Private Nightmares

[Eira Talon]

Eira could not account for how she had gotten here, only that the walls were made of plastic and the men came in suits. Infected, they had called her. Then healed the next. She did not know what they had done to her, she did not know what had changed. Images of crazed men and women kept flickering beneath her eyelids. Were they infected?

Were they even real?

She could not find her voice to ask. The world spun and turned over in its wake.

The city burned again. The world cried. She lived the moment on repeat-- unseen blows landing on her, keeping her down. Her limbs would not respond. Her sister floated, a dark angel. The ground fell in on itself, eating the world. Screams, pain, her wolf, bubbles. The nightmare ran on inside her fevered dreams. A large concussion was all it had boiled down to, dealt by a creature composed of blood and gore.

The infection had been caught early. Darth Metus' cure did its work before any damage could be dealt. Still, this was so new. So dangerous, so deadly... Eira's life was a miracle. She did not grasp this concept as she opened her eyes for a final time. Her setting had changed once again. No more plastic. No more hazmat suits. The crisp clean walls across from her remained steady... her limbs surged with coordinated strength. She took a deep breath in and out, reason returning to her.

Oh no.

Srina.

She surged up, her ivory form barely contained inside a flimsy hospital gown as she threw herself towards the doors. She found them locked. From the outside. Her eyes grew wide, a fist coming to slam on their cold, metal surface.

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

Eira Talon

“Repeat the test, immediately.”

“Exarch, Lady Talon, if I may—”

“—You may not.”

Cold eyes sent the lizard-like physician headed out of the waiting area in a flurry. The tails of his white lab coat billowed while he grumbled in three different alien dialects about the small, pink, slip of a woman-child that thought to order him around in his own facility. It didn’t change the fact that he would in fact test a sample of the patients’ blood that he had secluded in room two-ninety-two for the fifth time. The Exarch required it, harmless, that it was, so it would be.

“I will see her.”

The reptile from some far-flung world called Trandosha. He stopped mid-step. Turned. Slowly. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. She isn’t in quarantine any longer but she is ordered to isolation for several more days. It’s a necessary precaution.”

The same cold, hard stare sent shivers down his green and scaly spine.

“I will see her.”

None of this woman budged. Not her tone, nor her order. Srina rose from a seated position, coming to her full height, which wasn’t much, but her presence was enough to make the doctor think twice. Her will was a force of nature; a tsunami bearing down on a defenseless shoreline.

“No, Exarch. You cannot.”

“I will.”

“You will not.”

“I will.”

In the end, a compromise needed to be reached. Srina, would not back down. Dr. Fel’nack was equally stubborn, however, he wasn’t suicidal. He could only hope that the lab results came back quickly in regards to the younger Talon’s blood work. He could only get negative so many times, however, it was his job to ensure that he wasn’t unleashing another epidemic. “As soon as the final round comes back and Ms. Eira is officially cleared—We will move her to a less secure building. More accommodating, less sterile. We have to ensure she isn’t a threat to the general public.”

“Then get to work, doctor. The clock is ticking.”

In reality, Srina knew that nothing good would come of flustering the medic that was seeing to the well-being of her sister, however, she had been trapped in here far too long. Alone. Visitation was so restricted that it had taken every single string she had in the Confederacy just to watch her through secure transparisteel while she slept.

Atrisia was supposed to have been a learning experience. Now, it was just something that had potentially scarred Eira. Damaged her. Hurt her. Srina was beyond frustrated because she’d been powerless to stop it. Just as she couldn’t stop Maliphant from getting hurt. It left a painful ache on the back of her sternum. Powerful, and all-consuming. Guilt. Ah, she had that in spades. Neither of them would have been on Atrisia were it not for her.

What was likely only hours felt like days.

Eventually, an orderly in a pale blue uniform came to take her to see Eira. Supposedly, she had woken up. Srina wore formal clothing in sweeping shades of navy blue with gold metallic accents. If it looked like she had just come from a meeting with the Viceroy? She had. Ever since she’d been released, uninfected, from her own quarantine—The Confederacy had been a whirlwind. Budgeting her time was all she could do just to try and keep up.

As they walked down the hall of a secure ward Srina could hear several thuds on the doors. Did the patients even know why they were here? Had staff spoken to them at all about the circumstances? She frowned. She didn’t like the thought of Eira waking up this way. The orderly handed her some clothing, light, but better than a paper gown. A white shift with soft white canvas shoes.

When the door opened, Srina moved ahead, forgoing protocol.

She wrapped her arms around Eira in a flash. One moment, she stood the door. The next? Her face pressed against her sister’s pale locks. The orderly didn’t even have a moment to breathe.

“…Vinimo…” [**little one/dear-one]

 

[Eira Talon]

At first there was confusion. Disbelief. Facts muddled, her memory... felt untrustworthy. There were no answers, but over time, she found explanations in the setting all around her.

And it terrified her.

It wasn't that she wasn't strong, it wasn't that she wasn't brave-- she told herself this over and over as she felt a quiver build up through her body. It was just that she didn't know. The unknown. The coldness of the room, the solitude. Eira had never faced a day alone in her life. She didn't like it. It drove its way under her skin, undermining that vow she made to Srina that day in her bedroom. Proving herself meant staying strong. Or Srina-...

Srina.

Her dead sister. How could she not be? The unknown built up into panic that clawed its way through her chest. It was like a monster-- one of those monsters was still stuck inside of her, clawing and peeling-- her fingers tore at her neck as the panic tried to find a way out of her. And it nearly did when suddenly...

A familiar...

Warmth...

Engulfed her...

Silencing it all.

The room's door stood open. Unlocked on the outside, she supposed. A doctor stood flabbergasted in, watching as... Srina hugged her. And with that realization, a wave of unprecedented relief washed over her. She melted into her sister's arms, groping at Srina desperately. She was here. She was here. Alive. Here. Eira's palms were tactile with sweat as they fluttered tightly over Srina's back.

The shudders that had been building found their release inside her sister's arms.

She was safe.

Tears fell, how could they not. Later she would curse them and begrudge herself for letting them pass, but in that moment there was no space for pride or ego. She sobbed, crushing herself into her sister's chest.

"I thought you were dead."