True to his prior predictions, Theon and his group were escorted to a quieter part of the city that was pretty upscale. It had already been wrecked by the mob that had just passed through.
The job we had to do was find survivors trapped under rubble. Save as many as possible and aid the wounded to where the medical wards were set-up.
"{Hello,}" a familiar voice came to life which they all recognized as their mentor Carmen Ford. "{Before I go offline I just wanted to make sure you guys heard from me.}"
"We hear you loud and clear." Jon responded.
"{Great, well make sure above all else, you prioritize your own lives and safety. And also, Bell you are to assume command of your group for the duration of this mission.}" Her order was resolute.
Theon only looked to his mentor as a leader to follow, he looked at his teammates as just that. Teammates, Jon was his friend but Bell didn't really want to get close.
"What...? Why me?" She asked flustered.
"{Don't question orders, just follow them.}" She fired back. "{Alright I'm off.}" They could imagine a small wave as she said that.
"Well you heard her "Boss", what's out first move?"
Bell turned to Jon but she didn't have her usual stern face, she was thinking, slightly fearful and stuck.
Bell who had lived her life isolated because of her curse was now put in a leadership position in such dangerous territory. The sounds of shouting and gunshots, even though distant, was ever present probably invading her thoughts right now.
It was clear to Theon that Carmen had placed Bell into leadership for a reason, but why now, in such a dangerous situation? He didn't know but it didn't matter, for now he would trust in her judgement... "Take as long as you need."
Jon caught on to what Theon was doing and chimed in with a grin. "We'll all be stuck together until you make a decision. Just make sure it doesn't get us killed."
Bell shifted her gaze between the two of them, then lowered her head, closing her eyes for a long contemplative moment. The tension hung in the air as they waited. She straightened, her resolve solidifying.
"No matter how far we go, without a barrier the chimera will track me. So we need to move fast and get to everyone before it becomes overwhelming." She clenched her fist and her eyes seemed full of life, completely losing her prior anxious look.
"Theo, your dragons operate differently now right? How many can you summon?"
Previously at a limit of five dragons at a time that he had to manually control Theon was very limited since his brain was taking too much at once. But now using Oath's that made the dragons focus on one task without giving him any information until the task was complete or interrupted. The answer to that question now was...
"As many as you need."
Jon raised his eyebrow, clearly caught off guard by that answer, he looked almost offended which confused Theon.
Bell asked him to explain it for them.
"As long as the order is simple enough," Theon took a moment to think of the answer he was giving. "...you can say that an appropriate amount of my OD is taken to create the dragons to fulfil the task."
It was based off his intuition.
"Then couldn't you just do the job for us?" Jon asked pointing at him with sarcasm dripping from his tone.
Bell answered instead. "We would still need to help and make sure he doesn't run out of OD and be useless later. We don't know how long this will last."
She's right, but Theon thought she could have phrased it better. Still, Bell had regained control and that was what was important.
"Alright, we move fast, Theo, use your dragons to scout higher levels, focus on anyone trapped in buildings. Jon and I will handle anything street level."
"Got it," Theon replied, [Search!] His OD stirred around him and dragons were created and flying away from them in droves. The number had been seventy-two. "As many as we need." He muttered quietly to himself.
There were more buildings collapsed than otherwise but the small upper-class neighbourhood still had buildings in tact.
Jon, meanwhile was rubbing the back of his neck as his face softened when staring at the growing fire they were all about to run towards. "We'll save as many as we can." He said that quietly, more so to himself but Theon could hear it.
"Let's go!" Bell nodded.
They moved as one, a blur of motion and power rushing through the streets.
Theon's dragons moved forward, their forms ghostly as they swooped through shattered remains of luxury apartments and high-rise buildings searching for survivors. Each dragon moved with precision, weaving through twisted steel and collapsed beams with and eerie grace.
People were found, alive, some unconscious and some awake and wailing for someone to help them. Beneath rubble or trapped behind broken walls, his dragons carefully lifted them with their glowing claws, ferrying them outside.
