This is really good! Continue!

Part 11

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A heavy silence hung in the air as St Owl dropped to her hands and knees, her breath quavering, when Ember gave an uncomfortable groan behind them. Booksy Owly whipped around, throwing her arms around her ill friend. “H-hey!” Ember said weakly, pushing her away. “You could c-catch it too!” Booksy stared at her for a second, mind working.

“Could I really?” she murmured, a hand over her mouth. Ember’s gaze dropped, hidden in shadow.

“Well… maybe. After all, I am just a b-big contaminant.”

“You were awake?” Booksy asked, slightly horrified.

“How could I not be?” Ember replied, her voice lowering to a murmur. Eria watched them, painfully silent, imagining how it would feel to hear one of your friends foretelling your own death. Resolution hardening in her mind, she made up the decision that no one could leave Ember alone, and that if anything dire was happening, someone would be there to help. Someone would have to.

“What are we going to do about it?” Little Reader asked, looking tired and defeated. Everyone’s eyes traveled towards Scylla, as if they expected some kind of reassuring answer from her. However, Scylla was pacing around, her turquoise eyes narrowed and dark circles rimming her lids.

“Arrrgh… I don’t know!” she hissed, rolling a tiny black rock over and over in her hand so fast Eria could have sworn she’d seen it being eroded. “I want to help Ember, we all do, but heaven’s sake I can’t do anything! I just--there’s nothing for me to go off of, no information available! I barely even know where we’re going, what happened to Icy, what we’re even doing here!!” The group swelled and shifted as Scylla stormed through them, her long black hair whipping around.

“Greetings!” someone suddenly purred, their voice echoing around the small glade. Eria jolted up, her heart beating in her throat. Glancing around, she saw that Ember had fully sat up, staring pleasantly at the rest of the group. The unhealthy paleness had vanished from her face, though her irises seemed much more… pink than she had remembered.

“Ember! You’re looking so much better!” Booksy cried, her face lighting up. However, Ember simply chuckled and shook her head, rising to her feet with an aristocratic elegance very unlike her.

“Oh, little owl, you misunderstand. Your dear friend Ember is not in this body right now. In fact, she’s safer than she has been for many days, really. Think of it as a state of comatose, yet she’ll wake up soon. For right now, this is Vox you’re speaking to.” A low growl came from Claaws’s throat, and for a second Eria thought she would jump at Ember-Vox, regardless of whose body it was.

“Careful,” Little Reader said, putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “It might be that *cough* awful *cough* god speaking, but it’s still Ember on the outside. Don’t… um… cut off her nose to, uh… spite Vox.”

“Haven’t heard it said that way before, but I know what you mean,” Claaws sighed, stepping back as Scylla moved forwards.

“Why would you do that to Ember?” she snapped crossly. “She’s not some vessel you can use whenever you want!” Ember-Vox laughed, a horribly manic thing to hear to hear coming from their friend's mouth.

“Don’t be naive, high-flier,” she said coolly, walking up so she was nose-to-nose with Scylla. “I can do it with anyone I like--”

“--Whether they’re Ember or not,” Nebula suddenly said, her eyes flashing a dark reddish-pink before shifting back to their normal hue.

“Even you, Scylla,” Scylla said, though her voice was more grating than it was with Ember. She shook her head fiercely, covering her mouth and looking horrified. “It’s simply that Ember is the easiest to speak through, since she’s closest to my fire.” Ember-Vox shrugged, looking mildly bored with the discussion.

“Well, tell us what you want or get out!” Scylla said, her face flushing. Ember-Vox frowned, her forehead creasing.

“You all seemed so concerned after St Owl told you about this one’s fire, I thought you’d have many questions! I’m willing to answer them.”

“Really?” Danie asked, looking skeptical. “Anything?”

“Of course, Doe,” Ember-Vox said, to Danie’s jolt of surprise.

“That was you?” she breathed, her eyes lost in a memory. Ember-Vox nodded in affirmation, seeming to know exactly what Danie was speaking of. Eria hung back, unwilling to engage in the conversation. She was still wary of Vox, of how far their power really stretched. For a second no one spoke, then Little Reader slowly raised her hand, a glinting silver charm in it.

“What’s with these?” she asked, the tiny form of the cat on the chain clear in the dappled sunlight. Ember-Vox nodded, dipping her head.

“I’ve said before, have I not? Every quest needs an element of magic, a special power urging the protagonists onwards. Besides, if I hadn’t gifted certain members of your party with them, they may not be here today…” As she spoke, her eyes darted to Joan and Booksy Owly, who had a sharp intake of breath.

“I have another question for you,” Danie said abruptly, her hand shooting up. “What on earth is the deal with those wolves?” For a second Ember-Vox looked surprised, and she glanced around at the group members, mixed amusement on her face.

“You mean none of you have figured it out yet?” she said, her tone bemused. “I would have expected more from at least St Owl, but no matter, you’ll see soon enough.” St Owl looked slightly offended, but said nothing. “Is there anything else you’d like from me?” Ember-Vox asked, theatrically examining her fingernails.

