Vol.4 Ch.52 – Reborn II
Chapter 52: Reborn II
Elaine woke up, still hunched over Abigail's unconscious body.
The girl was still glowing white but the arcs of dark lightning were no longer dancing over her.
“Did I look like that, too?” Elaine asked, sounding a little groggy even to her own ears.
“You did,” Rachel said. “Welcome back. Did everything work out?”
Elaine shifted, sitting down on the bed so she could face the others. “It did. According to Apollo I made it just in time.”
And only when she saw Aurora's eyes widen did she realize that she was clad in nothing but a bathrobe that hid absolutely nothing. Whoops. Well, at the very least now everyone on her team knew what she had going on down there and, judging by Aurora's blush, she didn't mind either.
“Thank you,” Rachel said. There was none of her usual teasing in her voice.
“Thank you for coming to me so quickly,” Elaine said. She considered asking about what she'd done with Abigail but decided that that was a conversation for another time. Right now they had to get some sleep so they'd be fresh for the mission tomorrow. Which reminded her: “How long until she wakes up?”
“Get a good night's rest and she should be able to join you all for breakfast,” Rachel said.
It felt anticlimactic, in a way. She had just saved a life, saved a soul, even, if the Professor had told the truth about Havocs, and now she should just go back to bed? On the other hand, what had she expected? She looked over at Ophelia, who gave her a look so loving she had to swallow at the sight. Yeah, okay, maybe that was reward enough. But first...
She looked over at Mare. “Thank you, Mare. I couldn't have done this without you.”
“You're welcome. I'm glad I could help.”
Of course, that left one question. Why was Aurora here? Elaine had asked Ophelia to fetch Mare but not Aurora. She glanced over at Ophelia, who gave her a tiny little shake of the head and so she decided not to ask about it. At least not then.
Ophelia was the first one to step up. She grabbed Elaine, pulled her off the bed and said: “If there's nothing else to do I guess we'll see you all in the morning.” She'd said it in a way that might have sounded suggestive to the others but Elaine knew better. They'd had their fair share of fun for one night. She was just glad that Ophelia apparently wanted to spend the night with her still, even without any more sex.
And so she let the vampire drag her to her room, then onto her bed.
“You did a really great thing there, you know?” Ophelia said, quite gently.
“I'm just glad it worked out.”
“Did you tell Abigail how stupid this was?”
“She seemed to understand that herself,” Elaine said. “I didn't want to risk her spiraling into self-doubt any more so I didn't say anything more. But I will, once we're back from this mission.”
“Good.”
They were silent for a while and Elaine listened closely to Ophelia's heartbeat. It slowed down gradually but then began to pick up again.
“I always knew Rachel and Jeanne were hot but... wow. And you got to tap that?”
Elaine chuckled quietly. “Yeah.”
Ophelia stayed quiet for a moment, then she said: “Jeanne seemed haunted.”
“She did,” Elaine agreed. “Not that I can blame her. Abigail almost screwed up a lot more than just herself.”
“Yeah.”
“So, what was Aurora doing there?”
Ophelia chuckled and began to explain: “Well...”
**
Rachel held Jeanne in her arms, watching over her, feeling the shivers gradually reside.
She would love to claim that she had been unaffected by the situation but the truth was that she'd been just as close to crashing out as Jeanne had been. Their success with Elaine had lulled them into a false sense of security, making them forget that the Oath used to have a success rate of about 18%. Of course she'd known intellectually that there was a risk involved but knowing it and seeing someone they cared about very nearly lose themselves were still very different things.
Becoming a Havoc wasn't just a terrible fate. For celestials like Rachel and Jeanne the idea was existentially horrifying. They weren't just misshapen monsters driven by nothing but instinct and loathing. They weren't just abominations denied an afterlife. There was also a very good chance that, when they died, their tattered souls would unravel entirely and be lost to the void, a fate so horrifying that usually only Outsiders could cause it. For celestials with infinity ahead of them that thought was more chilling than anything else.
