Raven sat silently atop her bed, contemplating her next move. In the few days she’s been up, her perception of reality had been in question for days. It felt so real. The battles, the enemies, the change in her life. It was so vivid and clear. She felt the metal, she saw the violence and horror, and the love and care by Celestia.
Celestia’s smiling face came back very vividly.
“Ah!” she winced, grabbing her head. For some strange reason, for every painful memory of what was, came an equally painful head throb. Once the pain subsided, she sighed painfully, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to rub the pain away. She had chalked it up to hitting her head the week prior. That, and the doctor said the same. With nothing left to do, Raven stood up and left her room. In the living room area, her fiancé sat silently, playing a game on his tablet. Lifting his head, he smiled at her before closing his game and standing up, placing the tablet on a nearby table. Taking his arm, the pair left the room and headed off into the guts of the ship.
The pair wandered in content silence, neither wanting to break the peace as they walked. There was not much else to do, really. The ship was still quite a ways out from reaching the Tau system and all available options for entertainment became dull after a little while. With nothing more to do, they simply enjoyed each others company. As they walked hand in hand, they failed to notice the group of figures that seemed to be shadowing them. As one of their shadows took the lead, he slowly rose to stand taller that his vic-
“Oof… ahhh-ha…” he moaned as he held his stomach.
“Nice try, Kal.”
Raven giggled as her fiancé smiled victoriously at the successful gut punch he just landed to the young man that was following them. The young, jet black haired teen groaned from the strike. Next to him, a young woman, just slightly older than him, approached with a roll of her eyes. “Could you not hurt my soon to be husband?” bending down, she held a hand against his back before she adjusted her glasses.
“He’ll be fine ‘Fita,” Chris dismissed.
Kal Di’Garro and Nu’Fita were a bit of an odd couple. In her time hanging out with them, Raven had learned that they were not a true Orokin couple. Nu’Fita was older than him by about two years. Opposite of what it should be. But age was about the only difference. The two were often found together though. Making kissy faces towards each other.
Okay, Raven was kidding about that last part.
“Well if he didn’t pull stupid shit like that, he wouldn’t be so broken, now would he?” Turning, all four-people watched as another young man approached. The silver haired teen smirking at his friend misfortune.
“Allein, good to see you!” Chris greeted with a smile, offering a hand. Taking it, Allein shared a handshake with his friend.
Turning to the now recovered pair, Allein said, “Nu, Kal!” he greeted, slapping Kal extra hard on the back, causing him to shout painfully with a wince, his bride to be to gasped as she took a step forward to comfort Kal. She shot Allein a glare with a growl. “You’re such a pussy, Kal!” Kal shot a glare of his own towards the silver haired man. The two stared each other down before Allein decided to give, hold up his hands and backing off.
Raven stepped up, taking her fiancé’s arm. She had a rather strange relationship going here, much like so many others her age. It was… odd, going from solo to friend zone in such a short time. “So where were you four headed anyway?” Allein questioned. “No funny business, right?” he added with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.
“Raven and I were going to get breakfast until we ran into these two,” Chris replied with a point of his thumb at Kal and ‘Fita.
“We ran into them,” Nu’Fita replied.
Kal groaned, his stomach still aching, “What she said…”
“You really are a sissy,” Raven added with giggle.
Kal, just rolled his, subtly smiling. “Would you like to join us?” Chris offered the three. “We haven’t talked in a little while.”
“Sweetie?” Nu’Fita asked her man.
“Are you going to punch me again?” he questioned wearily.
“Depends!” Chris answered with a smirk. Next to him, Raven rolled her eyes, punching him in the side. “Oof! Okay, okay, no more hitting.” With a resolute nod, Raven was satisfied. “Allein, how about you?”
