Distractions

Twenty-Five: Church One and Church Two

Before you ask, Alex, I did include the 'time is a social construct' phrase you wanted me to include. Don't worry.

Also, this chapter is entirely chaos and panic and references that I'm sure only a few of you will get. Especially considering one of the references is for a story I haven't *actually* started writing chapters for, and the other reference(s) is for a story with only one part that I published recently so it hasn't gained much traction yet. But don't worry if you don't understand the references, you don't have to have any knowledge of where the references come from to find entertainment in the interactions.

Trigger Warnings: Implied near drowning, panic attack, near death

Trigger warning: Implied near drowning

Coats floated around her like a billowing cloak as Everest swam desperately for shore. Her faded purple hair was plastered to her head and she wasn't quite sure if the liquid running down her face was water or tears. It didn't matter in the long run though, so long as it wasn't blood.

The shoreline was getting clearer, and Everest could vaguely make out the outline of fishing boats and docks. She hoped that there was someone there, preferably someone with a phone.

She finally made it to land, soaked and heavy with water and all the layers she had put on in a desperate attempt to escape the cold on Valentine's ship. She was gasping for air now; she hadn't swam like that in years. She could touch the bottom now, and once she could kneel without her torso being underwater, she let herself collapse onto the dirt at the water's edge.

"Miss? Miss? Blaise! Someone's in the water!"

Everest's eyes began to close as two people ran towards her. She forced her eyes open when two faintly blurry faces hovered over her. They looked rather similar with the same eye shape and hair color, though the one on the left had a rather large amount of childhood chubbiness left in his face, though it made his large, doe-like brown eyes all that much cuter. The one on the right had a sort of steeliness in her eyes that made Everest wonder what had happened in her life that caused her to guard herself so much.

"Kid, you gotta stay awake," the one on the right said harshly, though worry slipped through into her words.

Everest sighed and her eyes began to close again. "'M tired," she mumbled.

"I know you're tired, but you have to stay awake. I'm not going to jail because some kid decided to die while I was on the same dock."

Everest tried to smile—this person was funny—but she was too tired from everything that had happened recently.

"No, Kid, don't close your eyes. No. Shit. Don't go to sleep. Don't go night night, out like a light! Shit!"

"Night night, out like a light?" the other voice, much younger than the other, asked with a small laugh, despite the situation.

"Shut it Peter. Not now."

The last thing Everest heard before giving into exhaustion was, "Does she look familiar to you?"

Trigger Warning Over

...

When Everest woke up, she was still by the docks. Only now, she was lying on her side in grey sweatpants and a white sweatshirt on a bench overlooking the docks.

"You're awake, good." Everest looked up to see the girl from earlier approaching with a glare and scowl. "I wasn't looking forward to explaining to Peter that he watched a kid die."