gut?” That seemed to be the right thing to say. What had been frantic worry had instantly melted away into tears. I wasn’t sure how the ever mysterious entity of her ‘gut’ worked, but it seemed to be telling her the same thing that I was at this moment. She pushed herself forwards to close the gap between us. Her arms wrapped around bleeding wounds, but she seemed to pay no mind, instead holding me tight as if I would cease to exist the moment she let go. I couldn’t hug her back with my arms restrained as they were, so I instead opted to whisper comforts into her ear. The moment was sweet. Tender. I would have loved for it to last a while longer, but I knew there was no time to waste.

“It won’t be for long. I’ll be gone for about ten minutes, stump. Make sure I’ve got some kind of food when I wake up, ‘kay?”

“Okay…”

Phern pulled away from me, my own blood stained across her clothes after our heartfelt hug. Between choked sobs, she steadied herself above her alchemical ingredients.

“I’ll try to make it quick, Bandit.”