Before they could disintegrate into nothingness Theon had to give another order. [Take them to safety]. The order gave him a slight ache most likely because of how obscure the order was. But he had seen them move in the direction to one of the medical bays set up that they had passed on their way here.
Screams filled the air as they continued forward. People cried out for help, their voices ragged, broken with desperation. A woman trapped beneath a collapsed ceiling clutched at her child, tears streaming down her face as one of Theon's dragons gently pried the debris off of her. She gasped as she was freed, her gaze flicking between the creature and the sky, too stunned to speak.
"Where are they taking us?" She rasped, her voice barely a whisper, as Theon approached wiping sweat from his brow.
"To safety. We've got you," Theon said while placing a hand on the fur of his dragon.
The woman needed help getting on to which Theon gave lifting her and her child up onto his dragon. The beast followed it's new orders and headed off to the medical bay.
Jon wasn't far behind. His OD working flowing through his veins, visible under his skin and his blood responded to his will. A whip like tendril of crimson lashed out, wrapping around a large metal beam that blocked the entrance of a collapsed restaurant. With a grunt, he tore it free, tossing it aside with a crash. He ducked inside, finding a man pinned beneath a steel table. The man's eyes were wild, frantic.
"Please, my wife.. she's still in there!" He choked out pointing deeper into the wreckage.
Jon didn't hesitate. His blood surged again, extending from his hands to create the thinnest stretched in the world. It was placed beneath the man. "Hold tight," Jon commanded with a gruff but calm tone. "I'll get her."
Jon hopped over the counter and pressed his ear against a door leading into a storage room. He could hear--or more precisely, feel two heartbeats, beating fast. Terrified and stuck.
The were far enough for him to just jump over the fallen debris and kick the door down, but that still may give them a fright which he didn't want to do.
He made sure not to use so much blood on that makeshift stretcher for the older man he first encountered. So now in his hand he was playing around with the blood forming.
Out came a large hammer, a warhammer.
He used it to break down the debris so he could walk a steady path to the door and retrieve the trapped people in there.
Jon broke the handle of the door on accident but then decided it wasn't such a bad idea as he could now use his blood to create his own handle and have an easier time opening it.
And once he did he could see a mother and child shivering in the darkness.
"I've come to help you," It was hard for them to see him because of the darkness but he spoke in a low voice as to not startle them.
"Where's my daddy?" The voice of a young girl asked from inside.
Jon didn't think he would get a question in this situation from a kid. But this was a good way to calm her down.
"He's outside waiting for you two." Jon stretched out his hand. "Let's go."
The mother took his hand and stumbled out the door as Jon tried to get them outside as quickly as possible to one of Theon's dragons which would take them away to safety.
Jon felt his hand be squeezed and looked down to the same kid, now outside he could see her face more clearly. She had freckles and a big round nose, that's what stood out to him about the kid most.
"Thank you." she said with bright eyes. "Thank you for helping pa!"
Bell had chosen another building trusting in both Theon and Jon to quickly sort out their own situations in conjunction.
But she had quickly started to regret her choice as the building she ran into was drowning in flames. Fire licked the walls and floors causing her to watch her step, she regretted it more when she realized that the fire could make her silver hard to control because of it's heat.
If she were trying to help someone with her creations than they would end up burned if they touched it after being startled.
And if she took too long then chimera would be upon her. And if chimera came before they scoured their area and saved the people, they fail. That means failure. Bell instantly thought of her brother, the same brother everyone in the school idolizes and speaks so highly of, the same brother they all wished was here to aid in their efforts. The same brother that has not reached out to her in years--!
A wooden plank fell and it had barely missed her, nearly burning off the whole front of her face.
Bell breathed out a sigh of relief. "Just keep calm."
A scream was then heard causing Bell to turn sharply and without thinking run straight toward it, jumping over any debris that had been on fire and covering her nose from the smoke she was inhaling.
