Paisley clawed at a hard surface beneath her, sputtering as she choked on the air. Somehow she managed to move onto her side, body writhing in pain. She forced her eyes open and expected the worst. But her apartment was long gone and with it so were the misty hazes that hung hauntingly in her memories.
While she looked around she was met with an almost blinding shade of white. And a coldness that didn't fit the summer heat that was currently hitting Kentucky. Hospital? She groaned. Her thoughts sounded like a jackhammer pounding against her skull. She couldn't fathom another explanation though. Someone must have heard the screams and called for help.
"Ah. Welcome to the land of the living, Miss Morris," a voice lilted. It rumbled smoothly in her ears though something about the accent seemed faintly familiar.
She carefully unfurled herself, wincing as her muscles cried from the effort. "James. Where is James?" The light in the room made her head swim with pain. Everything was too bright, too sharp, for her focus. She let out a noisy sigh, shutting her eyes against the glare.
"Take it easy. You've had a difficult journey."
Journey? The remark was strange seeing that the hospital was only a short distance from her apartment. She opened her eyes once more, slower this time. Had they hurt her? Her body certainly felt as if she had been run over, or at least banged up. Paisley held her arms out and scanned down its familiar russet color. She touched small bits of her exposed flesh in amazement. Not even a bruise. "I don't understand."
Little pieces a puzzle began to snap together. She looked around and noticed that this wasn't like any hospital room she had been in before. There were no wires plugged into shiny plates embedded into the walls. Instead, they were left bare with little round lights that swayed in the corners.
Not even a T.V graced the room. Paisley recalled the times she had sat, poking around the hospital's basic cable to pass the time. But what really got to her was that the bed beneath her was wrong. Gone was the plump white mattress that was usually found inside a standard cot. Instead, this one was thin and firm with a slate grey sheet fitted around it.
"Lynette," she said with a rasp. Paisley turned around to face the stranger, forcing down the terror that filled the back of her throat. "Where is Lynette?" More memories began to bubble through the darkness of her aching head. First came the faint crunch of breaking glass, but quickly did the memory give over to something far more sinister. The little girl's screams sharp and fresh. She swung her legs over the side and let herself slide off the bed. Each muscle burned with the effort and her knees buckled beneath her weight.
Paisley gripped the bed behind her, catching herself before she toppled to the ground. Okay, steady. She rotated herself slowly, using the bed to support her until she could face the stranger.
Whoever he was, he hadn't moved from his spot at all. Not even hint of concern showed across that angular face. He was lean, with long thin limbs. His dark brown hair was parted at the side and slicked neatly back. He wore a strange robe that wrapped around his lithe frame. Its fabric a pale golden color with little silver and blue embellishments stitched into the lapel. And the sides were slit from its hem to right below his waist. She noticed that beneath the robe he wore pants were a slightly darker hue. "What happened?"
A hint of a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth and creased his pale face. "Miss Morris, I suggest you take a seat. It'll be a little bit until your strength fully returns." His voice wrapped warmly around her thoughts, like a balm against a burn. Her body slumped forward, muscles relaxing as all the tension seeped out from her arms.
"I don't understand. What is going on?" Paisley's voice betrayed her remaining nerves. It rattled her words while she moved to sit back down.
"I can tell you have questions."
"Any that you're going to answer?"
His smile grew, splitting his face with a lopsided grin. Paisley didn't like the way he was looking at her with those predatory blue eyes, feeling like she was a small mouse sat before a starving cat. "As I said, I can tell you have questions, but for now you'll just have to wait and more importantly listen." His brows arched, excitement threading his words.
A door near the front of the room swung open and a woman strode inside. Her dark head turned, ignoring Paisley, before she stormed towards the man. The woman was dressed the same as him. The soft golden robe fit well against her muscled body, giving in the right places to compliment her slight curves.
