𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂 || 18+ 𝚢𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚡 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙵𝙼𝙲

┉┈◈†𐐎𐌴𐍀†𐌸-†𐐎𐍈◈┈┉

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Let me go!" Charlie demanded for the third time since being strapped into the co-pilot seat in the cockpit without any way to free herself.

Dekar again refused to respond, continuing to start up the shuttle as she struggled in her seat, trying to slip her hands free from the straps wrapped around them. She deeply regretted letting Dekar take the dagger she'd stolen, but at the time she thought he was trustworthy. She huffed after tiring herself out, her head turning to glare at him. That was when she noticed the thin trail of blood on his palm, sliced down his thumb. It was a precise cut. Subtle. Purposeful. Her eyes widened before her rage flared up again to a fever pitch.

"You cut yourself in the caves?!"

His dim orange eyes snapped to hers then, but he said nothing, confirming his guilt.

Charlie's hazel eyes blurred as more tears fell. "You made that Etja come, you put all of us in danger! You—" she took in a sharp, shaky inhale of breath, trying to hold back a sob, "y-you killed him. You killed my mate!"

Dekar's eyes flashed that orange glow again and a fang peeked out as his lips curled into a smirk. "I sincerely hope so. But more than anything, I hope he didn't die right away. I hope he suffered."

Her lips were parted in disbelief, hurt evident in her gaze once she blinked the tears away. He held her stare smugly a moment longer before turning to work the ship once more with a knowledge he shouldn't have had. The shuttle was off the ground by the time she finally found her voice again.

"Dekar... what happened to you? You're different. There's something wrong with you."

"There's nothing wrong with me," he snapped, an irritated growl behind his voice as he focused on piloting the shuttle. "I am just... out of alignment with my head mate. But we should be fused again in a minute."

Her teary eyes stared at him, baffled. "Head mate? What are you talking about?"

"Dekar," he answered with a grin in her direction. "He's a bit too upset about his brother at the moment and it's disrupting our continuous alignment."

Her eyes narrowed and she paused before asking suspiciously, "Who are you?"

The Daki tutted at her, keeping an eye on their surroundings as he guided the shuttle to who knows where, gliding above the blue treetops. "Charlie, my love... I thought you would have figured that out already."

The thought did occur to her, but she had dismissed it as a possibility. It was too unbelievable. But as she saw the orange glow of his eyes, she was reminded of a similar glow in the flower she had once held in her hand aboard the ship. Slowly, everything clicked in her mind. It all made sense—his behavior towards Luca, his strong attachment to her, the words he let slip.

"... PENDI?" she muttered in question, hardly believing it.

He glanced at her, his grin widening. "Hello, beautiful. Did you miss me?"

She felt a clash of emotions upon this discovery: relief, shock, happiness... hurt, confusion, betrayal.

PENDI's pupils widened as his gaze flickered down to her lips. "You should close your pretty mouth, my love. It's giving me depraved ideas."

Charlie immediately shut her mouth. But it didn't last long as she had so many questions to ask him.

"The ship, what happened... was that you?" she had to ask.

His grin vanished and he refocused his gaze ahead. A long moment passed and a muscle in his jaw ticked before he replied. "Yes."

A crease formed between her brows and she tried to keep her emotions level to get answers. "Why?"