5/12/54
DEIMOS DUST
Fuck. It hurts. Bad.
The dorm. It’s there. Just…
…
WAKE UP! Roaring, I dragged my leg along, delirium hanging over me like a cloak. Almost there… Why’s the keycard all red?
Oh yeah, blood soaked pants. Right.
…
Why am I here again… hard… to think.
*Blip*
*Crash*
“What the fuck?” A voice yelled, “Wait… Deimos!?”
That… voice… Alexander?
“Deimos, w-what happened!? Are you okay- what am I asking, of course you’re not!”
Alexander, wait… something wanna say…
“Shit, Deimos, keep your eyes open! Deimos? DEIMOS!!”
I…
‘M sorry.
ALEXANDER GALDUR
“ANNA! FUCK, OPEN UP!”
Fuck, fuck, motherfucker! Are people supposed to be this cold!? They aren’t supposed to be this bloody!
God, I feel sick. I- I’m hyperventilating. Stop. Stop! I need to be there for Deimos, STOP!
“What! What is it?” She yelled, anger drawn across her face, at least until her eyes landed upon Deimos and I.
“Help.” I say weakly, voice cracking and tears cutting paths through the blood I got on my face from the occasional fountain from Deimos.
Her face quickly grew stone cold, “Bring him in. On the couch. Do you know his injuries.?”
“I- uh, fuck, no. His leg’s messed up and he’s really cold and will he be okay?” I puff out in a breath, subconsciously thankful I’ve been exercising as I pulled the tall boy through the door.
“Maybe. Okay, back away, please.”
Silently, I skulk into a corner of the room, shaking while watching her work, magical flames being summoned into the air. She sped into the bathroom and came back with a first aid kit, and while working, she said, “Go get help, the DME should have doctors onsite twenty-four seven.”
Nodding, I sprinted through the building, light filling every inch of my being as I scrambled to get to the DME’s doctors. I rushed past the security guards who hadn’t been able to follow my lighting-fast form. I pushed myself a little further, until I slammed through the door leading to Deimos’s help.
“Room three hundred and eighty-six of the dorm! We need help!”
Before I could hear their response, a cloud of something fired into my face with another power to send me off my feet. I hit the ground, eyes burning and air toxic as I struggled for breath. Must’ve been the security guards. Still, past all that, I heard hurried footsteps rushing away from me, and I knew I did what was needed.
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Why do knees bounce? When you’re just kind of just sitting there, nerves out of your mind, and suddenly your leg just starts jumping up and down. Even if you stop it, you can feel how much it wants to bounce. At least it was giving me a way to take my mind off of Deimos.
After having Anna vouch for my innocence and how it was an emergency, I was released from the DME’s holding, and now, in the lobby of the DME’s medical wing, I sit there, unable to do anything more for my friend.
Looking around, there were other people in the lobby who looked just as nervous. After asking around, I learned that this was the result of a strike on the Zoo, and it was, in actuality, an ambush that resulted from faulty info and internal converts to the Zoo’s cause of “returning animals to their rightful place above humans.”
“Lucas Greymore?”
Looking up from my brooding, I saw a nurse-looking person asking for me. Standing up and subconsciously activating my light magic, I blitzed right in front of her.
“Yes? Is this about Deimos Dust?”
She startled at my appearance before frowning, “Sir, we have a no-magic policy here.”
“Oh, right. Um, I-I’m sorry.” I apologized, sheepishly.
Glancing at her through my embarrassment, her expression softened, “Don’t let it happen again. Your friend, Deimos Dust, right?" I nodded and she continued, "has woken up and is asking for you. He’s still a little out of it, though. Still, you should come in, the patient might be put at ease.”
I gave a curt nod, silent, like all the energy that normally went to social interactions and speech was suddenly sapped away. I followed her anxiously, eyes flicking around the hallway we walked through. We stopped in front of room one-H two twenty-four and stepped in. For a moment, all I could see was Deimos, a cast running the entirety of his left leg along with another one that swallowed his right arm. Bandages wrapped him up, and his almond skin was bruised all over.