Paisley could tell she was trembling when she stopped her march, fingers clenched tightly into fists by her side. Whoever she was, she was clearly furious. "Captain," she yelled, spitting venom.
"Ah, yes, Alice. How does your charge fair?"
"Fair? Fair. You want to know how he fairs. Well, I want to know why both targets are here," she hissed.
"Alice."
"Don't you, Alice, me," she said with a mocking tone. Her anger colored her movements, hands dancing in the air while she spoke. "I said yes. I bowed my head and followed your lead. The very least you can do is fill me in. I am your Lieutenant!"
"Alice," his voice was sharper now. "You're going to scare our guest with that temper of yours."
Alice whipped around, hands now lodged firmly on her hips while her gaze met with Paisley's. There was a pause, her eyes going wide before her anger visibly fizzled out. "Oh."
Alice took a moment to look down at her shoes, the soft brown toes bending as she tapped them on the stone floor. She breathed in deeply and exhaled with an audible groan before turning back to Adrian. "That doesn't get you off the hook, Ardian. We will discuss this later."
Ardian, Paisley noted. At least she now had a name to match his face, though that did nothing to quell the fear he ignited when he looked at her. "Will someone tell me what is going on?" Her voice shook.
"You haven't told her? How long has she been awake," Alice asked.
Ardian broke away from his spot and walked across the room, busying himself with a drawer set into a small cabinet off to the side. "A few minutes or so."
"Please, someone answer me." Her voice cracked despite her efforts to remain calm. "Where am I? Where is James and Lynette?"
"Miss Morris," Ardian said, his voice smooth as it slipped over her. There was something about the way he spoke that seemed to flood all the spaces in her head. It filled her limbs with lead and quelled the panic that frayed her nerves. "I promise all will be explained," he paused to look up at Alice, "to the both of you. But for now we have more pressing issues."
Paisley could hear the woman scoff while she shifted in her seat and waited, confused and sore.
"Seems General Ivan was only partially successful in distracting her Majesty's council and that Sheppard is on his way to question us. I trust you have informed your charge of the matter at hand, Alice?"
"Yes, Sir. I told him exactly what you told me but that doesn't explain why she is here."
"In due time, Alice, in due time. The less you know, the better."
"That inspires no confidence, Sir."
Paisley hunched her shoulders, an involuntary shiver rattling her frame. Majesty? General? The information swirled around her head while she tried to connect the dots. Had Henry caught himself up in something illegal? But that didn't make any sense. If that was the case then why was she here? What about James and Lynette, were they here as well? And what about the shadows? She had so many questions and no answers to any of them.
"Miss Morris," Ardian's voice brought her back, "In just a few moments a man will enter the room. He will flounce about like he's someone important. He's not, but he will act like it anyway. You, my dear, will need to stay silent. You will speak when I speak to you. You will not ask any questions nor will you move from your spot. Do I make myself clear?"
Paisley wanted to say something, anything. But her lips remained frozen and her tongue still. It was too much. Nothing made sense to her and fear strangled her voice.
"Close enough," he said a sigh. His eyes flickered from her to the entrance and was met with a loud rapping on the polished stone door. Whoever was on the other side gave them no chance to respond before the heavy set door swung open. "Ah, Sheppard. What brings you here?" Ardian folded his arms across his chest.
"You know exactly what brings me here, Captain." Annoyance dripped from every word as a man strode inside. Not that Paisley would choose the word 'man' to describe the creature that moved before her.
He was large and squat. Flesh painted a sickly hue of green as glittering obsidian colored scales flecked around his swamp colored eyes.
Paisley scrambled backward, fear dropping into the pit of her belly. "What is that?" she shrieked.
The creature openly frowned at her before turning towards Ardian. "I take it you haven't explained anything to the subject?"
"Hard to sit and have a chat when I have the Council coming in to question my motives."
"Captain!" Alice interjected, her voice pitching with surprise.
