Aurea Venen Part 2

..:: AUREA VENEN || PART 2 || SERZAH & CYNN ::..

To this day, I'm still not sure how everything could have gone so wrong. Not even a year ago I was just a normal girl, living a normal life in this city -- now a shitty shadow of its former self. I had a place to call home, a stable family, and numerous friends. Yet as I stretched my arms, the dark metal extremities whining from the motion, none of it seemed to really matter anymore. The city went to shit and became infested with abominations of man-made origin, bringing terror and slaughter in their wake. That's what I've become a part of, in a single instance that I can't even remember happening, and it's now my 'normality'. I imagine that's what it feels like to wake up in a holding cell one day and find you've turned into a monster with black metal shit for limbs; not to mention the...urges. Of the friends I had, the ones who weren't already dead, I'd probably end up tearing to pieces myself -- or worse.

The chair I'm sitting in -- as comfortably as I can manage -- creaks a bit as I lean back against it, the leather rather cold against my bare back. Aside from my legs and shoulders, that was the only place this excuse for a magical girl costume didn't cover. It could be worse, arguably, but that doesn't stop it from being rather detestable to wear. It even has all this frilly stuff on the front which just gets in the way. It'd be fine if you were wearing it to look cute, maybe even a bit sexy, but in battle the results would probably not be as attractive.

I rake the metal claws through a portion of my hair, being careful not to accidentally gouge myself as I've done in the past, when I hear a rustle at the doorway.

In a blur of motion, a length of black metal pierced through the chair and stretched to the doorway, said length being one of the two tails idly swaying around me prior. The fleshy crunch behind me confirmed that I had hit on the mark, and I turned to look at the unfortunate victi--oh...

"...That makes for the second time jus' ta'day, Serzah! Ya' kiddin' me!?" The small girl with the large hypodermic needle now jammed through her right thigh placed her hands against her hips. What could be seen of her brow behind the mask she 'wore' was clearly furrowed. I sighed in relief after realizing who I had just impaled, the rather nasty wound I had inflicted on her wasn't showing any signs of bleeding.

"You should know better by now not to sneak around in the dark like that, Cynn. I'm still on edge after the last dirty little Calli that tried to kill me. Ahh~ She sure was pretty cute though once I /stripped/ her of her stealthing~"

With a rather sickeningly moist pop, the needle was pulled back out, returning to join its fidgeting twin. My hand slid along its segmented form, curving it around to my lap where I began to meticulously clean off what gore did end up on it with a nearby rag. Even monsters should keep their weapons in good shape. "I apologize though, only because you're cute."

"'Cause I'm cute..." She reiterated, still sounding rather peeved with me, "...saying that may work on me, but it won't get'cha out of every bit of trouble ya' bring upon ya'self. Also, I was'n sneakin' around, I was coming ta' say hello, for ya' information." After she finished her lecture, she walked over to me, flopping her small frame straight into my lap. Her leg was already completely healed, as if the wound had never existed in the first place, as expected of a fellow Ven.

"Hey, I'm trying to clean your blood and shit from my tail, move it." I chided her, which just made her twist and wiggle around, splaying herself across the combination of my lap and the chair's armrests. "Nope, this is ya' punishment for ya' mistake. It's what'cha get for makin' me waste meds, ya' know." It wasn't possible to tell through the large beak-shaped mask, but I knew underneath it she must have had some sort of smirk on her face just from the tone of her voice. I scowled down at her a bit, before relenting and going back to my tail cleaning, small girl in the way or not.

"Gotta say though, ya' lap is pretty comfy, what with all the metal bits an' such. Bit stiff, but otherwise comfy."

"No one asked you. You're lucky that you're wearing that mask." I said with a small grin plastered on my face.

"I'm lucky? That's a pretty random thing ta' say." Her fingers coming up to fiddle with the edge of the large hole in the mask's design. It was the only portion that didn't cover her face, primarily focused on her left eye. "I like ta' think that this mask is ma' best fea'cha, not ta' mention it looks cool."

"Let's just say I don't think I'd be able to hold back. Thus why I say you're lucky~"

"Oh my, how intimidatin', ya'd do such terrible things ta' ya' close an' only friend, eh?"

"You say I don't have any other friends as if it were a bad thing. If I wasn't concerned with poking an eye out, I'd kiss you right now as return punishment." The clawed finger of my right hand came up to prod against the white stained apron of Cynn's costume, making a point to not accidentally tear the fabric with it. "You'd better watch your butt, sis."

"Hehehe, always such a kidda'." She giggled, giving my cheek a playful slap with her hand. I was silently glad she wasn't an Ever, as that would have stung like a bitch if she was. Trust me, you never want to be slapped by an Ever--ever. "So have ya' seen any of the other sista's around? They've been pretty quiet lately, ya'?"

I shook my head after briefly considering if I had or not. It had only been a few months since the incident, so most of the surviving sisters were probably laying low, now that they'd tasted their freedom. Once the chaos from all the gangs and the few remaining magical girls died down completely, that would be the time to return to the playing field. At least, that's what I had decided was the most appropriate course of action, and I imagine Cynn agreed. "Nah, haven't seen them at all. In a way, I sort of don't want to."

Cynn's facial movements hinted at a mixture of a frown and confusion -- mostly confusion. "Why? They're our sista's, they are'n interested in hurtin' us, and we could even work togetha' to survive!" Upon the exclamation, she threw her arms above her head, her way of emphasizing the optimistic declaration. The way she said these sorts of things was so adorable, that it made me wish I wasn't such a pessimist sometimes.

"I know, but who knows how long that'll last? Right now, at least, I don't think it's a good idea at all. Too many people are jumpy and itching to kill, best to just leave them to their own devices until the flames die out."

"Mmmm.... I suppose ya' have a point, especially some o' them... Pretty craz--" I suddenly held up a finger to my lips, signaling her to be quiet. It was pretty faint but I'm sure I heard voices down the hall, and this being an abandoned building, could only mean company.

After a moment longer, sure enough, it sounded like a group of people were walking towards our side of the floor. I gave Cynn a further signal for her to duck behind something and hide, and she slipped off my lap to do such. As for myself, I moved behind the musty bookshelf adjacent to the door, as quietly as my metal legs could allow me to that is. My tails were curved back, ready to greet anyone who decided to poke their face a little too far through the door frame.

"All right, bitches, listen up. This is as good as place as any to hole up for the night, but you gotta make damn well sure it's clear first. Don't fuck this up or you won't wake up in the morning, evac is coming to bring us out of this hellhole at 0700 sharp, got that!?" The voice echoed down the hall very clearly, not too far away from my position.

"Yes ma'am!"

Oh great, it's a squad of them. Fucking brilliant.