Make sure to vote for this chapter if you like it. Also listen to the song "Futile Devices" in the last part of the story. Happy reading! <3

We land on the outskirts of a beach. Sunset beaming on the horizon with waves shifting forward and back. If exhaustion and the threat of death weren't plaguing my mind, this could be romantic. Before we do anything else I have to change my name. Anyone can find me if they look in their binder. Since I'm a co-creator I can contact Eta and get her to make the change.

"What would you like me to change it to?" she asks.

I tell her the only name that comes to mind. One of the last pleasant memories that made me feel strong and happy. "Lioness."

I also message Tsezguerra about the Bomber and what happened so he can prepare, but I don't bother checking for his responses. It's all I can do to keep standing.

Once I get off my phone, Abengane and I walk up the island's strip. "Is there a significance to that name?" he asks.

"Yes, but it's private. Let's just concentrate on getting that bomb off your shoulder. We're looking for a wambari, because their body produces a parasite that can dissolve solid and sizable materials."

He looks at me skeptically. "Solid as a bomb? Without causing it to explode?"

"I've seen their bile dissolve rocks, so I think you're covered. We just have to make sure the bomb's wires are disabled and don't cause the countdown to speed up," I respond.

"Is there a point if I'll be dissolved along with it?" Abengane mutters.

"You should be fine as long as we remove the bomb quick enough. Allies are supposed to trust each other, right?"

Thankfully, that shuts him up. As we enter the rainforest I remember when Ging and I started researching creatures, their strengths and weaknesses, how they moved, what challenges they'd be good for on the island. I remember the wambari are pack animals, omnivores, never forget a scent. The last time we researched them, they were by cliffs near the beach. They're attracted to the smell of salt water and sea creatures to feed on. With any luck, they'll be here and a few will recognize me. They're proud creatures who can't be approached too quickly.

"Walk up to them slowly and only after I signal you. We don't want to scare them off or provoke them," I instruct.

Once we walk up to the cliff, I see a childling, a young wambari. It's dangerous to go up to their babies, so we wait until the mother and a few others come out. I believe they're the ones Bisky, the boys, and I set free. Some of the scars and tears in their wings are invisible. They're still beautiful with gold in their wings and eagle eyes.

I step out and bow before them, they bow back. When I'm within touching distance, I stroke their spines to help them stay calm. A few coo at me, rub their wings against my shoulders. Their statuesque, jaguar-like bodies gleam in the leftover daylight. I wave a hand for Abengane to move closer. "Make sure to bow."

He does so awkwardly and waits for them to invite him in.

"Pet one of them on the spine."

He hesitates, but slowly draws out his hand, to a male wambari who's a head taller than the rest and stares at Abengane sharply out of the corner of his eye. "Soft and slow," I guide him, placing my hand over his. Eventually the creature leans into the touch and places his head on top of Abengane. We both giggle as feathers cover his face. "Now guide him out toward the cliff."

Abengane's eyes grow wide at the suggestion. "What?"

"Stay calm. Remember, countdown speeds up if your heartrate goes up." I notice my hand stroking his more than the creature's back. "You're going to have to fly him—"

Abengane's eyes widen as he shakes his head. "I can't."

"Be quiet and listen. You'll have to ride him over the water. Steer him down and help him find a sizable fish, then bring him back here so he can eat. He'll spit up bile to break up the fish's body and from there—"

"We'll use the parasites from a chunk of fish to eat through the bomb," he finishes my sentence and rolls his eyes. "How do steer him out there?"

I pet down the sides of two neighboring wambari. "Pet his stomach til it grumbles, then firmly place your hand on top of his neck and guide him forward to the cliff and mount him. You'll steer him by pressing your hands and thighs into his body in the direction you want to go."

Abengane looks at the beast like it's about to bite his head off.

"You got this," I tell him.