Scylla opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Kestrel broke in, excitement sparking in her gold-flecked eyes. “What is this place, really?” she asked, ignoring the look Scylla shot her. Ember-Vox grinned, as if this was the question she had been waiting for.

“It’s the Garden, of course! My one and only Garden of Fallacia…” she said, waving her arms to gesture at the rainforest surrounding the group. “Latin. Such a lovely language, one of my favorites out of all the ones you humans speak.”

“Latin?” Joan asked, blinking.

“Oh my. Did I say that? Oops,” Ember-Vox commented, though she didn’t seem that sorry about it. “Well, I suppose if that’s all you desire to ask me, I’ll give your Ember back now.”

“Wait! Can’t you heal her? O-or fix her fire, or something?” Booksy Owly broke out, reaching out. Ember-Vox turned, her eyes slits of a strange greenish shade.

“I’ve already told you, little owl. There’s nothing I can do. The more she speaks with you, the more she fades away. There’ll come a day when she’s nothing but ashes, truly.” She laughed, though no one else saw the humor in the situation. “Kind of ironic, how you value friends and your company so highly, yet it’s the thing that’s killing her.”

“At least we have friends…” Claaws hissed, casting a dirty look towards Ember-Vox.

“Claaws!” Scylla said, though her modest tone was in total agreement. Lowering her voice, she added, “Don’t make powerful sky-deities annoyed, okay?” Claaws rolled her eyes, clearly having more to say to Ember-Vox, but she held her tongue. However, Ember-Vox seemed to have frozen in place, looking at Claaws with odd whitish-violet eyes. Then Ember's body suddenly jolted forwards, her head banging against her knee, and the wind suddenly died, leaving a sticky silence.

“Wh… what happened?” Ember slowly asked, rubbing her forehead in pain. “All of a sudden it got so dark, and I heard someone talking, but from far away…”

“That was Vox,” Booksy Owly spat, looking more outraged than she ever had before. “Stupid cloud-god… they’re gone now, at least.”

Scylla glanced up through the canopy, her brow furrowing, but she finally just shrugged her shoulder and moved on.

“Good riddance,” Claaws muttered.

* * * *

Vox sat down on the familiar log, feeling oddly numb and lifeless.

Was that really true?

Grinning, though without a hint of joy, they answered their own question with ease. It wasn’t even a particularly hard one, and something they’d known for awhile, since the second they’d been there to the last breath they’d taken.

“I am alone,” they said, their voice echoing around the area. “Very, very alone.” They chuckled quietly, with bursting mania barely hidden in their tone. A tiny crackle jolted them out of their thoughts, and Vox turned to see the tiny Ember-fire fizzing quietly, sparks dancing on the flames. Curious, Vox walked over to it. They’d never seen it this active before, not even before the group had wandered into the arctic. Brushing aside a dry twig that burst in glory, then crumbled to dust, they peered into Ember’s fire, seeing an image reflected in the twisting flames.

She was seated around her friends, and though her eyes were lined with gray rings and her hands shook with exhaustion, she was still smiling and talking with them, even laughing at some points. Vox sat back, their body shivering. They… they cared about her. Even when her fire went out, they would stay there for her.

They wouldn’t leave her.

Not like…

Vox shook their head fiercely, clutching their leg so hard a bruise formed. They weren’t wrong! This was what they should do, how they should act… As Vox looked back down at the fire, with Ember cheerfully conversing with her friends. A pang shot through them, one they hadn’t felt for a very long time. What was it?

Jealousy. Heartache. And a burning, clawing loneliness.

Slowly Vox reached down, their hand plunging into the fire, and they touched a coal, pulling it out with a hiss. With a crunch they crushed it in their hand, steam evaporating as the fire went out. In the fire-mirage, Ember suddenly coughed sickly, sweat beading on her forehead. Vox stared at it coldly, pretending an air of cool uncaring, though their eyes were a misty white, like fog blown across the sky. As they turned away their hand suddenly flew to their throat, feeling choked and queasy.

Suddenly the sky seemed closer and tighter than ever, the ground shaking beneath their feet. Vox dropped to their hands, chest heaving, and gradually orange crept into their iris, blending and mixing with the cloudy white. Three words slowly escaped their mouth, despite how many people walked below them and how many knew their name.

“I…

am…

alone.”

Wow, this is SOO GOOD! *cough cough, Vox has no friends* XD totally something my brother would walk up to her and say. XD

Also, I could also draw some for you! I still have to finish up Storm's drawing of Shadow, and maybe a few others if the crew likes my style, but besides that I could totally find time to squeeze it in! I also got myself grounded this weekened, (long story) and I souldnt be posting, but I told them I was 'doing my homework' (this is my school laptop), so I'll have plenty of time to draw. You know, I actually do have a bunch of homework that I should be working on right now....XD

*in movie announcer voice*

The tension is mounting! Who will survive? 

tiptoptiptoptiptop!!!!