Inside a partially collapsed room, she found a family huddled together. Of course there would be a family, she felt disappointed, not in them but herself. In her capabilities. A part of her wanted to run back outside as quickly as she could and grab either Jon or Theon.
But she was placed as leader.
Bell wasn't feeling right. She backed away before any member of the family could see her and immediately she felt a pang of shame. 'Why on earth was I named leader?'
'Why am I here?' She wanted to turn back time, to stay locked away, sealed away from the world.
'Why did I even come here?' Her mind drifted as it always did when she felt cornered. Becoming a paladin was a goal, not really. Honest to God, Bell just wanted to see her brother again.
When she was ten she received a tattoo of a black lamb on her shoulder. She knew what it meant, everybody did. But it only brought fear to her. She didn't know what would become of her. Usually people who receive the curse are to go to the police station where they will be escorted underground with a paladin watching over them.
Watching over them in case the worst happened, so they can put an end to the chimera they allow to crawl out of their body for failing in their trial.
But Bell decided to stay quiet, she was happy playing the ignorant daughter, the ignorant sister.
She loved her family lots, but everyday she questioned if she cared enough, cause if so she wouldn't have tempted fate like that.
It was only on the third day after receiving the mark when she disappeared from her fathers arms as she played sick to stay home from school.
Bell thought that was it, that she would die there.
She remembers the soft, sun-warmed wood of the swings, the way the chains squeaked as they soared into the sky. The vibrant colours of the slide, now faded, as they used to call out to her. The laughter of children filled the air, mingling with the scent of freshly cut grass, a stark contrast to the acrid stench that now surrounded her.
"Bell! Hey, Bell!" The cheerful voices of her classmates broke through the fog of the memory of that experience.
She remembers seeing her classmates there. Josh, his wide grin illuminating the gloom, Lily and her bright yellow backpack bouncing by her side. Marcus, who was always chatting away with Ben leaving the two in infectious laughter.
"We're going home now." But how? she asked, this park was unfamiliar to her. She had never been here before.
"Well I'm going this way!" Lilly chirped, her bright yellow backpack bouncing cheerfully as she pointed in one direction, her sunlit hair dancing in the breeze.
But then Josh pointed in another direction completely opposite to Lily's, his smile turning sharp, glinting like a blade. Marcus and Ben followed suit, each choosing their own way.
"You have to choose." Lily insisted, her voice laced with an edge that sliced through the air. It sounded less like an invitation and more like a command.
Bell's mind raced, clawing at her chest. Choose? But all she wanted was to escape the suffocating atmosphere. In a moment of instinct, she chose her closest friend, Josh and stepped toward him, believing in the warmth of his smile.
Josh led her in one direction and they had been walking for ages and got nowhere, Bell felt like they were walking in circles. And she was tired.
"Josh, I'm going back."
"Awh, but I think I found a way out."
"You said that ten minutes ago. I won't hold you back, but that doesn't mean I'll allow you to." She said while turning around and leaving.
Bell then chose again, she chose Lily this time. But the same happened, they walked for ages and she ended up nowhere.
And the same happened with both Marcus and Ben.
'What's going on?'
As soon as she got back to the park she let out a death curdling scream. In front of her, were her friends.
Dead in different ways. Lilly hung by the swing.
Ben who had a larger figure than the rest of them looked like he was squished. And Marcus was wrung out like a towel.
Josh, Josh was placed seated on the floor of the slide, eyes gouged out arms snapped and bent in the wrong directions and a sad smile on his face.
"What happened to you guys?" She cried out, she turned over on herself and started vomiting, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. And then it suddenly clicked in her mind that she wasn't supposed to be here.
'This is the curse.' She remembered she was with her father. Her mind realized that none of this was real. Her friends were fine, she just needed to get out of here.
'But how?'
There was a building she didn't notice before. It was right beside the playground. But Bell was stuck on her feet, fear was still holding her as she glanced at the dead bodies in front of her. She wanted to move but was still so scared, she didn't know what had happened and thought if she moved forward it would happen to her.