“I’ve eaten,” he stated with a wave of his hand. “Besides, I need to do a few things anyway. Talk to you all later!” He said as he departed, waving a hand over his shoulder as he turned to leave. Everyone else gave him a wave as he left. As he turned a corner to leave, and with everyone in agreement, the quartet was off towards the dining hall. After a short walk, they grabbed their meals and took a the an available table that could support them and some. The four of them shared small talk until someone poked Raven in the side from behind, causing her to wiggle and squeak before a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, hugging her.
“Hi Raven!”
Raven was caught midbite, forcing her to swallow. “Mmmmm! Hi Scarlet!” she greeted the redhead. Releasing her, Scarlet decided to sit next to her in the open seat. As per recently, she started playing with Raven’s hair, braiding what little there was or just running her hands through it. For some strange reason, one that Raven didn’t question nor stop, Scarlet liked to play with the girl’s hair. Raven enjoyed it.
“Hey Scarlet,” Chris greeted her, having to look past his girl before he glanced over his shoulder, then turned once he saw who was standing there. “Hey Sunny, Asp, Amar.” Adjusting herself to look behind herself, Raven was greeted with three more guests, two male and one female. One thing she never understood, or liked, was how people dyed their hair. Because the young man on the left was bright orange, along with the glasses he wore that matched his hair. Maybe it was just a pet peeve. Well, for some people it looked good, she would use Scarlet as an example, if it weren’t for the fact that hers is natural. She wasn’t sure, it just bothered her for some reason. But, whatever, she had no control over it.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me, Wolven!” the orange haired male teen stated angrily.
“And how many times do I have to tell you it’s stupid!” Kal interjected. Chris simply glanced at his friend before emphasizing the statement with a point of his finger and a smirk. Amaruq ‘Wolven’ Noble, hated it when people didn’t use his self-prescribed nickname. One he created as his gamertag. He was also sporting an aggressive scowl and with huff, crossed his arms in frustration.
In the center of the group, another young man sporting bright red hair stood, chuckling at his friend’s misfortune. Aspire Perringer or Asp, for short, was more often than not found with his two-other flame haired friends. Since the only female in the group, had hair that looked like fire, her name is Sunlight Trailblazer, or Sunny, because people were lazy. Of the three of them, Raven rather liked the name. It reminded her of-
The spoon she was holding clattered against her plate as she clutched her head. A terrible migraine settled in as Raven started to see spots. Everyone at the table shouted her name, but it only seemed to aggravate the issue further. She felt Scarlet release her and a different hand was placed on her back, trying to comfort her. As the pain continued to worsen, the lights in the room started to darken and flicker. With each flash the dining area changed drastically. When the lights were on, she saw her worried friends, when they were off, she saw blood, bodies, overturned crates and a lone figure standing in the center. Oh no… she knew what this meant!
She couldn’t pry her eyes off him as his opaque form before began to solidify with each flick of the lights. As the intensity of the flashing continued, his form only became clearer and more solidified. It was only then when the lights finally went dark and it was only her and him, did something happen. Raven sat panting at the table in the ruined dining area. Bodies of the unlucky littered the room as they sat in pools of their own blood. Crates of food littered the area, many already looted or tipped over, spilling their contents along the floor. The room was a hollowed shell of what it once was.
“...Remember.”
With a flicker of the lights, gone was the destruction, death, and bloodshed. Returned, were her friends and the glory that was the Orokin ship. Raven was back in her seat panting, as she continued to clutch her throbbing head. She held that position for several tense seconds…
Until her eyes rolled up in the back of her head as she passed out…
***
“.... she’ll be… thank you… Zion…” Raven stirred, wincing as she moved around slightly. Gently, she opened her eyes and was greeted by the grand white walls of her room. Gently lifting her head, she surveyed the area of her current situation. She was in her bed, and next to something really warm. Feeling around with her left hand, she felt something solid against her palm. “Good to see you awake, sweetie.” Barely opening her eyes, Raven adjusted her head to face the voice. As she looked up she quickly came to the realization that the warmth she was feeling was coming from the body she was lying against, which was her fiancé. He smiled down at her as the two locked eyes. Smiling weakly in return, she adjusted her head more comfortably and noticed the other occupant in the room.
