Abyssal Reverie

Chapter 17: Blood Sport

"The daylight recedes in unison. This room buries the hours like death, in motion.
Nobody else can pull me out. The fields of elation, quiet and loamy."

My body ached, the building bodily trauma within me, never having enough time to heal. It was a constant reminder of how much I still didn't understand. I begged III to teach me how to read Stygian. But, even he was reluctant to talk more about what we had found. The mother of all monsters lingering in the air around us.
"If this is Sleep's domain, shouldn't the creatures within it all answer to her?" I said as I shoveled spoonful after spoonful into my mouth.

"Sleep's domain is all around us; it's shared with everyone who walks the Realm. She doesn't have a claim to just one part of it. But, she resonates with so many that it is by the masses when she is worshipped." My eyes linger a little too long on the soft purple bruises. That dance around III's neck. They are mostly hidden under heavy layers of black paint. My heart swells with the pain I've caused him, the desire to apologize even one more time lingering in my chest. "Stop staring and eat your dinner, Selah. You did well. So good, I can still feel it in my back." He gestured to his back with his thumb, the crinkling of his mask displaying just how uncomfortable it was to make that motion. I could feel the aching in my bones as I watched him shift his weight in his seat.
"Do we know what her Name is... The mother of monsters?" I slosh the food around in my bowl, spilling some along the top of the table. It didn't feel like a loss as Giffy's cooking surely hadn't improved in the time it took me to recover from the Guardian attack. I began to scoop and probe the food in puddles around me.

"Have you lost your mind, girl?" Giffy stood from where he was seated at the other end of the table. I felt the force of his anger shift the table beneath us. The crew watched as he ran from one side of the table to the other. He stood mere inches from me, his front to my back. I felt the pulse of his anger radiating out of him like a wave of power surging with each breath he took. Shivers ran through my spine as I turned my body to face his. His eyes were dark with anger.
"Giffy, Back up." III stood, putting himself between myself and him. I watched as the aching pain in his body lingered in each step.
"She is a disease. A poison that has been left untreated for too long. We have to cleanse her. Or we won't be able to move forward." He pointed a bony finger at me. The white tufts of his hair blew past his ears as the wind picked up around us. "She isn't one of us III; She never has been. Do you not know by now there is nothing this girl can offer us but death?"
"I would watch your tone, Giffy. Or you will have more than myself to contend with." III squared his shoulders; even now, they were shuddering under the weight of standing.
"Move, Or I will go through you." I could feel the heat from his anger radiating all around us. A shift in the magical pull, almost like what I felt when Vessel unleashed his dark cloud.

The ship was silent. Vessel had been long gone, off charting our next stop in the Navigation room. The smell of the salt in the air caused my stomach to churn. The stickiness of the air pulled at the skin on my face. It was quiet until it wasn't.

Like lightning, Giffy Struck pushed III to the side. He caught Giffy by the arm and threw him backward, the ship's edge banging into his side. I heard the air escape from Giffy's lungs as he struggled to stand. One moment, he was lying on the ground; the next, he was up and tackling III's legs from beneath him. I watched as he once again crushed III's back against the hardwood of the ship, a cry of pain leaving his lips. From the left of me, I could hear the shuffling of feet and voices rising above the commotion surrounding me. Everyone kept their eyes fixed on the mess unraveling in front of me- Pulling the focus to each punch being exchanged between the men. III's breaths became jagged as he struggled against the strength of each of Giffy's strikes.

My heart pounded in my chest; I felt like an animal fighting against the bars of a cage. I was afraid of what I would do next, the fear of being unable to stop myself still fresh in the forefront of my mind. "SOMEONE PLEASE..." I felt the words rip from my throat before I could stop myself. "STOP HIM. STOP THIS." I took two steps towards the men when I felt a brush of hands along my spine, sending me back a step.