Monique
Nothing made her more fearful than that horrid thing Dr B had called "Home". That god awful place he'd always put her in after she would get captured from running away or disobeying orders. It was always meant to be a form of punishment to force her to, to force her to comply. Yet, it always pushed her further and farther away. And every time she'd get caught, she’d be back into that horrible place.
See, the design of it was simple. A little black box big enough to fit a singular person and left room for more. Well, more is up to the imagination as simple as it seemed, to her, it was a torturous nightmare. No windows, no walls. She would be thrusted into the middle, shackled down by some unknown force. She had tried so hard to escape but the prison seemed endless. Eventually, she would forget the feelings of objects, the sights of how trees would look under the sunlight. How pristine the water shone under the moonlight. As if they blocked all but one of her senses, driving her mad. Then, the voices. Oh, how the voices bled into her skull. Constantly reminding her of her failures, of the lives she took, of how unwanted she is, of how everyone at any given moment would give her away. That her true home was here. With them. That no one would ever love her more than them. That no matter what she did, she would always be found, she would always come home.These words would sear her so harshly that her trust in people dwindled severely. Even when she ran away, she knew better than to trust those around. She knew she would always be caught and tossed aside. That even when the slightest hint of darkness sent her down this swirling madness.
It begs to question, why did she trust a group of strangers, no less a boy, to guarantee safety?
Lee
He had found himself paying for the damages done and was left utterly confused. What went wrong? Everything was going great. She was opening up. He was comfortable sharing. He knew these were hard subjects, yet they began to share so much of their pain together. A bond was forging. So, what happened? His smartphone rang. He checked to see who and found it was Khan. He scoffed & answered.
Lee: I don't have time for –
Khan: You with Monique?
Lee: Y-yeah totally. We're out at Barkamsted getting dinner.
Khan: Did you mention to her about how the town goes dark for an hour?
Lee: Y-yeah, I was getting to that…
Khan: UH-HUH.
Lee. Dude, in the middle of something can I call you back?
Khan: That something have to do with 9 reports of a girl with red hair, pitch black eyes apologizing and screaming in the Forever Forest out 20 miles east of the town??
Lee: Fuck. Wait…you’re not even in the Dragon’s Nest or even a Corp’s member how do you even know?
Khan: Lilith’s with me and the news is going crazy. Might wanna figure out what that’s all about. Real fast too before the Fairy Court’s get involved.
He hung up the phone and raced over. He cut through some farmlands owned by Centaurs who are known to take issue with those kind of hijinks. Lee had to calmly explain that a friend of his is having difficulty adjusting and maybe endangering herself at the edge of the forest. He was lucky to have an arrangement that offered him a faster, transport onto the destination. Albeit an awkward transportation. One that Lee would rather not relive. As they had arrived at the scene, fairies gathered to calm a frightened Monique. Trees were knocked out of their roots. The forest creatures scurried for safety as Monique terraformed the land all around her. Nell, the representative of the forest fairy court sped up to Lee.
Nell: Whats going on??
Lee: I-I don't know. She was fine literally 30 minutes ago.
Nell: Well do you know anything that'd trigger her? Anything at all?
Lee: The lights went out in the nearby town but I wouldn't think it be that bad?
The centaur that got Lee to his destination-grabbed his attention & pointed to an ominous figure tearing into the world,
Lee: Oh shit.
Nell: This is bad, if that thing grabs her who knows where it’ll take her. On top of that it would leave a literal hole in our skies.
Many fairies attempted to sew up the tear only to be met with another one appearing. It was getting closer & closer, inching, its way towards her. Lee knew deep down that it was them. Those kids from the resort were coming for her. But how? How did they know? The thoughts quelled themselves as he had no time to ask.
Lee: Monique…
He shouted to her as he desperately lunged himself at her.
Nell: Wait don’t!! Idiot!!
In all fairness, many of the fairies attempted to physically grab her however because no one knew-the nature of what was going on, they were never fully able to physically shake her or ever knock her down. Not once did they think that creating a force that needed a reaction would ultimately do the trick. And if your loss in this one as much as they are remember:
1. An object at rest stays at rest unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force
2. Acceleration of an object is directly related to the net force & inversely related to mass
And most importantly,
* Every action has an equal & opposite reaction.
Thus, some of these fairies are in dire need of an education in the basics of physics. Lee had successfully managed to create an opposing force causing the immediate removal of Monique from a risky situation. He wrapped his arms around a panicked Monique.
Lee: Like hell am I letting you go that easily!
His voice had soon echoed throughout her head, piercing through a place that once was isolated had now been interrupted by a bellowing voice. Although pieces of the black box shattered, she never felt truly free from the place. As soon as he landed, he took a look at her and to his horror, he'd seen her eyes were as black as night.
Lee: Oy Monique. You alright?
Words echoed yet her only response were mumbled apologies and begging to never go back.
Monique: Please, don't take me go back. I’m sorry.
Lee: Hey, its okay. We can put the land back. We can fix the area. You’re not going anywhere. You’re okay. You're safe.
Monique: I’m sorry.
Lee: You've got nothing to be sorry about
Monique
In all the years she spent punished in that terrible place, she had never once felt the presence of another being let alone multiple hands reaching out to her as well as an embrace…all of which gave her such a jarring sensation that whatever punishment that was supposed to originally work steadily stopped. She suddenly found herself in Lee's arms, surrounded by many flying tiny creatures she had never seen before. What was once devastatingly atrocious turned to undoubtingly embarrassing.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Lee: You alright?
