V+O; in the Alternate Universe **Completed**

Chapter 8

The first order of business, a real bath, hopefully they had soap, and she NEEDED to wash her hair. The luxury of using a real toilet was also one she was excited about. O turned on the tub letting it fill with warm water, they had different bottles of soaps, and she chose the lavender one, which is what it smelled like. Bubbles filled the bath; O stripped off her clothes and laid a towel next to the tub. The soap had turned the water purplish and it shimmered as it swirled.

The water was soothing against her achy body. And an image of V massaging her shoulders flashed through her head. "Stop it." She said out loud, submerging herself under the water in embarrassment. When she reemerged she had to look around to make sure no one had heard. O was all alone, thankfully? Or was she missing her human companion a little too much to be thankful for the alone time.

Choosing a different coloured soap, she lathered it into her hair. Lying back against the warmed marble, O once again tried to search for the creature that had momentarily used her body as a puppet. Radio silence.

The white towel was so plush she thought it would fall apart at the touch of her wet body, like cotton candy. Drying off she turned to face the circular mirror, gems were encircling all around its border. She picked up the tiny wooden toothbrush, it was weird looking. Maybe it's a mini toilet brush she thought, laughing out loud at her own joke. O never had bad breath to begin with but she figured it was a good habit.

After brushing her teeth she headed for the closet, towel still tightly wrapped around her body.

Everything in here was so strange compared to what she was used to, finally she just decided to sleep naked. However, she did put aside some leather looking pants with a linen dark grey shirt which had leather lacing at the neck, at least she thought it was linen. Really she had no clue. The only bra that was in the wardrobe was a leather bralette looking thing. It was almost like a tiny corset, with straps that laced and crossed down the back, plus it had boning. It really didn't seem very sporty; it looked like it could've been worn in some medieval movie. But you know what they say, when in Rome.

O pressed her face into the pillow, snuggling under the thick blanket. It only took a moment for her mind to begin to wonder. She remembered being little, maybe five, and with her first family they had been nice, really nice. They had bought her these Dalmatian PJs, and Mrs. Janis kissed her on the forehead, tucking her in every night.

Being completely alone for the first time in two days, for some reason tears pricked her eyes when she thought back to the family that had meant the most to her. O didn't stay with them for long though; they started having financial issues just as she thought they could be her forever. From there it was downhill; she learned quickly that the system was cruel, and that you couldn't depend on anyone but yourself.

Thinking back on it now maybe it had conditioned her for this... for this war she was about to throw herself into. In the dim light she could see the shallow scarring of the cigarette burn marks on her inner bicep. O pressed her fingers into her eyes; I can't do this right now or ever, she thought. Being very accomplished at digging a trench and burying her past there, every once in a while it would break through and she'd have to throw another layer of earth on top.

O stared at the wood ceiling, boring her eyes into it, as if she could stare hard enough and eventually see through. She started counting the natural circles within the wood. Then she tried counting sheep, like that ever worked, she thought, rolling her eyes. Wanting to sleep but not being able to was the most frustrating feeling. Then she began to hum some of her favourite songs hoping they'd help, but nothing. Again she counted the veiny lines within the wood.

Before she knew it she had swung her legs out from under the covers, sitting up reaching for her odd new clothes. The pants were tight but comfortable, and the bralette felt very foreign against her skin. Lastly she pulled the shirt over her head while she walked to the door tying up most of her straight but wild hair.

The night air was cool and bit into the skin. Leaning over the balcony railing she looked over this new world she had been shoved into. Although, now it was clear that O had stayed of her own accord. She could have insisted they find a way back but secretly she knew this was where she wanted to be, was even needed, the place that had been missing from her life. That in itself was an entirely new feeling for her, being needed, which is how V spoke to her, and what a foreign concept it was. O was so used to feeling dispensable, that she wasn't really essential to anything. Maybe the issue was that that earth wasn't her home, maybe that was why she could never find her place in it, where she could never fit in without a shadow of a doubt.

There was a clash of thunder, and the rain began to fall. The water poured down, but she didn't bother moving towards shelter. The cold water felt good on her skin, it made her feel alive, igniting all her senses.

Her hands were clasped together, chin resting on top. She let her eyes wander around the city, familiarizing herself with it. There weren't many lights on which made her think it was late. The rain hammered down, and somewhere there must've been something similar to a tin roof. As the clatter of rain against it the sound was unmistakable. To her the sound brought the feeling of being home.

There were many huge trees, each clad with hundreds of doors, the equivalent of skyscrapers she imagined. Then there were what appeared to be townhouses, they were trees that looked similar to evergreens just much larger, a door neatly placed in each one. Many of the houses had a garden, or porch; O couldn't help but wonder which was V's.

Her eyes were darting around the city, the moon casting enough light for every detail to stick out but the rain clouded it just enough to add an air of mystery. Dropping her hands to let them dangle over the railing, eyes still flicking around the city. Out of the corner of one she focused on the black mark on her wrist as it crept to her thumb, but it was different. All her life it had never changed but now... It had grown, it had traveled to her inner wrist and a few centimeters up her forearm, as the black traveled it faded into a dark blue, a hint of turquoise on the edges.

She was dumbstruck for a moment, and then the urge to speak filled her. Needing to tell someone, to show someone. V. But he was far, she continued to stare at her own wrist in astonishment. The rain running through her eyebrows, dripping from her nose and chin, she swiped it away, but the moment she had it had already returned.