His not-swollen eye lazily wandered to look into my own, and the rest of the world came back into view. Shakily stepping closer, with trembling hands, I gently took his uninjured hand and gave it a small squeeze. Leaning into it, I said, voice quivering, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry about us and the argument we had, and I'm sorry about using m-”
His hand squeezed back, and he rasped, “Stop.”
Looking up at him in surprise, I realized this was him keeping me from letting my secret slip. He weakly smiled, eyes bittersweet, the swirling mist within dampening ever slightly, “I’m sorry too. I should have said it sooner. I overreacted.”
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“You were just trying to protect others! I-I should’ve been more careful! If I was, then we wouldn’t have had to fight.” I nearly sobbed.
He just kept up that smile of his, “Maybe. But if I had been more aware of your feelings, and if I hadn’t fallen asleep, then none of this would have happened. So, Al-” He cut himself off, “Lucas, for what it’s worth, I am sorry, and I forgive you.”
A single tear breached my eye, and collapsed onto Deimos’s warm hand, but then raising my head to look him in the eye, I replied, “I forgive you, and I’m also so sorry.”
Something deep in his eyes flashed momentarily, a gleam of teal tinting the entirety of both of his eyes, and despite being unable to see my face, I knew something similar was happening to myself. In the deepest pits of my mind, somewhere I was beginning to grow more and more familiar with, my magic sparked a little. A small thing, infinitely small but infinitely important.
The glow coming from him began to die off as his eyes slowly fell shut, and suddenly, he was asleep, hand still gripping mine tightly.
5/15/54
After a while, I was asked to leave, and over the course of the next day, I mostly stayed home, only leaving to visit Deimos. We had been awkward at first, still shaky about everything, but another day passed, and things were finally back to normal. Today, I decided I needed to get out of the house, so after checking in on Deimos in the morning and training, still with no Elizabeth in sight, I went to find a mission. I went straight to the bounty terminals and began searching.
Scrolling, I saw one that had the objective of finding and bringing in an ARO member, but it was rated at two stars. Ignoring it, I instead found one that ordered the tracking down of a runaway. The system took a moment to verify my request to take the bounty, and I was off.
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I spent the day looking for the kid, but I realized my method of searching for someone was probably the equivalent of the worried parents that put up the bounty. I was eventually forced to relinquish the bounty. I didn’t have the skills necessary, and by giving up, I could at least give someone else with more skill the chance to do better.
Yep, totally the responsible thing to do, and I don’t feel bad at failing it. Nope. Not me!
Sighing at the failure, I boxed that up, threw it in the corner of my mind designated for repressing memories, and said hello to Deimos.
He greeted me back, and I unloaded my day to him, quickly revealing I couldn’t repress memories on command like I wished.
“Now you know.” He said, reassuringly, “Tracking and information gathering isn’t your skill, but you’re good at other things. Don’t forget about them.”
I smiled at the wisdom of the older boy. How could someone only one year older than myself somehow have so much more knowledge? It baffled me, but it just fell in line with the idea of Deimos Dust: reliable, tall, serious, and tall.
Hearing a sudden knocking at the door, we both looked over inquisitively, and Deimos called out, “Come in.”
The door swung open on oiled hinges and Anna and Max walked and slinked into the room, respectively, The door closed with a click, and Anna said, “Hey Deimos. Lucas, didn’t realize you’d be here.”
“I thought I’d keep my friend some company.” I smiled then turned to Max, “Hey Max, how’re you?”
He coyly smiled back, “I’m okay, thanks. H-Hi Deimos.”
Deimos nodded at Max and Anna picked up the conversation before it could perish, “We decided to just come give you so company, but seeing as Lucas here already has that covered, we’ll just drop off this little gift basket.”
Max proceeded to pull out a store-bought gift basket from an Infi-Hold™ storage bag, but when they both turned around to leave, Deimos stopped them, “Wait, don’t leave yet. Why not stay with Lucas and I?”
They turned around, shared a look and nodded, leading into Anna giving off a brilliant smile, “Sure, we’d love to.”
They nabbed some chairs from the other rooms, and we all enjoyed discussing what-not with each other.
“Hey, that’s not exactly how it went…” I attempted to weakly defend myself and trailed off at the deadpan from Anna and, surprisingly, Max too.