Yes, Stollos had created a way for humans to transcend humanity and, in a way, even transcend angels and demons. But he had also found a way to mangle souls in a way that was normally impossible for any resident of Creation to achieve. Blasphemy in its truest sense, capable of destroying a soul, a piece of the divine.
If it had been a weapon it would be classified as the vilest of weapons and be banned forever. But it was a tool, and a tool they needed to use if they wanted any chance of winning this war. But...
“I don't want to do that again,” Jeanne sobbed.
We'll have to eventually, Rachel thought. But she didn't say it. If she could help it at all, neither of them would help with this again until Stollos could iron out the possibility of failure. Then again, Elaine had managed to turn failure into success... Was that Stollos' end game? Had he created the Project to find a way to make the Oath more reliable, by allowing the Awakeners to fix failed Oaths? And if so, had Mare's help even been necessary?
Rachel shook her head. It didn't do to speculate. She should never have accepted Abigail's words at face value. Her blind trust had almost cost Abigail her soul. She would need to be more cynical going forward.
Jeanne squeezed her tighter, pulling her out of her dark thoughts.
Okay, maybe not more cynical.
In the end, things had worked out. Elaine had managed to fix things. Abigail was a Lacrima. And Rachel and Jeanne could hold each other for comfort.
**
Wow. It was all Elaine could think. So Mare and Aurora had...? Wow.
“Are you jealous?” Ophelia asked. There was no teasing note to the question.
“Not really,” Elaine said truthfully.
“Really?” Ophelia asked. “Is this a case of 'I don't own them, they can do whatever they want'?”
Elaine chuckled. “Not at all. But the two of them already said they wanted to go on a date with me. Together.”
“Huh.” Seeing Ophelia flustered was incredibly rare so Elaine enjoyed the startled look on her face immensely. “Well, good for them.” The shock melted away and her expression turned more smug. “And neither of them seemed too bothered by Mr. Happy down here.”
“Mare already knew,” Elaine said. “Or at least I assume so. She did go rummaging through my memories before, after all.”
“Yeah, she probably knows then,” Ophelia agreed. “But Aurora seemed surprised.”
“But not bothered.”
“But not bothered. See, we told you nobody would have a problem with it.”
“You did, didn't you?”
“We did,” Ophelia agreed. “And what about Abigail? Does she know?”
“She saw it in my astral form.”
“And how did she react?”
“She was beyond shocked,” Elaine said, then paused before admitting: “I think Rachel used my dick to fuck her.”
Ophelia blinked rapidly, then leaned up on her elbow and said: “Tell me.”
Elaine gave a little smirk, then told her the entire story.
**
Abigail woke up.
Just three short words, but they didn't do the act justice.
She'd messed up horribly. By all rights she should never have woken up ever again. But she did. Because Elaine had saved her. Despite everything Elaine had come running to save her life.
But Abigail could barely keep those thoughts in mind as the onslaught of sensations crashed into her. Everything was too bright, too colorful. All the sounds she could hear were too melodic. The humming of the light above her, the tapping beat of footsteps outside the room, her own heartbeat drumming the rhythm of life, her life. Surrounding her was the heady scent of sex, roses and gun oil and cum and more. The flavor of Jeanne and Rachel was still fresh on her tongue, tasting better than the best cocktail she'd ever sipped.
She sat up, her body responding almost too quickly, as though there'd always been a disconnect between her mind and body up until now. The first thing she did when she sat up was to glance down at herself.
She had expected more changes, honestly. Her breasts were just a tiny bit perkier than before, what little sag they'd had gone entirely. Her waist seemed just a little narrower. But most importantly... She chuckled darkly as she glanced down at her thighs. The jagged scars were still there. She had expected them to fade away but she was glad they hadn't. They had been foolish and impulsive, a stupid decision. But they had been her stupid decision. A grisly reminder of the dark place her mind had gone. She knew she had to claw her way out of that darkness that had almost subsumed her last night. But she also knew that she could never allow herself to forget it.