"It's no use, Lieutenant. Everyone who knows of Ardian knows of his nature. Though why you choose to follow him still remains a mystery." Alice ducked her head and Paisley watched the woman mouth something under her breath. "You. Girl." Sheppard's bulbous face turned toward Paisley, pulling her full attention back to him. "What do you know of the Anarhga rebellion?"
Paisley hesitated, her gaze shifting from Sheppard to Ardian and back. They both stared back at her expectantly but neither of them said anything further. She could feel the burn of tears beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes. I want to wake up.
"Oh, look. You've frightened her so much she's lost her voice," Ardian said with a chuckle. "Perhaps you might do better with terrorizing Mr. Bloom. After all, he is used to staring ugly in the face. Or maybe you will you leave the interrogation up to the actual professionals?"
Sheppard gave a loud snort before he leveled a murderous glare at Ardian. His complexion deepened with his visible rage, and thin lips pulled back into a sneer. "Mark my words, Captain. I will see you stripped for this-this," he stuttered, one angry hand jabbing in the open air before Paisley, "this abomination!" He spat, spittle dribbling down his chin. "I will get down the truth of this little farce you've concocted! Oh, you trust me. Trust me when I say I will be back. And with the guards," he roared, turning to storm out of the room.
Ardian clapped his hands together in clear glee after the door slammed shut. "Well done, Ms. Morris, well done. I couldn't have expected a better performance from you! Though it seems we will have to deal with a larger audience later."
"Ardian," Alice yelled.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Ardian's voice fell soft with hints of indignation carefully woven in while he turned toward Alice.
"By the divine, your mouth will single-handedly be our demise."
"Alley cat, when will you learn to trust me?"
"Oh, I trust you alright. Trust you to lead us straight into our graves," she fumed. Both of them faced the other, seemingly forgetting about Paisley who sat there, half convinced she was dreaming.
"Um." Paisley looked down at her knuckles. They had turned white from the death grip she had on the cot below, her body trembling with fear. One. Two. Three.
Counting.
It was an old habit she picked up back in high school. Whenever her anxiety would peak she'd retreat back into the confines of her mind and begin to count. Though at the moment it did little to relax the rawness of her nerves.
"Poor thing," Alice remarked, brushing past Ardian and standing before Paisley. "Do you think it'd work on her?"
Her question was directed towards him but her eyes never left Paisley's. Those amber irises warm and searching as they looked into her own. Paisley wondered, were her own mud brown eyes so reflective? She could see herself in Alice's so clearly, worn and tired against the bands of gold that ringed them.
"I'd say so, she's responded to vocal a few times already."
"Of course." Paisley could see it, the brief flicker of annoyance that flashed across Alice's face.
"Think what you will, but it was either that or let her succumb to madness. As you can see she's barely holding on as is."
Alice didn't respond to him. Instead, she moved closer to Paisley, cupping her face within a calloused hand. Alice tilted Paisley's head up, her eyes locking onto hers. There was something different this time like someone had lit a flame behind them. Paisley found herself slipping towards, enraptured by the light that softly pulsed outwards. "Paisley," Alice's words echoed.
"Yes?" She almost didn't recognize the sound of her own voice as it dripped from her lips.
"Paisley, you're going to remain calm. Okay?" Paisley nodded mutely. Her mind wrapped around the richness of Alice's eyes, letting them drown out her frantic thoughts. "Good. Now what I'm about to say next is important, okay? I need you to listen."
Paisley leaned forward, hanging on every word as if they were the last thing she'd ever hear.
But them the light pulled away. Alice's head whipping toward the front of the room where chaos had erupted. A noisy din now bounced off the walls as a small group filed inside the room.
"Alice?" Paisley didn't care about the mass of strangers. Right now she only wanted Alice to do whatever it was she was doing again. The feeling of safety or had given her was already gone and her nerves were bleeding back into her veins. She watched while Alice rushed to stand tall next to Ardian, arms open wide to push back the crowd pressing into the room.