She gave off a playful scowl, “Yes it is! You were chasing after that guy, tripped over nothing and tackled some random dude’s kid!”
They all chuckled over my misfortune, but I fought against this betrayal, “I’m telling you! The guy had wind magic, and I swear he tripped me with it.”
Anna smirked and teased, “Oh no. The big bad bounty hunter tripped over the air! Terrifying.”
Then, to my absolute delight, Deimos defended me!
“Hey now, I’m sure it wasn’t Lucas’s fault. You know how difficult it is to run in a straight line.”
Did I say defense? Sorry, I meant fuck him.
Grumbling about “revenge” and how “they’ll all pay, I swear it” only made them laugh harder.
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Sitting in the living room and watching TV after my visit with Deimos, a single knock rang from the door and a note of paper was slid beneath the door. Curious, I got up and picked it up. Huh, it was addressed to me.
Opening it, I read through it.
“Dear Lucas Greymore,
As stated by the contract you have signed, the Department of Magical Enforcement has ordered the halting of all other bounties. You will be placed under the temporary command of Captain DuBauer, from now till any future notice. You will be reimbursed for any labor provided, with deductions made accordingly based on performance, success, and statements made within the contract. You will report at 8:00 Am at room 2T164 for a meeting with your commanding officer.
With appreciation,
The Department of Magical Enforcement human resources, Anaum Aydin”
Reading it once, a well of concern filled me, and it only increased the next day.
5/16/54
Cautiously, I walked through the halls of the DME, attempting to find my way to room two-T one sixty-four. Checking a clock on my way through the T section, I noticed it was almost eight, and slowly, the stress of being late had started eating away at my consciousness. The fact that the suspicious looks I was getting for wearing casual clothes and my ratty cloak only made everything worse.
You don’t belong. You never wi-
Shut it!
Keeping my head fixed down, my eyes bounced back and forth between the blue-silver metal plates that read out each room.
“Two-T one sixty-one, two-T one sixty-two, two-T one sixty-three, and… There!” I muttered to myself.
The door opened smoothly and I slipped into the room. In a grid of chairs, only some of them were filled with battle-hardened and grizzled bounty hunters. Standing at the far left of the room, the direction all the chairs were facing, stood someone with the DME rankers jacket casually draped over them, and the rest of the outfit was replaced with a baggy white and blue striped t-shirt, black shorts, and combat boots, with the shirt tucked loosely into her shorts.
She was around my height and looked rather young, the only thing hinting at her being my senior by quite a few years were the creases and wrinkles around her eyes. She had a grim face, scowling heavily, and was most likely an alcoholic. Not the normal conclusion to make from a person’s appearance, but the sudden swig of… Baileys? Some clearly alcoholic drink labeled "Baileys" that sloshed around in its bottle when she finished her alarmingly-large gulp.
Her black hair was cut pretty short, her bangs similarly so, and whether it was from magic or age I wasn’t sure, but white streaks cut through here and there. A pair of large headphones made me unsure if she would’ve even noticed my entry, but her sudden glare in my direction certainly fixed that question. Her irises were odd, they were split into two parts, an outer and inner core. The inner parts were a light gray while the outer parts were darker, and with every microscopic sway of her figure, her irises contracted and expanded like speakers
I jerked out a small wave and found my way to a seat. We all waited there, and when the clock finally struck eight, she moved into action.
“M’kay, s-sho you all were called ‘ere, rrright?” She slurred, her pupils slightly dilated, pushing against her irises, “The reason you were c-called here, was because of the zoo. You know, the ones with the a-ani-a-anuh-anuhmils. Yeah, ‘dthose unss…”
She drifted off, eyes suddenly heavy. Then, the fan that was setup next to her screeched, old metal on even older metal, and she winced, flinching at the small sound. After a second, she composed herself as much as possible, and continued, “So, under the employment of ME,” she yelled out the latter half, pointing at herself with a thumb, “Captain DuBauer, we’ll be attacking one of their now-known smuggling spots. Now get out! I w-whanna finish dis *hiccup* bottle before eight thirty!”
And we were all unceremoniously blasted out of the room by a sudden surge of sound.