#numerosis

            he should have known better. in fact, he did. don’t isolate yourself, stick together, we protect each other. they were words that came out of his own mouth, and yet he was the one to wander off because of who he thought he saw. it was a trap, a lure, he remembers nothing but a familiar laugh, a quick, sharp pain, and then blackness.

          waking up in a dark, unfamiliar room, he doesn’t even have to blink the stars from his eyes to realize what’s happened. despite general opinion, the arc is smart. he makes plans, he’s the idea guy. this was a plan. he’s bait. or else he wouldn’t have woken up at all. 

           of course, crocea mors is nowhere to be found. there isn’t even a make-shift bed, no window. just a single door on the other side of crooked black bars; at least he thinks it’s a door. it’s a different shade of darkness on the far wall in the shape of a door, but no handle. there’s a single, hanging wall lamp out of reach by the ceiling, just enough light to make out his own hands in the darkness.  

            there’s....someone there, too. on the other side of the bars, by the weird shape in the wall. a shadow. he blinks, squints through dizziness. he by-passes the typical ‘where am i?’ nonsense because comics taught him he’ll never be told. it doesn’t matter where he is. it’s the why that matters.

             JUST HOW FAR COULD THE WITHERED ROSE MAKE IT ? sharp, agonized breaths sliced the air like daggers in her ears as summer ran, injured feet the same color red as familiar roses. grimm were catching up to her fast ; much faster than any of salem’s other pawns could. summer tried not to focus on the bloodthirsty growls emanating behind her, nor the pain that begged her to give in —-

             she was going to die like this. even if summer kept running, the chance of outrunning a hoard was about as likely as a miracle occurring. exhausted and ready to collapse, summer thought she was hallucinating the growing dark mass in front of her. pausing in the midst of danger, unsure what to do, her scattered thoughts drifted comfortably and deliriously to ruby and yang. did they remember her ?  how old would they be now ?

the roars grew louder alongside the noise of whatever lurked beyond the now - red veil that appeared in her path. something about it....

             summer barely managed to sidestep out of the way before a huge claw struck at her, panic settling within her chest in an attempt to force her back to reality. sprinting again, the little rose clutched her white hood tighter around her withering frame and dove nearly head first into the portal — a weak gasp ripping from her lips upon finding herself caught before summer could hit the floor. those eyes. she could never forget those eyes.

     it wasn’t even the pain that was unbearable, however. it was what was being transferred to her. who knew that when you used atlas technology to connect two souls as if they were a phone line together, you would experience dramatic effects throughout your... entire being, really. ruby felt another rush of anger surging through her veins. she attempted to, very literally, shake it away and incurred the wrath of her surgery wound once more.

     as ruby pushed through the door, she felt a spark of surprise, and then the primal anger writing from its chain of restraint, unable to stifle the shaking in her fingers. she gripped her fingers together, clenching her teeth.

     once, she asked herself, how could someone who’s human harbor such ROTTING hatred for another?

     then she saw cinder, lying against the frame of their bed, their eyes flaring with a fire that would raze entire villages, and she understood what hatred was. how it polluted the soul.

     ruby reflected it back in her eyes as she stared into cinder’s, and reminded her of how silver they were. ( she wondered if this small piece of spite was a part of cinder’s influence, too. )

     ❝ you know throwing a tantrum isn’t going to get you out of this, ❞ ruby finally said. ❝ so is experiencing murderous intent every second of the day. i don’t care if if i don’t sleep at all if it means calming your insane temper down. ❞

cinder vc: i will murder you Now .