"What is the meaning of this?" Alice shouted.
"That's what we've come to ask you!" A voice answered back.
"Paisley?" Her mind perked up at the familiar voice, her head coming out from its daze.
"Paisley!" There it was again. Her eyes scanned thr shifted mass of bodies before she caught a glimpse of someone pushing toward the front. She scrambled off the table, not able to hold back the tears anymore. It was Henry, his head peeking around someone's body. He looked rough. His face was pale and weary, but she didn't care. He was something familiar.
Something safe.
Relief flooded her while she stumbled to keep her balance. Paisley's legs felt like jelly beneath her, but at least they were no longer weighed down by the intense ache from earlier. She heard Alice tell her to stay back, but Paisley shrugged off the command. Whatever weird hold she had on her a few moments ago had left. And now she was left with nothing to stop her from slipping around the woman and into Henry's arms.
Or so she thought.
Paisley slammed into something—hard—knocking her off her feet and sending her sprawling onto the ground below. A new ache bloomed through her elbows as they crashed against the cold floor. "What the—"
She looked in front of her but only saw open air. Henry shoved someone out of his way, his body tensing to leap towards her. She opened her mouth to warn him, but her words came too late. He bounced back from the force, wincing but still standing.
"What is going on," he demanded, looking over at Alice from across the barrier. Paisley looked up at Alice, her eyes blinding. Waves of amber streaked across her face, the light slipping and curling into the air. A look of pure fury was painted across her features and for the first time in her life Paisley understood what if looks could kill meant.
"Alright, that's enough. Simmer down," Ardian yelled, a hardness to voice.
"We will not," Sheppard roared, pushing forward. "I told you I'd get to the bottom of this, Captain! You can maybe fool her Majesty with this but not us!" The squat creature thrust out a hand with a parchment rolled tightly in his fist.
"Captain, what is he talking about?" Alice hissed.
Ardian smirked and raised both hands. The ruckus in the room began to quell as all eyes fixed on him.
"I had hoped to have more time but, oh well." He shrugged before continuing, "Yes, what I wrote in the note is true. Well, to some extent." Ardian tucked his arms behind his back, slowly strutting across the room. "Two weeks ago we first received notice of a rumor about an Earth side attack. Given the short time constraint I took it upon myself to track down the possible target."
Paisley watched him pause and shoot a pointed look over at Henry. "Of course, I didn't have the time to launch an official investigation, as you know our enemy waits for no one. So instead, I went to the Seekers temple."
She saw the corners of his mouth twitch before he gave another pause. Those blue eyes lingering over a the crowd set in front of him. "They gave me a name and a date, they told me I had to move fast or else all would be lost. But most importantly, they gave me one more thing."
Her heart skipped a beat as anticipation filled the room like smog. Was this the answer to all this chaos around her? She leaned forward, hanging on to whatever words hid behind that sly smile of his. "They told me there was one more person. No name, no description. Just told me that I'd know it when the time came and it did. They told me I would come across a veil touched person. And that the Lord has said that the veil touched human would deliver us from the fall!"
The fall? Her confusion only deepened while the crowd broke out into hushed whispers. Adrian sounded like a televised preacher. His words cryptic and foreboding, but ultimately offered nothing to comfort or satisfy her worries. She broke her gaze away from him and glanced over the crowd. For the first time she took in what actually stood before her.
There were creatures and humans alike. Things with twisted limbs and beady eyes. Others with what seemed to be scales and possibly even twigs and branches poking out from muddled colored flesh. And all their eyes, all those rainbows of colors, looked down at her.
"The note was for you to find if we failed. To know what we risked for her glory and for our Lord. That yes, the rebellion is moving forward. And yes, it is illegal to bring things from across the veil. But who am I to ignore the Lord's word?"
She tore away from the crowd's heavy gaze and watched Ardian's head drop to his chest. A solemn sigh escaping from his lips.