As they take off into the sky, I start to see double and feel light-headed. The tension in my body's catching up to me. But I can't give into it right now, there's still so much to do. I have to help the other members dismantle their bombs before it's too late. I can't imagine they have more than a day to make a decision and who knows how temperamental Genthru's feeling. Whether they give him what he wants or not, I'm certain he'll kill them either way.

Abengane and the wambari glide through the air. It takes him a minute to adjust, but once he gets comfortable, I can tell he's enjoying himself. They soar through the clouds for a few minutes before coming down near the water. The animal's talons begin surging through the water. Abengane grips its neck when it catches its prey then lifts back up into the air. It appears to be a large catfish, navy blue scales up top and a silver underbelly. It wriggles wildly trying to get free, but the wambari's nails dig further into its body until blood and water trickles out. It's dead by the time he drop its body on the cliff.

"That was awesome," Abengane says with a smile.

"I'm sure it was."

His head leans to the side as he looks at me. "Are you alright? Your eyes are bloodshot."

I laugh half-heartedly. "Thanks for noticing. I'll be fine. Let's get to the fish before they devour it."

Other wambari gather around the fish. It's at least 30 pounds. I can't believe he picked it up with such ease. The feathers on his neck begin to ruffle as the bile comes up. "Take off your jacket the instant you feel the bomb loosen," I command. The bile comes out as a golden phlegm that the creature spits on several parts of the fish. When I reach down for the tail, it's like he can read my mind and allows a few drops of bile onto the tail until it breaks off.

In case this goes bad, I take Abengane's hand and run into the rainforest so nothing happens the wambari. Once we clear enough distance, I smear the liquid along the wires and edges of the bomb and watch the parasites slowly eat through it. Abengane's nen fires up and covers all of him except the area with the bomb. "Turn on your Ken," he tells me.

Why didn't I think of that? I turn it on, feeling the clear aura shroud me. Hopefully it'll come off quick. I'm too exhausted to use this function for long. All the buttons of his coat are already undone, we both just wait for him to rip it off. The countdown speeds up, but I know he's doing his best to stay calm.

The wambari focus on feasting on the fish except the childling who watches us curiously. My eyes keep seeing double and I have to blink to keep my vision clear. We're about 20 feet away from it, far enough where the blast shouldn't touch him if it gets to that point. I should be fine, but if the bomb stays attached to Abengane, best case scenario is he'll lose an arm. I say these things to keep calm, but the truth is, I don't know shit, the full extent of the Bomber's powers are unknown to me. All we have is hope at this point.

"It's loosening its grip!" he says, taking off his jacket. I watch the parasites eat through the wires and break down the exterior of the bomb. It begins to smoke.

"You should get out of here. Just in case," he tells me.

My eyes stay on the parasites and wires. "I'm not going anywhere." Once they start burrowing into his coat, I can't take it anymore. "Rip it off!"

He attempts to pull the sleeve off, but it's still stuck. From his grunts I can tell it's burning him. Yet his hand remains, pulling, waiting for the opportunity to remove it. Fuck. What if this doesn't work and the parasites start eating his arm? Why didn't I think about that?

The screen of the bomb cracks and a few sparks come out but it doesn't blow, it cakes in on itself as if it's deteriorating. Abengane's jacket flies to the floor and he takes my hand and runs away in the direction of the wambari on the cliff. The evening stays quiet and the animals eat unbothered as we wait for an explosion that never comes.

"I think we're safe," he says.

When I look at him, he's wearing a black wifebeater with lean muscular arms. There are some blood and burn marks from the bomb, but it doesn't look like the parasites got on him. The grass beneath our feet is thick and lush and I decide to use its aura to heal him. I aim one hand towards the ground and put the other on his chest. My vision grows dark as I focus on his blood and the broken bits of skin. The aura rushes through my body to his. It doesn't take long since his wounds are minor, but my body begins to shut down when I'm done, like a lever's been switched off inside me. My legs give out, torso, arms. Abengane falls down beside me, lips moving, but his voice and the rest of the world fade away.