The young man had jet black hair and light blue eyes. From Raven’s angle, he looked like a goth, his facial expression was rather blank too, adding to his strangeness. “I think we’re good Zion,” her fiancé stated. The young man nodded to the young man in the bed, who returned it before Zion turned to face an exhausted Raven. Without saying a word and with gentle bow of goodbye and respect, he turned and left the room.
Closing her eyes, Raven nuzzled his chest. “Who was that?” she mumbled in her half-awake half-asleep state.
The young man turned to face the door. “His name’s Jake Feldsparr, but he prefers to go by Zion. I… really don’t know much about him. He never talks, kind of an enigma really.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, he was passing by as I was bringing you and offered to help.” Running a hand through her hair, he gently stroked her scalp. An action she rather enjoyed.
The two laid in content silence for sometime, neither wanting to say anything as they embraced each other. Raven was on the verge of falling asleep again before her fiancé spoke softly, “I’m worried about you.”
She groaned internally and had a feeling that she knew where she was going. “I’m fine…” she answered groggily, nuzzling his chest.
“Raven I’m serious!” he said sternly. “This is the second or third time you’ve had one of these episodes!”
Stopping his ministrations and removing his hand from the top of her head, she opened her eyes and adjusted her head to look up at him. She winced internally when she saw the look of concern that adorned his features. Immediately avoiding eye contact, she shied away and even slid under the covers just slightly, feeling rather uncomfortable. She felt him run his hand through her hair comfortingly.
She didn’t speak for several minutes until she had something relatively reasonable to say. “I… I keep seeing someone, or… something?” she started hesitantly. “Every time I have one of these, ‘episodes’, I see him.”
“What does he look like?” Chris questioned as he continued his ministrations.
“Exactly like the Warframe from my, uh, dream.” There was no way that was a dream, it was too real. Something had to be off, she just couldn’t place-
“Raven…” he said softly, stopping his petting to wrap his arms around her. Confused, she let him pull her up and into his lap. Hugging her from behind, he wrapped his arms around her waist and resting his head on her right shoulder. Placing her hands over his, she rested her head against his cheek, nuzzling him softly.
“He always says one thing too,” she said quickly before he started speaking again. Rubbing the back of his hand, she just waited for his response.
“What is it?”
“Remember.”
The young man furrowed his brow as he thought about it. “Remember what?” he questioned.
Raven shrugged, unsure of how to answer. Well, unsure how to answer him. She had a theory, but… With no means to test both its basis and validity, she was left with nothing. With nothing more to ask, the couple simply sat in their embrace, lost in thought. Raven lifted her legs and held them to her chest. It was some time before their mutual silence came to a halt when the electronic door to the room opened. Both Laura, Raven’s mother and her fiancés mother entered the room.
She reeled back slightly from the faceless pair.
Yet again their faces were nothing but a blur. Like a censored screen. First entered her mother rather hurriedly, next was Chris’ which entered in less of a panic, finally was the warframe.
…
The lights flickered yet again and gone was the well cared for and decorated room and now was the dull walls and demolished room. Where the two mothers once stood, were two maniacs, both sporting a broken blade. Their clean suits were torn and tattered, their once manicured fingers were crooked, their fingernails long and broken, hands coated with blood. Their once long flowing hair was tattered, ends split, and covering their wicked smiles and bloodshot eyes.
When the lights flashed to normal, everything was normal. The pair approached, the closer of the two had her arms opened, ready to grab her daughter lovingly. When the lights went out, her evil claws reached for Raven’s neck. The intensity of the flashing increased in speed dramatically. Love, hate, love, hate, love, hate, love…
Hate…
Raven’s eyes went wide as the creature lunged for her. Frozen in fear, she didn’t know what to do until she flinched away when a gunshot rang out and the creature screeched in agony, missing her on the bed and landing on the floor next to the bed, dead. Raven stared at the corpse of what used to be her mother before turning to face the area the gunshot came from. She did a double take as her fiancé stood near the bathroom door with a pistol in his hands and was no longer holding onto her.