'I don't want to die?'
"Neither did we?" A voice, Josh' voice she recognized. Bell looked to her right to see Josh's body moving on it's own. He got up, eyes still missing leaving his sockets black, bloody and hollow and his arms dangling in place.
"We didn't want to die. So why did you leave us Bell?"
Bell was stumbling back, "No... I didn't. I..."
A chain snapped and the body of Lily dropped with a thud. It didn't move but Bell could hear her voice like an echo.
"Then stay here with us Bell."
"Yeah stay." Followed by Ben.
And then Marcus, his body was making disgusting sounds as if still being wrung out. "Stay with us, we're all friends right?"
Bell was shivering. Scared out of her mind, if she could she would be getting sick again in the same position.
She felt a strong feeling in the building, like she needed to be there to go home.
"I'm sorry." What was she saying sorry to? These people weren't her real friends. But her young mind didn't know what else to say. She pinched her eyes shut and clenched her teeth to stop herself from crying. "I really need to go home."
All noise stopped until she heard the soft voice of Josh.
"But Bell..." she slowly began to open her eyes, to horror. "Aren't we friends!"
Josh's head was inflated like a balloon, Lily had the appearance of a tall dark spectre. Marcus and Ben didn't look human anymore but had hair covering them whole even their faces making them look like beasts.
"Stay with your friends!" The two of them screamed in unison.
She ran!
Bell ran straight past them, she could tell they were chasing her. Her panting was loud as her feet touched the cold floor manoeuvring through the building. 'To the top.'
As she climbed the stairs to the second floor, it started to crumble. The paths she walked on were crumbling, she was scared. Her friends... no the beasts that took form of her friends were trying their hardest to catch her.
Since they couldn't reach because of the crumbling they had started to jump off of each other, the slender spectre being the tallest grabbed both the beastly boys, one of them held the inflated balloon that looked like Josh to the top, on her level.
Bell continued running, running with all her might. She didn't even notice how fast she was moving, moving at a speed she had never ran at before. She felt stronger. More confident.
'I'm going to get home!'
As soon as she said that and touched the top floor, she seemed to be zapped back into reality. Wearing her pink pyjamas designed with teddy bears on it. Right in the sitting room where she was playing with her father.
'I'm back.' She quickly realized.
She was home. "I'm home!" She jumped with Joy and then collapsed as the adrenaline she once had was lost.
A crash was heard as her father and mother came bolting in to the living room.
"Bell!" they both called out, her father getting to her first. She cried as she was lifted up into his arms. She cried so much she didn't notice the paladin who had walked in after them.
But she did notice that her brother, Arian wasn't home.
"Where were you--!"
A crash was heard, her house was crashed into by a hulking figure that had no body, no legs. Just a head and some small feet to walk in. An overly sized nose and some big ears.
A chimera had crashed into her home and landed on her mother first turning her to paste on the ground missing her hear. Her father threw her out of reach before he received a hole in his stomach, pierced by the demons nose. Then it's nose sniffed her father's head like a vacuum twisting it upwards until it came cleanly off.
Bell went blank after that.
She learned later that her brother was out to all her favourite places looking for her. He came back to a destroyed home, dead parents, and a cursed sister who had brought all this ruin.
Arian awakened because of her. Bell knew that. She had scarred her brother and went on to become a paladin, displaying elegance, power, competency-- Qualities she has failed to embody.
Bell hates herself.
So why had she become a paladin?
It was to find something to love about herself, to rise and do better for the family she had forsaken. She want's to break her curse, she wants to be strong, strong enough to never be seen as a weak link on her team.
And eventually, even though it may be selfish. She wants to speak to her brother even if only once, and to apologize.
"With every step. I will do better!" She rose and walked forward, the conviction in her heart swelling like a tide. She was feeling the heaviness of her past begin to lift, replaced by a new sense of purpose.