GRIM REAPER¹, bellamy blake

091 ━━ a deal with the devil

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"WHAT DO you want from me, Alie?" Iona quizzed hesitantly. The way the woman smile sickened her- she truly despised it. It sent shivers down her spine, truly, and Iona just couldn't seem to place why.

"I need your help," Alie said blankly. She began walking towards one of the buildings, not looking back- she knew Iona would follow.

Iona kept her pace slow as she glanced around, on the alert as if something- or someone- would jump her within seconds of her catching up to the woman. "What exactly do you need my help with?"

"There are people that want to destroy what we have created," Alie said, no emotion to her voice whatsoever. "They want to rip your imagination- your world- from you."

Iona appeared confused at first, completely lost as to what exactly the woman meant. Instead of replying, she merely gestured around, wordlessly telling Iona that this place inside her mind was what they wished to destroy.

"Why would they want to do that?" Iona stuttered out. Her heart clenched at the idea of losing this fantasy- but, at the same time, she feared being completely absorbed into it. She loved her sister, her kid (despite just meeting her), and Bellamy.

She didn't want to lose them, but she also knew it wasn't right for her to have them in the first place.

Alie tilted her head slightly, as if trying to configure the words to say. Everything about the woman seemed fake and forced, and Iona questioned if she was even human- or in the slightest bit, at least.

"Some people find our methods of meditation... impractical," Alie finally said. She glanced around, "They do not like the fact that we can treat the pain better than medicine and use our imaginations to create-" the world around them shifted with a wave of her hand, "-the future."

Iona glanced around, astounded.

Instead of the modernized colony she'd found herself in before, she now stood at the foot of some large tower. It was colorful, almost too colorful as if it jumped right out of some old comic book. The design was strange, too, but it impressed Iona nonetheless.

Iona breathed, "That's- this is incredible."

Alie didn't smile. She merely glanced around, too, seeming less than impressed by her own works of her imagination. Instead, she appeared bored- impatient, even, like Iona had completely drawn her off track and was dancing around the topic.

Which, in a sense, was true, but it wasn't by Iona's choice. Something within her was still so distrusting- still hurt- and wouldn't allow her to just go along with whatever the mysterious woman said.

She needed something solid to work with.

"Yes, well, this is where you come into play," Alie said. At once, the scene changed again, flashing with dummies she could train against, and an assortment of katanas upon a rack. "I have heard you are deadly with a weapon, yes?"

Iona didn't move. She looked around, impressed but bored, as she noticed her katana was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah," Alie hummed, a knowing look coming over her face, "how rude of me."

Instantly, the weapon fabricated in Iona's hand, and she felt herself surge with power- it was a new feeling, almost similar to that of an electric shock, and it almost made her drop the katana as unease settled deep within her.

It was as if Alie could see Iona's reluctance or smell it in the air. She wasn't on board yet, and she could tell- she wasn't even going to consider being her soldier any time soon.

Getting fed up, Alie sighed out of impatience, and put a tight-lipped smile on her face. The scene changed again, and Iona furrowed her brows as they now stood in some glass box, staring into the room Iona had been in before- the one with Reina and Bellamy.

A subtle softness overtook Iona's features, and Alie smiled- pleased- as she realized she had just discovered the woman's weakness.

Strong or not, there was always one thing someone had that controlled their heartstrings. For Iona, it was the prospect of her having a child, a husband, and her sister still alive and well, as they sought a life beyond war- beyond bloodshed.

Alie turned to Iona, who tried to hide the flashing of her eyes as she stared longingly at the scene, desperately wishing she was there with them.

"If you help me, you can spend as much time with them as you want," Alie said, and Iona swallowed thickly. Alie's face then hardened, "If you don't, you will never see them again; Reina's unborn, you're still fighting Bellamy, and your sister's still in a grave."

Iona was furious.

She was furious because the woman had done exactly what she knew she'd do. She'd backed herself into a corner and allowed Alie the perfect opportunity to strike- she should've known better by now.

Still, Iona was reminded that she was weak and vulnerable deep down, and she growled out angrily, turning to Alie.

The woman merely raised a brow as soon as Iona appeared close to retaliating, and within seconds, her stomach wounds had returned to her and she was crying out, dropping to the floor as a painful cry escaped her lips.

"Choose wisely," Alie remarked, but Iona knew she didn't have a choice.

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