*

TRIGGER WARNING: Scene Contains Body Mutilation

Raindrop falls down a petal then reverses and rolls back into the leaf. I feel the doctors' metal instruments cut my womb open. It is the worse set of cramps I've ever experienced. The stitches felt like thorny stems roping my skin together. The T shape along my lower abdomen reminds me of a zipper I'm afraid the doctors will open again without my permission. I have nothing to fight them with, I signed a contract taking my rights away. What they took was now their property. I couldn't even ask what they'd do with it.

I went to them willingly, let them hurt me, hoping the white doctors would correct my skin and spine, my hair, my face, my everything...but they stole more of me than they repaired. Empty and desperate I didn't want to admit failure. If I could just be beautiful then people would treat me better, papa might want to be around me more, mama wouldn't hit me if I had a face for affection. The world would treat me like flowers, treat me like a lady instead of a disease, keep me clean and precious.

"If you were dumb enough to let them touch you, you deserve whatever sorrow they buried in your body," mama told me.

I don't know why I expected sympathy from her, for her to be someone she never was. My want got the best of me. But I wasn't ready to admit failure. If I tried harder, I could make myself into who the world wanted me to be. Hidden deep in the forest was a witch doctor that children had been warned to stay away from. But what other options did I have?

In the dead of night, I snuck out to the old woman's hut, scared of what beasts might jump out at me, unaware that the most dangerous beast was the woman I was going to see. I took the little of my mother's savings and jewelry that I could find around our home. She wouldn't be able to stay mad at my new face.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" the witch doctor asked before letting me into her home.

I nodded.

"Strip and get on the table" she said after getting paid.

Her home was littered with horns, bones, powders, bowls and vases full of rancid smelling concoctions.

She grabbed a glass bottle and knife from her kitchen. "This will not be over quickly. It will be the worst pain you ever experience. But that's the price of Ori, the goddess of earth, love, and fertility. It's not much considering she takes on a lifetime of your ugliness and lends you some of her beauty in return. The blood you leave behind is the goddess's ransom. The money and jewels are mine." She ran a tapered finger along my whole body and rested a palm on my stomach where the scars were. "Someone took your womb."

"Yes," I responded.

"Shame. Ori doesn't like damaged offerings." Her fingers trickled along my underripe breasts. "I will have to carve the prayer into your skin and," she spreads my legs and cups my sex, "here. Do not scream. It will only make things worse. Bite down on this instead."

That night, a blade became my first lover. It was not kind, soft, or considerate. I let it go wherever it wanted, listened to every command because I didn't want to face more of its fury. It tasted my flesh, blood, tears and called it prayer. The pain couldn't be masked by the bone that eventually cracked between my teeth. In order to keep my limbs in place for fear of being struck deeper the only thing I allowed to move was my breath. But the agony of being carved between my legs was another world, one that no scream was big enough to fill. The cries flew out of my mouth like birds before I even knew what I was doing.

The witch doctor reached up and grabbed my throat, causing my blood to ooze more along the table. "Remember, you were the one who wanted this. Now shut up and be grateful for your blessings."

When the cutting stopped, she poured a black fluid into the wounds that burned and filled me with flame and smoke. Her hand remained over my mouth until my voice disappeared. In those moments, my body ceased to be mine and became the goddess's. My bones cracked, skin smoothed, teeth aligned. Every crookedness in my body was straightened with fire. The old woman breathed on each part of me as if to extinguish the flame and turn me back into flesh and bone.

End Of Scene

My last memory of the old woman was being thrown out of her hut, feeling as though I were filled with pins and needles. The pain was almost blinding, caused me to stumble forward. Ging slept in the fields, told me he liked going to bed with the stars. He was the only person I could think of who'd have mercy on me at that hour. He was also the closest to reach.

