Free Me

On Your Own

Deanna had a secure building waiting for everyone in the middle of the city, the structure strong thanks to both magical and other more human means. It was a safe place from the old one's wrath, at least for now. It wouldn't completely stop them but it would at least slow them down if they tried an attack. Lost was glad for it, and kept Kahlan, Tiffany, Gerry, Cas, Emma, and Mariam inside. Cas, of course, hated being cooped up inside, but she understood the threat and agreed to be bodyguard while Lost was gone. And Lost was gone often over the course of a week. She was not only being deployed to help supernatural mishaps courtesy of the old one's presence, but she also spent many hours with Deanna and the council trying to come up with a solid idea to deal with the old ones.

Now, Lost was deep underground, sitting in a room with Deanna and multiple screens with the faces of the other council members on them. Lost chewed on her bottom lip and tapped at the pristine table in front of her. She had thought of a solid idea three days ago, but it was risky and she had promised Kahlan that she wouldn't go rogue unless it was necessary. She was waiting for one of the council members to come up with a plan even remotely worthy.

"Sacrifices, I say," the council member on the far left screen rumbled. He was an elderly man, human, and was concerned with saving the whole rather than any individual. He had been suggesting ritual sacrifices for the last week.

Lost sighed and splayed her fingers over the table top. "I already explained that won't work. Silence yourself or I'll rip out your tongue." She kept her face calm even as the human scoffed and the other council members chuckled in delight. They weren't too fond of the human amongst them, and enjoyed Lost's cool viciousness. Lost was only trying to speed up the damned process and get some real ideas floating around.

"Another exorcism then," the middle screen said. It was a vampire, young of face. Lost had yet to know any of the member's names. "It would have worked, right, if you hadn't misfired?"

"Yes," Lost admitted, "but they will be ready next time. They'll know how to combat me."

"Who said you'd be the one doing the ritual?"

Lost breathed in as the screens in front of her went silent. She sat straight in her chair and eyed each council members one at a time. "I need to be present. They loathe me. My presence will ensure theirs."

"If they loathe you so much," the shifter said, "then why don't we hand you over and finish this?"

A hard slap to the table silenced the murmurs of agreement, and Lost said, "And when they have me? What will stop them, then? Who will? The only reason they haven't caved the earth in is because they want me to suffer first."

"We're all suffering," the human boomed, "because of you. All these days the world has gone into complete chaos because you couldn't follow a simple command. You should be executed."

Lost growled low. "You are all hiding. It's not my fault you thought you could control old ones with- with riddles!"

"It kept us all safe!"

"It kept you lazy!" Lost sighed and returned to her seat, having stood in a huff. She flicked her eyes to Deanna, who was sitting quietly, then returned her stare to the screens. "Look, I've humored you all for more than a week now. None of you know anything about handling real situations. I have an idea, an actual idea that will work, but it's not a solution. It will only bottle the old ones for some decades, a century if we're lucky. That's the best I can do right now."

The vampire leaned forward in her screen. "Why should we trust this plan of yours when your others have failed?"

"Because I'll be the only one in any kind of danger. I'll be doing this of my free will. If I succeed, you'll get what you want. If I die, well, you can try your other stupid ideas and see where you get."