The Elements Book One: Gilly

Chapter Six: Introspection

It hadn't taken me long to locate the two of them, but it was only when I was almost to them that Dave bothered to actually respond to me.

Hi. What took you so long? He asked, sounding almost accusatory.

Don't ask. Why weren't you responding?

I was busy.

Well, I was busy too, then.

Why do you feel the need to do that? Dave groaned.

I smirked as I finally found them, slowing to a stop. "I'm your little sister, it's literally my job to be annoying." I told him smugly. Growing serious again, I asked, "So what happened?"

"Oh, nothing, I just got here in time to see him kill off the math teacher, so there goes that lead." Andy muttered in a surly tone.

I raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't have, oh, I don't know, warned him?"

"He did try." Dave confessed. "You know, while I was in the process of killing her, so it really didn't accomplish much."

"Clearly, she died and we didn't get any information." Andy replied drily.

Dave frowned. "She was insane, I told you that. There was nothing to be gained there." He insisted.

Andy shrugged. "We got information from a cyclops, so I wouldn't draw conclusions too quickly."

"To be fair, it was pretty obvious that the cyclops was modified." I butted in before their argument could derail further. "And Patrik and I just fought off a hybrid, so there's that."

That little bit of news shut the both of them up rather quickly.

"You're sure it was a hybrid?" Dave asked after a moment.

After a moment of hesitation, I focused and sent a flash of memory to him, just enough for him to see what it looked like. Sharing memories wasn't something I enjoyed, it was rather risky and inexact.

He blinked, surprised at how direct I had been, then he paled slightly as he processed what I'd shown him. "Uh, yeah. Hybrid. How did you miss one of those?"

I glared at him. "Same reason I missed the cyclops, thank you so much for bringing that up again. I believe that we established that there's likely something interfering with me. Probably. Who knows."

Andy looked at me. "So...where are the other three?"

I rubbed the side of my neck, "Ah, well, you see, heh, funny story?"

At their shocked look, I waved my hands in front of me quickly. "They're fine! Mostly. Uh, Evret and Abraham are in one piece, at least."

I let that sink in, some terrible part of my brain forcing me to drag it out.

"Describe not in one piece." Andy said after a beat.

I grinned. "Uh, ever hear of the Winter Soldier?"

Dave frowned. "No?"

I rolled my eyes. "Never mind."

Andy perked up. "Oh, wait, isn't he that one guy with a metal arm from that one movie?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's the one."

I waited a moment more for them to process through what Andy had just said, then Dave was shaking me slightly by my shoulders.

"What happened are you okay what did it do is he okay what happened?" He said in a rush, looking alarmed.

I pushed him off, taking a step back before replying, "It was playing possum, and when we called its bluff, it ambushed us. Odds are its blood was poisonous, Patrik mentioned poison but I didn't see any particular actions that looked like a deliberate poisoning."