When he heard me approach, he unsheathed a knife, thinking I was a predator. In reality, I was wounded prey in need of protecting. My knees buckled and gave out when I saw him, but he caught me before I landed on the ground. His eyes became wild and big with fear when he saw me. "What happened to you? Why are you naked and covered with blood?"

I looked down at my arms and chest realizing he was right. The ache of my body distracted me from seeing what state I was in. I could tell he was embarrassed to look at me or hold me in that state, but none of that mattered. Even though it hurt more when he held me, I didn't want him to let go. I needed to feel something outside myself that wasn't suffering. Squeezing me tight, he knew I needed that moment of closeness.

"Am I beautiful now?" I ask, my tears staining his shirt.

Ging laid back in the grass with me and stroked my hair. "You were always beautiful to me."

*

"Oby! Oby! Wake up!"

When I open my eyes, I see the collar of Abengane's shirt clutched in my hand. We're suspended in mid-air, fragments of rock and earth float around us. I've resurfaced from darkness similar to when we were in the bar. The rage has returned, but this time it feels like a mask for hurt and sadness. I let go of Abengane and watch him and everything in the around us drop to the ground. The wambari have cleared out, probably sensed danger whenever this started happening. I touch back of the floor, on my hand and knees. "I'm sorry."

He sits up and straightens his shirt. "It's okay. I take it you were having a nightmare."

"Of sorts." The sun is shining bright above us. Another day sits on my shoulders. "How long was I out?"

"About 10 hours," he responds.

My back tenses as I stand up. "Why didn't you wake me sooner? We have to help the others."

He holds up his hand. "Oby, wait—"

"No. They're almost out of time and I've just been sitting here getting my beauty rest."

"It was much needed. You looked like you were running yourself ragged for days and your body finally shut down and forced you to get the sleep you've been avoiding."

"You'd avoid it too if you had a past like mine. One that haunts you whenever you slow down for too long."

"But now it's hindering your work. While your nen is powerful, maybe even growing stronger, you don't have control of it. And that's causing you to be a threat to your allies, to innocent people."

There's not enough time to deal with all our problems at once, and it feels selfish to deal with my own while lives are on the line. But he's right. It's all catching up to me and I have to deal with it if I'm going to be of use to anyone.

Folding my arms, I sigh. "Fine. I was cursed by another nen user. A member of the phantom troupe named Pakunoda. Her ability is reading people's memories after coming into physical contact with them. My ability allows me to absorb people's aura and their nen ability, so I absorbed hers hoping she wouldn't be able to see my past, but it was too late. Ever since then, I haven't been able to stop having flashbacks. Part of the reason I came to the island is to find a nen exorcist to release whatever aura that twat left inside me."

Abengane chuckles. "Well, I wish I knew that before."

"Why, what would that change?" He tilts his head away from me and grins. I realize he's waiting for me to get something. When I finally get it, my cheeks blush from how dumb I feel. "Guess my brain's still groggy. All this time you were right in front of me. God really does have a sense of humor."

He shrugs. "Honestly I probably would've said no before I got to know you a little. That or demanded a steep paycheck. I try to limit my notoriety and who I offer services to. Being an exorcist, I get a lot of dark requests as it stands."

I shift my weight from side to side. "So will you help me?"

"I'll try."

He tells me to lay down and I sigh with relief. I'm finally going to get my life back, one where I can sleep without worry. Where my past stays behind me. Hopefully my newfound power stays intact so I can find a way for my mind and body to control it instead of my emotions. I lay back down on the ground and he kneels to the side of my body.

"Where did she touch you?" he asks, hands hovering over my torso.

I close my eyes to recall that moment when Pakunoda approached me. She slipped by my side quietly and placed two fingers onto my right shoulder. "Here," I answer, raising my hand to the spot.

Abengane scoots up behind my head with his knees on either side of me. The warmth of his palms radiates over my face. "Close your eyes and clear your mind. Focus on your breath."

