Princess Of Darkness (Editing)

The Surface (edited)

Teagan was a jittering ball of excited energy, bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation. She'd done a fine job of holding some sort of composure in the Underworld, but now, it was real, us being here, awfully, painfully real, and she could barely hold back.

I wished so badly that I could harness some of the excess energy, or, at least her lack of fear, and use it. Over time, I'd spent so much of my own in my desperate attempt to persuade Lucian, and, at last, I'd gotten my way, with or without his agreement. I was spent.

I felt as though I'd left the best parts of myself behind, my strength, my courage, my reasons, left behind with Lucian in the Underworld, and my energy was waning. Venturing to the Surface, the place of my torment, all I wanted to do was turn my back on this world, return to the Underworld, to Lucian, and never again emerge.

And the more I entertained the idea, the more convinced I found myself of becoming that I was so woefully unprepared for what I'd almost convinced myself I could do. Defeat Rapture, who had such merciless power at her disposal, Rapture, who had twisted me, broken me, and left me as nothing but a husk, a shadow. Less than a shadow.

Perhaps the only reason I didn't retreat altogether was the thought I firmly held in my mind of Lucian, his stillness, like death, plaguing me, and the thought of what would happen, or not happen, if I didn't at least try.

The guilt was overwhelming.

He needed me, more than I even needed him. I was gifted, or cursed, with the ability to come and go as I so desired, and now, confronted with that reality, I was going to run?

No, I would never run. If, out of every being in every world, I was the one who could, who would, at least attempt to stop Rapture, then it would be me. For the world, for Lucian.

For myself.

Teagan, shaking me from my thoughts, turned her expectant gaze on me, at last simmering down, the excitement reined in to appear as a bright spark in her eye while she waited for me to make some sort of descision.

"Where do we start?" She wondered, ready and eager to help.

We had emerged from the Underworld behind a large, double story building, the remnants of a long ago time etched into the exposed bricks where the dirty white paint had flecked away after years of exposure to the elements.

I, along with Nidia and Eve, had expected that, somehow, Rapture would be lurking somewhere, ready to swoop in and take me the minute I stepped foot onto the Surface, like a storm festering on the horizon, inevitable in its destruction.

Before, I had almost hoped that she might have been, at least then, and I wouldn't have to go in search of her. But now, I realised that if she had been waiting for me, she'd have had the element of surprise, regardless of my anticipation. The fight would have been over before it had begun.

At least, thanks to my last confrontation with Brett, a had a lead, of sorts, as questionably reliable as it was. I could find Rapture before she could find me.

It's a start, I had to remind myself, disguising my agitated sigh as one of consideration.

Teagan was still watching me, her eyes bright and wide, and I glanced all about in the hope of recognising some sort of landmark.

"Seb," I put simply, regarding the familiar, yet strange cars with a sort of contempt. "I'm supposed to find him."

"Is he..." she hesitated at my look of disdain, perhaps mistaking my glare as annoyance at her questions.

"A friend?" She finished, and I forced my expression into something more smooth, more mutual.

"Hardly," I answered her.