𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐈 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 + sokeefe and horror

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑: it sort of comes together

Keefe was too shocked to do anything.

He'd trusted Moexii from the beginning, and now... well, she didn't choose her family, did she? This is what Keefe thought as blank-eyed guards grabbed all of them roughly by the arms and shoved them into a communal prison.

So we can all suffer together. Keefe thought dryly.

The walls were blank steel, and several rows of bunk beds had been shoved against the corner. Beyond that, there were a couple steel desks and a large iron bookshelf. It had books, fraying and long forgotten. But any sort of entertainment was better than none.

The second the guards left the room, Biana tackled Moexii.

Moexii screamed, but nobody came. Biana socked her in the jaw, and Moexii cried out in pain. Once again, nobody came.

It took a couple seconds for the rest of them to realize what was happening. Then, Fitz and Dex grabbed Biana's arms and dragged her off of Moexii. Keefe then stood in front of Moexii - half to stop Biana, half to make sure Moexii didn't retaliate.

"Thanks." Moexii mumbled as she rubbed her jaw where a large red bruise was forming.

"We didn't do it for you." Dex snarled. He looked just as furious as Biana.

Biana suddenly stopped struggling. Dex relaxed, but Fitz didn't. In fact, he tensed, as though he expected her next move. Which was to promptly go invisible. Both Dex and Fitz crumpled to the floor as though some unseen force had shoved him - which, of course, Biana had.

"BIANA!" Keefe shouted. "DON'T DO ANYTHING YOU'LL REGRET!"

"I won't." Biana's voice spat from the corner of the room. 

Tam lunged for the corner - and promptly smacked his head into the wall. 

"Come on, Bi! Can we hear her out?" Keefe called.

A row of books knocked themselves off the shelf. Keefe took that as a pretty clear no. Now, people were falling and knocking into one another, things were toppling this way and that, and each swarm of chaos got closer to the corner where Moexii was trembling.

"Sophie would've listened to her!" Keefe finally called.

Instantly, the chaos stopped. Slowly, Biana's indistinct form re-appeared, only a few feet from Moexii, who squeaked in surprise.

"Fine." Biana huffed, sitting down with an air of anger. "Let's listen."

"Thank you." Moexii said quickly. "Please don't hurt me. What do you want to know?"

"Everything." Linh spat. 

Keefe had never seen her as anything but a kind-hearted, sweet little angel. But her eyes narrowed and her face furious, she looked dangerous. Keefe was scared of her.

"Well... I guess I'll start at the beginning." Moexii said nervously. "Back when the elves had just sunk Atlantis and severed ties from the humans, I was born."

"I'm sorry, what?" Tam asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Listen first, then ask questions!" Moexii snapped. "Uh, sorry." She added when everybody glared at her.

"My family was one of the original unicorn farmers. That cursed jerk, Quill Heks, eventually stole the business from us. But it was okay for a while. My sister had always been a bit different than the rest of my family, who was timid and quiet. Her name was Cressa. But she preferred to be called Crescent."

Linh mouthed Lunar, her eyes wide.

"Anyway, Cressa always spoke her opinion no matter what. And boy did she have a lot to say. Nobody liked her much, because she was rude and talked too loud, but the main reason was that they were afraid of her. She manifested when she was three - and it was an ability that nobody had expected. It was new. They named it a Mesmer. My sister was the first Mesmer to manifest. Nowadays, it's not horrible, but she was brand new. Not only that, but she was insanely powerful. She could keep crowds of people under control for days. Well, that was as long as we tested it, but she didn't seem even winded at the end. Cressa could do anything, and she knew it. One day, this kid at her school called her a loser. She'd been insulted before, but this time was different. She snapped, and put the entire school in a trance for hours. It was a long time before the authorities could stop her. Then, she was banished. Cressa was furious, but she was happy she'd escaped Exile. Now, she had to roam the Neutral Territories for the rest of her days. About a year later, she showed up at my window, and told me to run away with her. Cressa told me about the terrible things Vespera had done, and the rebellion. She said she'd tried to join it, but they said she was 'only a child'. So she had started her own thing, brewing in the shadows, not seen by anyone. She begged me to join. I said no, obviously. I was horrified, but I hadn't manifested and I would only be a dead weight to the group. Also, you know," she added quickly, "it was wrong and Cressa was extremely dangerous."

"Nice save." Biana hissed.

Moexii gave her a bitter smile and said, "Cressa was, at this point, extremely interested in genetic experiments. She thought about genes, and wondered why we'd gotten the exceptional everything. She began wondering if they could transfer powers into other species. That's why I said no - I was worried about who Cressa was, and who I would become if I joined. Cressa was furious but didn't hurt me. She swore that she'd haunt me someday - and here we are. But there was more. After Cressa contacted me, the Council kept us under watch to make sure none of us betrayed their side. We've been bounced around for a while to keep Cressa from finding us. And they did this thing..."

Moexii shuddered, and her skin went as white as the moon. "It was awful. I felt sick and vomited for weeks. But once it was over, the Council assured us - we would never age. Never again. So even though I'm technically over three billion years old, I haven't aged the slightest. And I never will."

Moexii met each of them with her ice blue eyes. Keefe studied their emotions. Dex looked skeptical. Biana looked suspicious. Linh looked sick. Tam looked worried. Fitz looked nervous. And he himself... he wasn't quite sure how he felt. It was a combination of all of their feelings.

Worried about Moexii, wondering if she was lying, sick that the Council would do suck a thing, nervous about his future, and everything that was happening. 

They spent the rest of the day not speaking, only drifting around the prison cell, barely making a sound. That night, as Keefe lay in his bunk and the gentle sound of snoring was all around him, he finally allowed himself to confront the question: What if I never get out of here?