I do what he says. Think of nothing. Treat it like a mindfulness exercise. The feel of his hands around my face and shoulders reminds me of reiki. The soft touch gives me goosebumps before he turns on his nen. It feels like his fingers reached into my skin and brain, start fishing around my muscles. At first, everything is black, but images start popping up like on a scrambling TV. Blood. Fire and smoke. Ging's arms. I don't want to go back there. My body twitches at the thought of returning.

"Try to relax," he says, placing his finger on my temples.

Breathe. Breathe. Return to black. Don't feel more than his touch, I tell myself. But the images play themselves anyway. I'm washing off blood and soot. Mama beats me for taking her savings. But I was too happy to feel pain. Back then I mistook beauty for comfort. I watched the rain from my hut, it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. No longer flat-footed I flexed and pointed my feet to the sound of raindrops and noticed I had the perfect arch.

I went to the dance studio, a small tin shack that could only fit a handful of people inside. The instructor who once said I was too ugly to teach grew teary eyed at my ballet performance 3 months later. I practiced my en croix and sous sus everywhere I went, stretching my limbs and beauty as far as they could go, for the people who wanted to see me for the first time. Mama grew jealous, yelled when she caught me practicing, beat my feet to keep me off of them.

"Clear your mind," Abengane says, but his voice is muddled, as if he's speaking under water.

I try to let the feel of his hands on my forehead and shoulder take over. Concentrate on the sensation of skin against skin, the kind that's trying to save me. His nen presses like a chill against my limbs, the sensation makes me shudder.

The past won't stay away. As my dancing gets better, the beatings get worse. Mama unravels from all the attention I'm stealing from her. I fight back more, but out of pity sometimes I let her have her way with me. Violence was the only companion she had besides me.

"Stay with me," Abengane instructs.

But the fear and rage are beginning to take over. The skeletal outlines of everything appear. I stare at Abengane's heart beating.

Ging said it was time for me to leave to further my training and be around other hunters. But I couldn't do it. Papa would be home soon and would be expecting me. He ignored the bruises I tried hiding with my hair and clothes. It was okay since I tried to ignore them too. Mama kissed him like she found a part of herself again, a part that made her soft and kind. Several weeks later, papa was attacked, bled out in my arms. It was my first time seeing mama's pain out loud and in public. She hugged me at his funeral because there was nothing and no one else for her to hold. I agreed to go with Ging if he helped me find my father's killers.

The thunderous crack in the earth snaps me awake, back in the present. I push Abengane's hands away from me and sit up. The ground around me is cracked. "Were you able to get it out?"

He shakes his head. "I didn't find any curses or nen other than your own inside of you. Telling by the memories I saw, it's not something that an exorcism can fix. At least not a physical one. I think your past is triggering emotional turmoil that's fueling your powers. Perhaps in an effort to protect yourself."

"What are you, my shrink?" I ask sarcastically.

"No, but perhaps you should go see one," he responds.

I bury my face in my hands trying to stay calm, but everything in me begins to shake. The exorcist was my last hope, my salvation. What the fuck am I supposed to do to purge this demon from me? I can't go on living like this. It's killing me though it's only been going on just over a week. I don't know where to go from here. He reaches out and tries caressing my hand, but I flinch away from him.

"I'm sorry, Oby."

Another voice comes out of nowhere. "So am I."

Abengane and I look around to see where it came from. The trees look empty, then a fiery spiral rushes towards us, forcing us to jump in the opposite direction of each other. The ball explodes on top of the cliff causing it to crack.

"We have to get off now!" Abengane shouts.

We race to safety, but not before the cliff begins to fall, forcing us to jump to make it. From the ground I look up and see the Bomber and two of his henchmen walking towards us. How the hell did he find us? The bomb we disabled yesterday lies a few feet away from me...Could it be he can track each of the bombs he plants on people? Dammit. We should've destroyed it completely.

"Nowhere to run now," Genthru says walking closer to me, I crawl back as far as I can, making sure he's out of hand touching distance. "I'll ask one more time, I'll spare your lives if you give up the Fortress card."

