Damaged But Never Broken

The traces he left behind

She could tell something was wrong. Ever since the lab woke up, there has been a certain tension among the people. At first she didn't pay much attention to it; Vita was still grieving for her children. She never wanted a life like that for them, but at least she could see them, know how they were doing and comfort them in case of need. But now they were somewhere else, far beyond her reach. And probably even further from the sea than they had been so far.

She only realized how wrong she was when the doctor stormed into the laboratory in a rage. She heard him mutter something about "incompetent people" and losing such an important cargo. It was something that gave hope to Vita. Does this mean their children might be safe? Had they somehow made it into the sea? Perhaps Cross had found them and took them in?

But just as her hope had risen, it was quickly crushed. It's more likely that they are dead. Maybe their tank broke and they dried up. Or one of the people decided to take out his anger on them and hurt her children so badly that they turned to sea foam. That was almost what Vita was hoping for. Otherwise they would have suffered unnecessarily and would have had to go through an even worse hell than before. She had heard what the doctor had planned. Had she overheard him, heard his plans. And just the thought of it made her soul freeze again.

Their children should become weapons, modified to fight for the people in their wars. That's why they were put into this tank so often to fight. He always forced Kesar to use his magic , which was foreign to a Mer. His magic. She knew how much Kesar hated summoning those hands so similar to the doctor's. If he could, Kesar would never have used that magic. But he never got around it. Whenever he refused, the doctor punished him. Or, if he was particularly cruel, he would punish Orion for Kesar's mistakes and refusals.

But what still made Vita shudder was this one idea she only heard once. She doesn't know to what extent the Doctor has implemented it yet, but she remembers him talking about forcing Orion and Kesar to mate. That their children would be the perfect weapons, so easy to form and without external, disruptive influences. She knows it would have broken Orion if his eggs had been taken away again and again. The only reason she was still resisting was because she could be a thorn in the doctor's eye. He had taken so much from her, now including her children. But she doesn't want to let it get her down. Because if she gives up, then Gaster has won. And she doesn't want to give him that satisfaction. He doesn't deserve to see her at her lowest point.

A sudden shock shot through her, paralyzing her movements. Her body was pulled up with slings and hands, to the surface and thus to the doctor. His expression was frustrated, but also determined. Along with the syringe in his hand, she got an uneasy feeling. She would surely find out what he had planned for her.

“Come now, V17A. One subject is not enough for my plans. And it’s much easier to get new ones through you.”

And after that, Vita only felt a searing heat in her bones and especially in her abdomen. The burning was something she could focus on. She would make sure he didn't have any more of her children. Even if she has to continually destroy her own eggs to do so. She is his only source and that would take advantage of her.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Orion looked at the three strange men suspiciously. At first glance they might not seem to belong to the doctor, but he still didn't trust them. They seemed so… worried. As only their mother normally was. But these men don't know them, so why should they care about them so much if they didn't have some goal with them? They gave them food, but that meant nothing. The doctor also gave them food laced with some bitter things. The shells also tasted strange, along with the blue man's exclamation to stop. So he definitely didn't trust them.

He tried to keep an eye on each of them, his eyes darting between them. But it became too much, his vision keeps blurring. He couldn't ignore a head wound like that so easily, especially the way his head throbbed and hurt. He thought he might even taste some of his magic. But he couldn't pass out now. He had to protect Kesar from these strange men. Who knows what else they would do to him when he's not there?! Would he take everything they want to do to Keser. After all, it was his duty as a big brother to protect his little brother. And he couldn't do that when he was unconscious!... Even if he had failed before and couldn't protect him from the doctor. He would not fail here, in the absolute unknown!

But no matter how stubborn Orion was, his body demanded rest in order to heal. And he took this rest without paying attention to Orion's wishes. So the last thing he heard before the black dots took over his entire vision was Kesar's alarmed scream. Did he also believe that this dark stranger came darting forward? Whatever he did, whether he went to Kesar or not, Orion was still on his way, unconscious or not. Hoping that Kesar would be fine when he woke up, Orion sank completely into darkness.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

“ORION!”

Even before the child had screamed in alarm, Error had darted forward, ready to catch the other child. He ignored the fact that his body protested at the touch. He could handle holding the pup for a short time. He couldn't allow himself that this kid hurt his head any further than it already was. Who knows what damage it could do.
At least he tried to stay calm. But his last bit of calm seemed to evaporate when he tasted blood in the water. “Blue!” he shouted in panic. The selkie was quickly next to him and took the pup from him. Blue noticed the blood just as quickly as he did, but unlike Error, he kept his composure better. His nerves weren't as frayed as Error's right now.

With Blue now taking care of the pup and finally healing him like they should have done long ago, Error turned to the other pup who was sitting so precariously in the nest, trying to make himself so small and inconspicuous, that Error felt sorry for him. They were so young, but already with trauma and experiences from three lives.

He would have loved to hold the pup in his arms and assure him that everything would be okay. But he couldn't. His body couldn't handle coming into contact with more of these unknown Mers. However, Ink knew what he wanted and approached the puppy cautiously. He flinched when Ink took him in his arms, but began to relax more and more the longer Ink did nothing. “It’ll be okay, kid. Blue will heal your brother. You are safe here. No one will be able to hurt you.”

Error would ensure that these children will remain safe. And if he has to sacrifice everything for it. They won't get hurt anymore.