Traversing the gun towards the second creature, tears rolled down his face as his mouth moved. No words came but she could tell he was begging her for something. The creature, stared at him, its eyes covered by its matted hair. With a screech the animal raised the knife and charged after him. She didn’t make it far as a series of gunshots sang out as she fell at his feet, lifeless, in a pool of her own crimson blood.
Dropping towards his knees, he could only stare at the corpse of his mother as he sobbed. Raven herself didn’t, couldn’t feel anything. As she watched the young man as he continued to mourn his mother, she pulled the covers off her body and stood up. He didn’t so much as look at her when her boots thumped against the metallic floor. Walking over to him, she lifted a hand, ready to place it on his shoulder…
She retracted it, when another hand grabbed him. Stepping back, she watched as a version of herself grabbed him, hugging him as he returned the embrace. He sobbed into her doppelgangers hair as her doppelganger sobbed into his shoulder, both clutching each other tightly. She could only watch in utter fascination before metal on metal grabbed her attention, almost like footsteps.
Turning around to face the noise, she came face to face with the warframe for the second time that day. “What do you want?” she demanded.
“Remember!”
Clenching her hands into fists, she felt her anger start to rise. She could see the two out of the corners of her eyes as she clenched her teeth. She was sick and tired of this game, she was tired of the horror, she was sick of the bloodshed!
“I don’t want to remember!”
She stared up at him with fury in her eyes as the blank purple helmet stared back.
“You will…”
And with that, his frame dissipated, like dust in the wind. The room shook violently that Raven stumbled to keep her footing the sounds of metal grinding caused her ears to ring as walls and ceiling began to crack violently, showing the flesh-like interior. The still embracing pair paid little mind as the room began to fall apart. The lights flickered and flashed as they came loose. Bracing herself against the bed, Raven glanced over her shoulder and watched as they too, faded away like dust. As a chunk of debris crashed down atop the bed, Raven fell backwards, hitting her head and losing consciousness.
Both her eyes snapped open as she panted, a light sheen of sweat covering her form. Coming down from the high that was such a nightmare, she noticed that gone were the decrepitude walls and back was the bright white of the ship. Looking down, she was back in her bed, where she started. Glancing over her shoulder, she locked eyes with her worried looking fiancé. When she saw the look of horror upon his features, she gasped and reeled back as though she had just been slapped.
What happened!?
Turning around, she came face to face with her scared and saddened mother and an equally worried mother to her fiancé. Once again, she could see her mother’s beautiful face and wonderful blue eyes. The anger from before was immediately replaced with regret. She must have said something during her episode. If she did, she couln’t remember it. “I’m sorry…” she turned around quickly to face her fiancé as tears started to well up in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Lunging forward, she wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him tightly. “Please don’t let me go! Please don’t let me go!” she shouted into his chest, which came out muffled by his clothing. “I need this… I need you!”
Gently, she felt his arms wrap around her smaller frame as he hugged her back, nuzzling the top of her head as her tears of sadness and joy stained his shirt, but he paid it little mind. As the duo sat in their loving embrace, Raven felt the bed behind her depress as the two mothers decided to sit down. She felt a hand caress her back comfortingly and assumed it to be her mothers. Unbeknownst to her, her soon to be mother-in-law rubbed her sons arm as she mouthed the words ‘You will be a perfect husband’ to him, causing him to smile lightly.
Eventually, gone were the tears. Gone were the parents and left were the lovely couple. Embraced in their sleep attire, Raven held the arm around her waist tightly as she rubbed her bare legs against his. As she came to the realization that everything she had experienced during her coma was nothing more than a mere dream. All she could do now, was embrace her future.
She could not be more excited!