"That's not a question, dumbass," I say.

He chuckles. "Guess not. So, yes or no?"

"Did you kill everyone else yet?" I ask.

He stares at me with a greedy look. Yet it's so calm, it makes him look more insane. Predator stalking his prey. Not out of hunger, but for sport. My guess is he killed the other players as soon as they gave up their cards. "One of us is going to have to trust the other if we're gonna get out of this alive."

"Don't give him shit, Oby!" Abengane screams. the red-haired henchmen shoots a small fireball near him.

Genthru holds up a hand to stop them. "Last chance. What's it gonna be?"

My eyes go dark and I see his lungs expand inside his chest. The aura from the earth surges quickly into my hands like electricity. I focus all my energy into picking up the ground the bomb squad's standing on and throwing them deeper into the forest. "Go to hell!"

Shrouding bits of earth in shu, I run into the forest ready to sling it at whoever I see first. A tree suddenly goes into flames. Shards of the flaming trees dart toward me. As fast as I can, I drop to the ground and use ken to cover myself, but some of the shards make it through, two to my arm and on to the right side of my stomach. Animals run past me, out from the trees and across the ground. They sense the battle coming.

The fire. The forest will be destroyed by the time we're done. Especially with three bombers here. I don't know what their exact nen abilities are, but they're all sure to be destructive. The wambari's home will be gone. I won't be able to forgive myself if I let that much deforestation happen. We can't stay here, but where can I take this fight? How can I take Genthru with me without getting blown up? The forest fire expands.

"Abengane!" I shout at the top of my lungs.

A figure emerges 10 feet away from me, splinters along his side, half his shirt singed off. Good thing he turned on his ken too, otherwise he wouldn't have survived the blast. He squints in my direction. "I got Sub and Bara! You take Genthru," he yells.

I nod. "Put out the fire as much as you can when you're done!" I tell him. Another fireball comes at me and it's all I can do to jump out of the way. My left calf gets singed. I scream, but know I have to focus on locating Genthru if I have a chance of getting through this. It doesn't take long since he's running at me, his palm lit up with Little Flower.

Run away from him long enough to summon my book and pick a location, I tell myself. Some place with enough terrain where his fires and explosions won't spread. I'm screwed if he sees me and throws another blast. Some place with water perhaps. What location has a big enough body for us to battle, but one I can swim out of when we're done?

There's an easier solution than trying to look at the map while avoiding trees and animals. Hide in the crown of one of the trees. I quickly run, climb, and swing up the trunk and branches of an oak. Once I'm far enough in the shrubbery I turn on In to conceal myself. "Accompany on." The book emerges. I look over the map and look over the blue zones designated for water.

Gentru cackles. "You really thought you could hide from me?"

As much as I dread doing it, I look down to see him looking back at me.

"In doesn't cover your book," he says.

At most I have a few seconds before he catches up to me. His hand fires up the oak, forcing me to jump down, the book following my lead. He waits for me with a lit palm. I grab him by his hair, taking him by surprise and shout the last water source I saw. By Ai-Ai. "Etere Sea!"

We turn into beacons of light, losing our bodies and ability to touch for a moment. I don't have to worry about him blowing me up while we transport. He's just as powerless as...

Wind hits me in the face, we're falling from the sky into the water. I see Genthru angling himself to come at me, but I kick him away before his hand lands anywhere. The wave slap against my entire body, sends me into slow motion. Genthru's powers shouldn't work in water, but I should avoid his touch to be on the safe side. After he smacks down, he floats down for a few seconds like he's passed out, but when he comes to, he tries to get ahold of me, specifically my neck. I forgot how long his limbs are, it's creepy as hell. This can only last for a few minutes tops before I have to go back to the surface for air.

