Empty Chains ✔️ | #ONC2019

| Chapt. Ten | Necessary Fury |

The underworld comes back to me in faint color as the dusk lighting filters in through a balcony I don't remember having. With the air so still, tiny particles of dust float undisturbed in the glow of a moon with various colors reflecting on its surface.

Eternal Darkness.

In the vague light, my eyes blink open to establish the strange brightness of color inside my closet. Familiar pieces of blue and green, largely cardigans and a few pairs of jeans all come into focus.

Demetri had followed through on his unnecessary promise, bringing me some semblance of home. Almost knowing exactly what would bring me any sense of calm, no matter how awful it felt to know I might not ever get to wear them again. Alive or dead.

The small sympathy means the world to me.

The pants to my discarded uniform are crumpled on the ground, the tight fabric still clinging to me more than uncomfortable.

Without thinking, I get up and pry the leathery fibers from my body and throw them on top of the pants. I find a loose large shirt and pull it on, stumbling out to find food.

A tiny shriek shakes me when my eyes land on Demetri reading a newspaper. He merely raises a brow in my direction but doesn't look. "You're going to need more than underwear for the next trial, Doll."

I scoff and glance behind me. "So what? I get to parade around like a ninja again?"

"I figured you were a coffee person," he smirks. Still respectfully averting his gaze, Demetri tosses a finger towards a steaming mug. "I had some made to curb your appetite and keep that tongue on a leash."

"How thoughtful," I smile begrudgingly, his playful nature melting away my serious and all around bitter mood.

Without thinking too much of it, I go back and pull on the stretched suit and adjust in the uncomfortable leather. After a time, I won't feel it anyway.

We don't talk for a few minutes, but his attention doesn't change until I'm fully dressed and holding the caffeine in hand.

Demetri's eyes are searing today, the golden light laced with daggers slicing everywhere they land. Raw anger - perhaps something more aligned with hurt - dwells there. The sympathy once drawing out the best in me coils up and retreats like a snake.

A hundred questions whisper in my mind but all that comes out stings worse. "Are we going then?"

He nods, rising from the couch and escorting me firmly from the apartment. I notice, however, his touch as gentle as normal resting in the small of my back.

We skip the dining hall.

I'm led to a room I've never been to before in a hallway that looks ancient and unfamiliar. Demetri's frame is stiff, shoulder squared and full outfit on today. His cape flutters behind him and brushes up against my calves every so often.

Taking the last few sips from my coffee and setting it on a table as we pass, I try studying him for some further answer, but the Reaper yields nothing to me.

We enter a strange room, black marble like all the rest and he shoves the door closed behind me. It's empty. Of course, everything is worse than it seems to my eyes, but I can't help but wonder what theatrics this specific space is programmed with.

He stops to face me, dead in the middle of a circle. I bump into his shoulder ever so slightly.

Demetri looks at me and sighs, eyes cooling down to a simmer. "Your challenge today will not be easy, but I cannot stomach letting you enter without some practice first."