Half-Bloods R • 2 : Growing Shadows

C • 9 : Roots of Change, Lake of Growth

"What's taking him so long?" Elizabeth paced around the table.

"He's probably sleeping in, Vaelan, go wake him," Villin said, her tails lashing.

Vaelan stepped away from the group and Demi let go of his arm, her smile dropping.

"No need for that," Christopher called down as his door opened.

They all fell silent as Christopher walked out with a thin body and an effeminate face that made his robotic limbs look far too bulky in comparison. His turquoise eye now had singular golden rings that lay just in the middle of the iris. His aura once made of salt and lightning had now been mixed with a shadowy demonic aura. Christopher had become a true Chimera.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth saw Villin's tails wrap around her leg. She recognized the gesture to be the archdevil's way of comforting herself when nervous or defensive, often times the former, though her face remained as still and blank as ever.

Elizabeth pulled out a green apple lollipop, removed the wrapper, and placed it on her tongue.

"Whoa, Chris"-She smirked-"You fused."

"Yeah," he said, his eyes lowering as he took hold of the railing.

She hadn't noticed when he called out from his room, but his voice had actually become a higher pitch as well.

He walked down the stairs, grabbing onto the banister as he strangely moved with an unbalanced gait. Villin yawned as Christopher reached the main floor, she was clearly, unlike the others, unimpressed.

"Let's hurry up the pomp and circumstance," Villin breathed, her tails flicking as she pulled out the Root Eye, wrapped in its usual brown paper, "Everyone, hold hands."

Vaelan reached out a hand to Elizabeth, while Demi excitedly shot her hand out toward Christopher as she continued to cling tightly to Vaelan's side with a grin. The group held hands and then grabbed hold of Villin's left hand and right wrist.

"Keep breathing," Villin said just before they were all jutted through reality.

A violent torrent of water splashed against her face, she grabbed her throat out of instinct, then gasped. Then, despite her body and mind urging her not to breathe beneath the water, air entered her lungs. Her lavender eyes and veil-marks glittered in the dim red water. Vaelan swam up to her, aligning his wings with his torso in a way that they acted like fins. Villin swam towards Demi and Christopher, where the pyromancer was trying to get their friend to breathe.

"Welcome to the Root Eye, Liz," Vaelan calmly said.

"Shouldn't we be helping Chris?" Elizabeth's eyes darted to the cyborg.

"Villin will take care of him, come on," he swam toward a forest of dark red kelp.

She looked back at the others, Christopher was already calming down, and Demi had backed away as Villin held the cyborg by his shoulders. Elizabeth quickly swam after Vaelan and into the kelp forest. She brushed aside large stalks of leaves, each stalk was covered in rubbery bark and their leaves felt grimy. A shiver rushed down her spine as she pushed them all away.

In a rush of bubbles, Demi burned past her and was quickly scooped into Vaelan's arms. The two smiled and pressed their foreheads together as they swam at a slower pace. Christopher sluggishly swam up to her. Elizabeth had often noticed, even back when he only had mechanical arms, that the metal parts of him often weighed him down and made him sore in the spots they were connected to. He was clearly very sore and struggling to carry the weight. She matched his pace as Villin passed them and moved ahead of the group.