He swims up and tries to fight, throwing a few punches at my face and torso that I avoid. We swim back towards a coral reef and he places a hand on it, blowing it to shreds. The pieces fall dramatically, I have to move so it doesn't crush me, and there's a huge surge in the sea. My back was turned for a second to get away, but that's all it takes for him to stab me from behind. Coward. His arm goes around my neck, but I quickly spiral out of it shoving his arm up and off before he can choke me. I wouldn't stand a chance if it got that far.

I turn, desperate and wild scratching at his face. My nails dig into his skin, blood filling the water. The bulb of one of his eyes floats between us and he growls. I turn on my ken, using 70% of my aura to protect my upper body. The only way this is going to end is if I put him down and I have to get close to do so. I force him down with a punch to the face, float up to gain momentum, then soar at him determined to crush his bones with the impact of the ground.

Genthru grabs at my neck and face, I feel a slight burn as the explosion comes. I can heal myself after this. Just get this fucker now. I swat his hand from mine and remember I can take aura from human bodies too. I quickly turn to darkness, see his skeleton and suck out his aura. His remaining eye shows such fear I almost enjoy it. Until I see what's coming out of the depths, frightening all other fish and creatures away. Even sharks rush past us. I let go of Genthru, my eyes widening at the sight of the beast's yellow eyes.

He turns to see when the monster eel roars, exposing rows of sharp crooked teeth. Its gray blue body is the color of dusk with spiked skin that slithers fluidly through the water. It's at least 30 or 40 feet long. God help us. The coral reef this idiot blew up probably landed on the eel and disturbed its slumber. My body streamlines as I swim away as fast as I can. My heart beats in my stomach, I've never been so scared.

I hear another explosion, the sound of rocks collapsing. With any luck the monster will swallow the Bomb—As I see rocks float past me, several knock against my head and back. My vision blurs and I feel myself losing consciousness, sinking down. Genthru swims past with a wicked grin. I know the eel's closing in on me, so fast I have no choice but to accept what's coming. The last thing I see is a pale body coming towards me, a sharp nailed hand, reaching. At least my mind allowed me one happy illusion before dying.

*

https://youtu.be/ELtb-DWyUA0

The next thing I feel is sunlight on my face and my body being lifted. Hovering somewhere between unconscious and dead. The sound of a flood still feels my ears. It feels like a dream where I'm disembodied, I don't know where the water will take me. Suddenly there's warmth along my mouth. Air. I didn't know I was drowning until I could breathe again. I feel the outline of my body, become aware of my flesh again. Water surges out of my throat as I cough, forcing my eyes open. Hisoka's sunset eyes glitter above me, clothes dripping onto mine, his reddish-pink hair hangs down near his eyebrows. Am I dreaming? One of his hands rest in my locs as he watches me come back to life. It feels like I've been waiting forever to see him again.

"What took you so long?" I ask.

He smiles down at me. "You're a hard woman to keep track of."

I lift my head and rest it against his face, feeling his breath crown my head. His lips lightly press into my forehead and traipse down to my nose, then mouth. My face feels so light in his hands, all I can do is wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in as close as I can, relieved to be found. Even though he's on top, the grip of his muscles holds me, like he's been waiting for someone to embrace.

If what I suffered these past few days is what brought me here, to this comfort and rest, then it was worth it. My blood leaks freely against him, but neither of us cares. Touch is the only thing that matters right now. Feeling the weight of his body makes mine safe and clear, like I've been walking around in a haze until now. My heart beats so loud, it reminds me of how alive I am in this moment with him.

Author's Note: Vote, vote, VOTE. And archive. Any feedback/comments would be appreciated. :) Oby really needed this chapter ending didn't she? I felt like she and I could finally exhale when I wrote it. Some quiet before the next storm. I was almost too scared to write the scene with the eel lol. Next up, Hisoka helps Oby finally confront her past demons and she's able to rest before the next bout of drama. The love triangle is about to arrive and some secrets come to light. Stay tuned n take care of yourselves! xoxo