Chương 54: Buildings Bridges Out Of Blood

Grim twisted and drew her sword in the same motion, crossing the bounds between her and Natalie in only a few steps. She stopped, puzzled for a moment, as there didn't seem to be any danger she could see." What's wrong?" She asked." Don't look," Natalie begged as she took a step back from an office desk. Papers were scattered across it in a language she couldn't read, but what Natalie had really pointed her away from was a filing cabinet underneath.

Grim swallowed, knowing she really didn't want to look, but that she had no choice. If she didn't, someone else here would. She brushed past Natalie and put her hand on the cabinet. She breathed in, then pulled it back." Oh, fuck," Grim said as she slammed it shut." What is it?" Solomon asked. Maya tried to slink past Grim, but she put her hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Let me see." Grim debated trying to convince her and everyone else in the room it was nothing, to ignore it and move on, but they wouldn't trust her. They'd already seen how rattled she was." It's Orion's head," Grim stated. There was uproar almost immediately, with Solomon at the forefront, "That's not funny. Why the fuck would you say something like that?" Maya pushed past Grim in that moment and opened the cabinet before recoiling in much the same way she had.

She dry heaved as her eyes watered from her stomach trying to throw up the contents of her MRE. It took a moment, but she eventually recovered.

"She's not lying. How did it get here?" Solomon's face tightened up as he turned on Alyn, "You knew." She stared back, unflinching in her guilt. Alyn went to grab his hands, but he brushed them off him and walked over to the cabinet. With a small breath, he opened it up and stared. Grim waited for a reaction much like the three of them had, but there was nothing, not even a wayward facial tic. After his brain finished processing or he'd found whatever he was looking for, he shut the cabinet and stepped back."

No more holding back," Solomon said as he took off his bandages. Beneath the fabric his skin was mottled and scarred like they'd been dunked in acid.

"You too, Alyn." Solomon walked up to Alyn as she turned her head upwards, leaving her throat wide open. He grabbed a knife and brought it to her face, her eyes traced it as he drifted it towards her mouth. Songjae gave her a wicked side-eye as they all watched this, it was the first time she'd seen anything close to surprise on his face. Alyn's eyes widened as they tracked the blade dig into the first stitch holding her mouth closed, then the second, third, fourth, until the sixth and final stitch was severed.

Her mouth twitched as the two of them were close enough to be almost kissing.

"Finally." Alyn's voice was hoarse and raw, likely from the lack of use if Grim had to guess. When she spoke, Grim caught a small glimpse of jagged teeth beneath her now bleeding lips." I'm not happy with you," Solomon said. She paused, her tongue wetting her lips, "It… would have been worse."" I know." Grim turned around right as the two of them embraced, having had enough of watching whatever… that was.

She turned towards Haz- -made eye contact with Maya and gave her a look as she lowered her voice so only she could hear her, "What is going on? Like seriously." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Maya gave a light scowl as if to chastise her.

"I think it's sweet." Grim took a step back, mentally recoiling, "Really? I can't be the crazy one here. You can't say that."" We don't know what their relationship is like, we can't judge."" You're an expert on relationships now? You know what? I've got bigger things to worry about," Grim sputtered out as she walked back towards the window she'd been at. The office wasn't huge, but at least the small bit of distance she'd put between her and them gave her some reprieve from their little show.

Maybe Maya had been right in saying they couldn't judge, she had a glaring relationship problem inside her right now and she wasn't sure what to do about that. The sad fact was that there was currently a pang in her stomach, and she did not like that feeling. Not at all. This, had been what she'd been avoiding. This feeling. Saints. She opened the blind to the window just enough that she could see out of it. The first thing she noticed was that the clock tower was close.

It was located across from them, separated by a large road that surrounded it in a square. If this city were something living, then the clock tower was the heart. Around the square there were different shops and buildings, and she definitely glimpsed some different aspirants watching the courtyard like she was. It wasn't difficult for her to imagine why when there was currently a ten foot tall behemoth in the middle, guarding the entrance to the tower.

It stood like a human, but the entirety of its body was covered in the growths that bloomed out of the other petals. Muscle packed its form, enough to carry a large hunk of metal like a club. Its head was a lump of flesh that had two antennae made of chitin coming out of it, but there were no eyes or mouth." Saints," Grim said under her breath. There were bodies underneath it, too mangled to tell who they were before. Their shards glittered in the night sky as they poked out from bits of skin and flesh.

The giant was above them and inert except for the tentacles that distended from its back and crashed to the ground below. The tendrils seemed to lazily scour the ground below until they came to a shard and engorged themselves on it. Grim did nothing but watch as the blue glow of the shard lost its luster and crumbled to pieces." How?" SongJae asked from beside her. Grim didn't flinch as she watched from the window, she didn't want him to see how much he'd startled her as she tried to calm her racing heart.

He was like double her weight and moved like a ballerina. That was not something she was gonna get used to fast. Stupid Boons." How what?" SongJae looked at her as if she was dumb, "How to kill?"" Why do you think I know that?" Grim asked." You don't make sense," he said, and she understood he was talking about herself as a whole rather than their conversation.

"You have secrets. Use them." Grim paused.

"You don't know me." He snorted, "Don't want to."" Then what do you want?"" Not die. Become a Witch. You?" He asked." Same, I guess. I need to get stronger, and this is the best way to do it," she said, not mentioning the whole truth.

"Why do you want to be a Witch?"" Money." What? Grim cocked her head to the side, stunned, before the side of his mouth creased upwards and they both started laughing. It was manic and wild from the tension she'd been holding for the last day, and they both tried to stifle their laughter to the ongoing looks of confusion from the rest of the group, which only made them laugh harder." What's so funny?" Solomon asked with Alyn in tow." I want whatever they're having," Maya said.

Grim covered her mouth as she tried to explain, her breath hitching as she did so.

"He… he said he came here for… he came here for money." She regained her composure for a second, but another glance from SongJae sent both of them into another laughing fit. Solomon just looked perplexed, which made it all the funnier.

"That's not that funny, though?" There was a sound that came in short bursts, like a mix between a horse chuffing and a pig horking. Solomon turned to look at Alyn and saw how her shoulders were shaking as she looked down, her long hair covering her face. The humour died, and they huddled around her, trying to gauge what was wrong. Grim had [HEALING GLOOM] ready to heal if she had to." Alyn, Alyn! What's wrong? Are you choking? Are we being attacked? Let me see… wait," Solomon paused, freezing."

What's wrong with her?" Grim asked. Solomon started laughing himself, uncontrollably despite himself, "Alyn… is that really how you laugh? The horking noise sputtered and was replaced by a look of small fury and indignation on her face as she glared at Solomon, "… Yeah, so what?" She said, in between horks. Grim saw him try to hold it in, she saw how he tried to muster every ounce he had not to break, but she also saw how he'd already accepted he was going to break.

The tears that were forming in his eyes spoke to the truth of that. He broke, and once Grim made eye contact with Songjae, she did too, and pretty soon after that, everyone was laughing. Despite their injuries. Despite the losses. Despite the fear. They laughed. Then, once the room became silent, they started to plan.