Dripping Away

Chapter 12: Siphon

        Lightning was striking the streets at random, but it was often enough that it was suspicious. Nashirme seemed unbothered by it, and she even mentioned that lightning would stay far away from us because of being Storm Children. I kept my head down as I followed behind Nashirme, my body exposed to the elements. There was the flashing of ads all around, shouting warnings of a lightning storm.
     Nashirme followed an alley to a sewer grate at the end. It was large enough for us to fit in, but there was a bystander standing under an awning. Basically, we were trapped here. Nashirme and I sat under a separate awning, waiting for him to leave.
     "That healing water is pretty useful," I whispered to Nashirme.
     Nashirme wouldn't give herself the credit. "Just don't get hurt, wild card. Especially now that the FP is in your system."
     Right. The glow in me was gone now, but I felt the rumble of it there in my chest. It was hard to believe that I had just been stabbed there in my chest, but now there was just barely a scar. I closed my eyes and listened to the earth.
     "Man, I'm hungry," I grumbled.
     "We'll get something to eat." Nashirme grabbed my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to see the man at the end of the alley and going to the main street. "Let's get going."
     Her and I lifted the grate and began descending one by one. I let her go first, making sure her feet hit the ground before I climbed the ladder into the darkness. This led to more abandoned sewers I guessed.
     "Hey! Stop right there!"
     I pulled the grate over my head before the peddling feet could get any closer. I climbed down into the darkness of the sewers and felt the damp cold set in. Nashirme was nowhere to be seen, but she often liked to be ahead. Ahead, but where? I couldn't see two feet in front of me without possibly falling into the middle drain. Which was empty, so I would probably get hurt severely.
      "This is your boy?"
     The voice crept up into my ear as if it was inside, and I spun around to find its source. Right. Super dark. Even if someone was talking across the gap, I still couldn't see them.
     "Yes. Quite the man."
     I felt a hand grab mine, but I saw no one. Suddenly I was being tugged along by someone I couldn't see, not even the shape of a silhouette.
      "Six more of us, and then the Weathered Hands ceremony can commence to stop this rain."
     I kept being pulled until I reached an ungodly light that was made from those white lights that blinded people. The sensation, even the inkling of a touch to my hand, was gone. There were guards at the gate that stared me down like I was a madman as I looked at my hands.
     "Name?" one of the guards called to me. I shook my head and approached them.
     "Lostin Rotsitt," I said.
     They both immediately drew their guns. I put my hands up and kept my worry to a minimum.
      "You're the guy that killed Grevie!" one of them shouted. I began to back away into the darkness.
      "One of them is a Giant."
     I didn't want to kill them. "Word travels fast, doesn't it? No offense to what you're doing here, but Grevie tried to kill me first."
      The white lights began shaking as I looked at them. Right. Ranll said something about having the Forever Spark allowed me to sap electricity from things. I bet they couldn't fight in the dark too well.
     "We we're told to kill you on sight."
      I moved my arms in a pulling motion, and the light came from within the bulbs out into the open until they fell into my chest. The sensation of the hand was back, pulling me towards the gate.
     "Go ahead," I barked.
      They fired their guns, but I was already into the light way passed them. Again, the sensation was gone once I was among the people. And, you know it sounded easy to get away like that. There were a lot of times that I had, especially with the kidnapping situation, but these two were persistent. One of them fired, nearly hitting me, but lucky enough they were terrible shots. I didn't want to kill them. Something inside of me told me that I had no choice but to. Fuck.
     "Calling security. Lostin Rotsitt is in the residential district."
     "Nashirme appeared from the drops above into her physicalness with anger in her eyes.
     "Where the fuck did you go?" she spat.
     "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I returned in a feisty uproar. I heard the cock of the gun. "Get down!"
     The shot went above our heads, and I pushed on Nashirme.
     "Go!"
     She glared. "What about-"
     I dodged another bullet. "One of them is a Giant! Just get the others and I'll meet you at the Church!"
      She didn't take long to decide as she ran through the crowd of people trying to find them. I took my shot and let electricity climb along the walls to shock them. They dropped their guns as the electricity hit them, making them both scream and stutter. It reminded me of Mantortek and I when we beat the shit out the Six on the daily. The two guys fell, groaning at the idea of me.
     I approached them. One of them was a Giant, and I was beginning to feel a little unsympathetic. Killing them both wouldn't bother me. I placed my hands on their chests and closed my eyes.
     "Touch them and you die, Lostin Rotsitt."
     I turned my head and glared. The scars on his face seemed to have only deepened since I saw him clad in black. Of course he had a whole squad at his side as he looked down at me.
     "You're brave," I commented. "It's been some time, you know."
      "Lostin, I'm asking you to come with me willingly. The Giants lied to you."
      I turned back. "What if I say no?"
     "Lostin, please. I never asked much from you when you worked for us. This is all I request."
     I pushed my hands down on the guards "Ikalanig, your request is denied."

     I woke up in the flesh of a pink and blue woman larger than any of the skyscrapers I had ever set my eyes on. Three eyes looked down at me, cradling my worn body like I was her baby. Lekereianale.
     "You awaken."
     Her voice felt much softer than normal, if that was possible. Suddenly, more eyes looked at me, some of them having up to ten eyes on their head alone. It was freakish.
     "I do," I whispered.
     I kicked myself out of her arms and landed in the grass below.
     "Extraordinary, sister. He is of flesh, but he shows the true colors of a Giant in his movements," the Giant with the ten eyes commented.
     Lekereianale smiled. "Nakiraguishi is the ten-eyed Giant, Mashiporkernes is the four-eyed Giant, Koshitomellvie is the nine-eyed Giant, and Seresokaman is the one-eyed Giant. These are my esteemed siblings you've saved so far."
     "Let me guess," I sighed. "I died again, didn't I?"
     Seresokaman chuckled. "Truly the product of the Giants. In the land of Giants, one would not even recognize death so quickly. I know Lekereianale did not."
     "Yes," Lekereianale told me. "And do not worry, only hours will pass. You will be dead for moments."