"But praise be the makers, for it paid off. This human," he pointed towards her, "she saw me while my partner shadowed our target."
A gasp caught in her throat. The shadows. That faint glimmer that had caught her eye when Henry stood in her kitchen. Could that had been Alice? She looked over at the woman who had lowered her arms, eyes no longer shining.
Ardian continued, "I was driven by my need to protect the Crown and all her people. If the Seekers saw something then it was my duty to follow through. We, here, seek salvation for our divine kingdom. So tell me, what do you seek?"
Her gaze dropped to the floor below her. What did it all mean? Her chest clenched while anxiety overwhelmed her. The shadows, Lynette's screams, hollow eyes, and shattered glass. None of what he said made sense to her. Just a jumble of sounds that pounded against her skull. Paisley drew her knees up to her chest, curling into herself, and away from the prying eyes.
"As you can see, the human is fragile and all of you—all of this—isn't helping. So I'm going to ask you to leave, leave us to our holy work." The way Ardian stressed the last sentence left her with little doubt that it was a stab at Sheppard.
Fragile.
Paisley let the word slip over her. He wasn't wrong in a way. The feeling of heartbreak lodging deeply into her chest. She could hear the clamor around her as they pelted Ardian with more questions but it was the warmth that had engulfed her that held her attention. The damp musk of sweat as Henry's lips muttered into her hair, "Everything's going to be alright."
"How?" Paisley whimpered. How was everything going to be alright? Her head felt like it was on the verge of popping with the onslaught of information given to her. Nothing here made sense. So how could he sit there, bearing witness to the same things she was and tell her everything was going to be alright? Was she really that much weaker than him?
She wanted to cry. But the tears stayed hovering in the corners of her vision. So instead she shrunk herself further, as if she could make herself small enough to disappear altogether.
"Bullshit."
Paisley was caught off guard as Alice's voice dripped with fury once more. She moved her head out of Henry's chest and watched Alice march across the newly emptied room towards Ardian.
The woman pressed a hard finger into his chest and growled through clenched teeth, "That was utter bullshit. You didn't go to the seekers. I can pull up the log to prove it! You've spent the last two weeks holed up in the veil chambers."
Ardian, in turn, beamed down at his lieutenant. "Very good, Alice. Always trust you to pay attention."
"Explain yourself," she fumed.
Ardian stepped to the side, away from her and walked over to where Paisley and Henry still sat. "Gladly." That lopsided grin now fixed on Paisley, turning her stomach. "There were no seekers. No mysterious prophecy. I just needed to distract them."
"I don't understand, Sir. Why is she here then? Why did you risk our lives bringing her across the veil?"
"She's here because I wanted her to be here, Alice. I didn't lie when I said she saw me. She did. But it was before that. When I was hunting down Mr. Bloom, I sent an echo to those he held dear to him. Just in case they had breached someone else. But she was the only one who echoed back."
Hot tears finally spilled down her face in full force while she listened to Ardian speak. The reality of it all seeping into her. "So, she holds information like Henry does? If that's the case, then why even lie about it? The Crown will surely understand if she has information like he does," said Alice in a rush.
"No. She's not like Mr. Bloom. Her subconscious has been left untouched," Adrian answered.
"What does that mean?" It was Henry's turn to speak up, his voice as mystified as she felt.
"He means." Paisley licked her lips, "He means to say—there's no real reason for me to be here?"
"No," Alice spoke softly, her face pinched. "It seems you're here simply because he wants you to be."
Ardian's smile widened further, glee dancing within those sky blue irises. It was clear he took delight in their reactions, drinking in the uncomfortable feeling that weighed down the room. "You're both wrong, I'm afraid. But that's enough of that for now. It seems in all the excitement I have forgotten my manners." Ardian paused, stepping back while he bent over slightly in a half bow. "I am Ardian Hedionat, and I welcome you, Miss Morris. Welcome you to the kingdom of Obsidia."