Being alone was something Alyssa had grown used to over the years. Especially being alone in the dark. With no one else. Now it reminded her of the days when Jahn Vu was Grand Prime but it used to be one of her greatest fears. She remembered the first box that she had been trapped in on the first week in joining the Inquisition. Prey on fear or it will prey on you, Jahn Vu had said. Persia had objected but, she came out victorious.
Of course she was stunned to find out that Klaus had been put in a pool of spiders.
Being alone in the dark with her powers being dampened was something else entirely. One minute she was in Lagos, following a lead on a daemon sighting, All of a sudden, once she was alone, she was encased in this black thing. It was a hollow, that was for certain.
Time was passing at a normal rate thankfully. But obviously she had been secluded. She managed to get a message to Alderwolf. But she was beginning to suspect she sent it to the wrong one. The hollow was interfering with her powers, weakening them at an alarming rate. Or was it Xenon? She heard the had been a research some ten to fifteen years ago about a way to dampen licht energy. It never interested her so she never followed.
She suspected that she was beginning to hallucinate as the figure that appeared in front of her couldn't be possible. A tall figure probably in his mid-twenties, wearing a white coat. He had long gray hair that went down all the way to his back and one of his blue eyes were covered by a purple shaded monocle.
No. Alyssa blinked again. She was not hallucinating.
"One of your friends is good with technology, right?" Alyssa said.
The boy paused before speaking "...Yes,"
"Ah. So may I know how long I'm going to be stuck here."
"...For as long as I've been ordered to."
"So this is just to get me out of the way."
"...Yes."
"Your organization must really be wary of me, then."
"...Yes."
The fact that he was unbearably honest seemed unnerving to her. Was it that he was aware of her telepathy. But she couldn't use it well right now so what was the use? Or maybe she was just overthinking it.
An itching sensation on her hand caught her attention. An old wound had reopened and began to bleed. Klaus. So she did send it to the right one after all. She touched the blood, tapping it twice. Ever since they became friends, she had made Klaus put his blood in Edgar and her. Klaus said it was disgusting but did anyway. Once Klaus activated the technique, she was immediately alerted of it and sent a signal to Edgar. Since her technique was compromised, this was the only way to call for help. That and the tiny shard of Edgar's blade.
Unfortunately, the boy caught on.
"...I can't let you leave."
"They leaving you here means that they trusted you to guard me. Not to fight. Quite honestly, I was expecting more of you." Alyssa said. "Don't bother trying to stop me, Geralt."
The boy, Geralt, flinched. He regained his composure with a sigh as he raised his hands.
"...Don't say I did not warn you."
As soon as he said that, Geralt vanished. Alyssa folded her arms, shaking her head. A waste of time. She continued to walk forward, into the darkness, with no sense of direction whatsoever.
The sound of water dropping made her turn. She blinked, confused for a moment before walking. Her next step landed her in a pile of sand. Sand, in this darkness. Odd. She picked up the ruggedy old doll that lay in it. Wherever this came from, it felt nostalgic. Nostalgia in a bad way. For a long time she continued to walk in the dark, a bit more hurriedly. Some licht techniques had weird gimmicks and so did reis. But hollows were a completely different story. In all her thirty years as an Inquisitor, she had only seen one hollow. And it was not even in use.
She turned around immediately as she heard the low growl of a daemon. She immediately stepped back as it emerged from beneath her, almost clawing at her face. She swiftly tore through its torso, watching it fade into the surrounding darkness.
She felt hot. Hot, and sweaty. Was this hollow bringing back old memories? Or was it random. Most likely the former but…
She stopped as she recognized the new object that was placed in front of her; a box. She almost laughed out loud. This hollow was bringing back her fears. She had long conquered her fears though.
"Is this the best you could get out of me?" Alyssa said, "I killed my fears a long time ago."
There was silence. And then he spoke.
"Fear is something we must either consume or be consumed by. It is a fight that every living thing in this earth must face. It is inevitable."
There was more silence.
"But the past has nothing to do with fear, Ms. Zola." Geralt continued. "The past has no demons to conquer, no fears to overcome. The past only has…"
Alyssa's eyes widened as the sound of a baby crying resonated the darkness.
"...regrets."
The entire field shattered, bringing her back to were she originally had been, in a forest. She turned to him, raising him of the ground without even lifting a finger.
"I really wanted to let this slide but you just had to go that far did you."
Geralt clawed at his throat, gasping for air. Alyssa continued to suffocate him, veins protruding from her face. She, however, changed her mind, dropping him to the floor. Geralt gasped for air, failing to even get up on his feet. He didn't know how but she had shattered his hollow's technique, Haunted House. No wonder they had to resort to such a method to keep her away.
Alyssa grabbed him by the hair and raised him up. "Do that again and I will make you count the number of times your heart beats. Do we have an understanding."
Alyssa did not wait for Geralt's reply as she let him drop. She glanced at a thick tree, crushing the entire thing into a ball like a paper. Then, sitting down, she began to connect with the other inquisitors