She nodded. A creature calling herself Nell had quickly separated her from Lee embrace.
Nell: Ma’am before I start asking you a billion questions, may I ask if you are okay?
Was it a sprite? A fairy? Many new and strange things are coming out of the woodworks in which Monique was not quite sure how to handle. She stared at the creature in bewilderment. It had brown curly Q hair and chocolate skin with dotted white markingz all around. Why is that so familiar? Why do I feel like I know who this is?
Nell: Ma’am??
Lee: Maybe now is not the best time, Nell, she just experienced a catastrophe of emotions right now.
Nell: You do realize, if you know you ever finished your stupid academy training, that that was a demonic curse. An ancient one at a best.
Lee: I knew that. I’m pretty sure I told her some tid bits about it.
Monique: A…ancient…curse?
Nell: Sigh, yeah. But I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t know it kid. Look…
Nell handed Monique a card with it’s signature on it.
Nell: Take this to the dunderheads at the academy, get yourself signed up and come back tomorrow. Or whenever you’re feeling better. Lee here cleans up the mess, we’re going to see about taking that dinosaur of a curse off of ya.
Nell flew off, directing the rest of the fairies to follow in it’s direction as well as letting the centaur that came over what went down. The fairies continued to patch up the hole that was left behind and do some clean up. The terraforming of the lands slowly returned to its place. Surreal as it seemed, perhaps it was best that she remained in a secluded area where no damage could be done.
Lee: You alright?
Monique: H-how much damage did I cause?
Lee: I dont really think that's important-
Monique: Yes, it is important.
Lee: Look, its nothing more than a day's worth of work. Besides, I think there’s a more pressing issue. Like what happened back there? What was going on with your eyes? They were pitch black. Like so pitch black I was worried you weren’t going to be able to see for a while.
Her eyes widened in horror. Is that what she always look like that when she was punished in that place? Was it just simply an illusion? Or was it just as Nell said, an ancient curse?
Lee: Monique?
Monique: Punishment.
Lee: Punishment? What do you mean?
Monique: Punishment for leaving. I- I didn't think it'd extend so far. I didn't think He’d still had a grasp on me.
Lee: He? You mean your dad? I mean that guy who calls himself your dad?
She nodded.
Lee: Is that why I saw someone trying to reach out and take you away?
Her eyes widened. She absolutely had no idea how far His reach could be.
Monique: I-I had no idea. I-I-I’m so sorry.
Lee: There's no reason to be sorry. You didn't know.
How could she?
Lee: Was it the darkness? Like the fact that the whole city powered out?
She nodded.
Lee: Sorry, probably shoulda told you about that.
Monique: You wouldn't have known.
Lee
He took a hold of her hand, as of trying to tell her how it's going to be okay.
Lee: We'll figure out how to manage from here on out.
Monique: What if we can't? What if I'm just doomed to go back there?
Lee: You aren't. You’re doomed to living with me and my demon problems and doomed to trying to figure out what you wanna do from here on out. And you’re also doomed with having to live with 6 other folks.
Monique: But what if he does capture me? What if he succeeds in taking me away?
He gave her the communication device Lilith had given him prior.
Monique: What’s this?
Lee: This is sometimes called Yuni. Other times, we call it a smartphone. It has neat features like tracking and semi cloaking technology.
Monique: Meaning?
Lee: Meaning if he tries and actually succeeds then I’ll be there. To come get you. And to kick his ass. Hopefully before Alexis does.
She pulled away.
Monique: How? How can I trust you with that? How do I know you aren't going to just abandon me? Like everyone else does?
Lee: Ye have little faith in me
Her eyes pierced into his soul. Felt as if he were being strangled by her.
Lee: Bad jokes aside, you’re just going to have to trust me.
She squinted at him.
Lee: Look, you’ve gotten to know me way more than most people ever had. I don’t even think Karin’s seen that thing inside of me. We shared a mind moment. And even though I’ve just met you, you’re literally the only one I can actually feel comfortable enough to talk about that stuff.
Monique: And not get mad?
Lee: It’ll be hard for me but it’s on the “Stuff we’re going to figure out” list so, can you have a little trust in me?
Monique
She sighed and reluctantly agreed. She had found that the walls she had built up so high slowly started to come tumbling down. And perhaps it did not help, for soon she had felt an emotion she had once locked away… Something once sullied began to purify. She found herself faced with distant yet familiar feelings. As they ventured back to Barkamsted, she gazed up at the zillions of stars that guided their way. This would mark her first day being at Eiridelium yet to her it felt like it had been forever ago since she had last seen these skies. Memories that once melted away on the crevices of her mind started shaping and forming themselves. Yet, they were all shuffled. Out of place. A distinct feeling now taking comfort in her soul.
I’m home she softly hummed. I’m home.
***
: She’s back there again, isn’t she?
A dark figure crept up behind Dr. B who was staring faintly at the skies above. He pushed up his rectangular glasses, chuckling.
Dr. B: At a place I can no longer reach.
He turned to face Ezekiel, who was shuddering in anticipation of what his father would do to him considering he not only lost site of Monique but is currently in a position where he does not have power over her.
Dr. B: Seems we must try our best to get there by other means. Are her friends still hot on our trail?
Ezekiel: Yes, father. Angelica and Dominique are currently pursuing them.
Dr. B: Excellent. Make sure one of them is marked. I do wish to see how home has been without me.