Clair de Lune

13. Hellfire

It was the same thing for the next few days: wake up with or without Necro still there, eat breakfast, change bandages, play with Lily, go to lunch, listen to Thamyris play piano, go to dinner, read Lily a bedtime story, and depending on the mood we'd either go fool around the training rooms or just watch TV. I was wandering the halls that night, listening to the sound of the rain as it hit the glass above my head. There was no thunder or lightning, so it was actually nice for once. I found myself humming as I walked around the corner, only to be met with silence. Necro wasn't in the entertainment area, watching TV or otherwise. I'd never been to his room so I wasn't sure where it was, and I wasn't about to go looking either. While I was disappointed, it didn't deter me from my path.

I tiptoed along until I got to the music room, walking inside and leaving the lights off. A dull glow from outside illuminated the outline of the piano among other instruments, and I took a seat at the bench, having never been one to play. I'd learned enough from Nolan though to know my favorite song, and while it was slow and sloppy at first, it became a little more well paced towards the end. The sound wasn't half as good as it was when it came from Nolan's fingertips, but it was still there and I could still enjoy it.

At one point or another I must've dozed off and when I woke up again, it was much later and much darker outside. I pulled myself away from the instrument and got to my feet, choosing to explore the building of my accord. The halls were still empty and quiet and I wasn't surprised to find the red lights following me throughout the building, but they'd never told me the level below mine was off limits, only the one on the bottom. I took the elevator down to where the S and A Class subjects were kept, finding that it was a little more lively down here than when I first arrived. I could see movement from inside certain doors, hear noises coming from others. One in particular caught my attention, the same sound I'd heard the day Sergei showed me all of this. I walked to Arcane's door, pressing my ear to the steel and taking a listen. She was inside singing some ancient lullaby to herself. It broke my heart to know she was trapped in there, unable to even see the light of day.

"Hello?" I said quietly, hoping to gain her attention. It seemed to work as her singing stopped only seconds after.

"Who's out there...?" She asked, sounding incomprehensibly tired.

"My codename is Hellfire, but," I sat down outside of the door, "my real name is Agnes."

"Such a pretty name..." she chuckled quietly. "I'm Osiris."

"Do you not like your codename?" I asked her.

"Arcane is the name they gave my brother after he'd fallen under a curse." Osiris said, her voice hazy from what could have been years of a lack of communication. "I am not Arcane, simply Osiris."

"I like your name," I chuckled to myself, "I thought you might like some company down here. It must be awful lonely."

"It's been...quiet, to say the least." She said. "What class are you?"

"C," I sighed, "I have pyrokinesis and telekinesis. I burned my house to the ground with everyone inside."

"You don't sound like you regret it."

"No, I don't. There was only one person there who really cared about me and I killed him too." I felt a nerve in my cheek twitch, almost as if it was trying to force me to cry. I couldn't though. "I'm better off here, where I can't hurt anyone and I'm surrounded by people just as different as I am."

There was silence after that. I knew she was thinking, not sleeping or having already grown tired of my presence. It was the kind of silence where you could tell the other person wanted to say something but they weren't sure if they should.