//------------------------------//
// Unstable and violent/Atera splits apart. 
// Story: The Four Broken Souls Of Atera. 
// by Sylif Daring Doo 
//------------------------------//

______*Apartment 192, The City of Atera, the next day, 2:00 PM*______

The atmosphere in the apartment was unnerving today, breakfast, while good hadn't helped to ease the tense and awkwardness.

Seth woke up feeling ok, but after a time, she seemed to devolve into incoherent muttering and whispers, Alice had gone to check out where she would be staying and wouldn't be back for a while, leaving Syrin and Ren alone with Seth.

Needless to say it was quiet and awkward, especially when Seth apparently changed emotions on a dime and suddenly became VERY interested in an experiment involving Syrin and twenty minutes alone in a room.

Syrin promptly locked herself in her room until Seth changed her mind.

Ren wasn't unaffected by this either, and Seth had creeped her out when she decided that she was an arsonist, she was busy for ten minutes trying to keep Seth away from the stove.

Seth had one other personality change that had both Ren and Syrin red faced, she had suddenly become very comfortable with the idea of no clothes, and in an instant, she was naked and displaying everything, it didn't help that she promptly cuddled with Ren and had an instant personality change, at which point she wouldn't move because Ren was 'comfy' to lay on.

And now, they were quiet as Seth sat on her chair, with clothes on! muttering and whispering madly.

This was by far favorable to two of the previous personalities to Syrin.

Ren looked at Syrin and leaned closer. "How long do you think this quiet will last?" She asked.

Syrin shrugged. "I'm not sure, but you should enjoy all the quiet you can get, you do sleep in the same room as her after all." She replied.

Ren looked at Seth who briefly twitched and looked at her with a suggestive expression for a brief few seconds before returning to her mumbling. "Yea......i'll just be happy when the others finally get back." She muttered.

"Speaking of which, where are they? they should be off work by now." Syrin wondered.

Ren looked at the clock and saw that it was two eighteen, she raised an eyebrow. "The restaurant closed at two, and it doesn't take long to get back here from there.....maybe they stopped to pick something up?" She suggested.

"Far above." Seth's voice said. "Hidden in plain sight, now revealed for all to see, panic, madness and anger, all rage far and across the land." She continued shakily. "One broken hearted, one broken minded, regret and anger, suffering and jealousy! her return heralds a new era, but will it be one of terror or love? war or peace? all of this hangs in the hooves of six." She stated ominously, she then returned to mindless rambling.

Syrin and Ren looked at each other with looks of confusion and then they looked at Seth who was shaking violently. "Maybe you should go and calm her down? before she has a breakdown?" Syrin whispered the last part.

Ren nodded and stood up, she walked over to Seth and slowly placed a hand on the rabbits knee, Seth immediately tensed up but seemed to relax slightly once she saw who it was. "How are you holding up?" Ren asked.

Seth twitched and let out a shaky breath. "It feels like I'm dying." She said weakly. "M-m-maybe I c-c-could just have a little dose? j-j-just to k-k-keep me going?" She asked as she gave Ren a hopeful expression.

Ren shook her head. "I can't do that Seth, even if I wanted too, maybe when the others get back we could have a little uno tournament? that always cheers you up." She suggested.

Seth seemed to ponder this for a moment before slowly nodding. "If I win, I get a dose." She stated firmly.

Ren chuckled. "You'll be up against five others, I hope you realize that." She said.

Seth said nothing in reply, instead she became silent and closed her eyes, she rested her head on the back of her chair and reclined.

Seeing that she wouldn't be able to get any more out of Seth, Ren stood up and walked to the kitchen. "I'll get some lunch made up, hope you don't mind sandwiches." She stated.

Syrin got off the couch and walked to the bathroom. 'We shouldn't be keeping her here, we should be getting her into a rehab center.' She thought to herself, while this was her opinion, she wasn't willing to mention it to Ren.

_____*an hour and a half later.*_____

Ren was relieved, Seth had managed to get some sleep, even if it was only for half an hour, when she woke up however, she seemed to be normal for a short while, talking normally and not shaking violently, of course this didn't last and she soon devolved into her mad ramblings and mood swings.

One of these mood swings however, had her crying into Ren's chest and soon alseep once again.

Right now, Ren was working with Syrin to handle another of these changes in personality, Seth was incredibly angry right now, and seemed to want to punch anything, as was evident by the new fist sized hole in the coffee table.

Ren was trying to calm Seth down while Syrin held a magic shield up to keep Seth from breaking anything, which was difficult to do because unicorns feel some of the backlash what something strikes the shield, and Seth apparently hit like a battering ram.

It took about ten minutes but Seth finally changed in personality, she became very skittish and immediately fled to her room.

Syrin panted as she collapsed to the floor, she just laid on the floor and tried to recover her energy from maintaining the shield for so long.

Ren looked down at Syrin and knelt down. "You alright?" She asked, holding her hand out.

Syrin took Ren's hand and stood up, she wobbled a little bit, but managed to stay upright. "Where did you learn that shield spell anyway?" Ren asked.

Before she answered, Syrin walked to the couch and sat down. "My mom had me enrolled in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, I was far from the top student, but I had an aptitude for summoning magic, and was decent at defensive magic, that's all." She explained.

Ren nodded and looked at the door to her and Seth's room, she sighed and walked over to it, she knocked on the door lightly and spoke. "Sethy, are you alright?" She asked.

There was no response, and Ren sighed, she reached for the doorknob and turned it. "Don't come in!" Seth's voice said immediately.

Ren paused and then spoke. "Seth, I just want to make sure you are alright." She said quietly.

There was a brief pause before the door slowly opened, and Seth looked furious, but not outright hostile. "Alright?......I am dying over here, and you won't let me have what I NEED!" She snapped. "If you cared at all, you would give me the lifeblood!" She angrily stated before slamming the door.

Ren sighed sadly as she walked to the other wall and leaned on it, she slid down the wall and ended up sitting with her legs balled up, she crossed her arms on her knees and a tear fell down her face.

"I can't do this." She whispered to herself as her eyes let tears drop freely. 

Ren heard someone walking over to her and she looked up at them, it was Syrin who had a sympathetic expression. "I know you don't want to consider it, but maybe we should have Seth admitted to a rehab center." She stated.

After a deep breath, Ren rubbed her eyes with her right hand and looked at the door to Seth's room. "I......I know we should, but she's already ran away from one, if she goes to another, they might lock her up or worse, put her under drugs that make her unable to defend herself." She cleared her throat and sighed. "And with Kail's wife out there, I won't risk that." She stated.

Syrin nodded in understanding. "Look, why don't you get some sleep, we both need it by now." She said.

Ren chuckled weakly. "That......sounds nice, but someone needs to stay up to keep an eye on Seth." She replied.

"You go on ahead, I'll stay up." Ren said as she stood up. "At least if you rest up, you can use your magic to help." She added.

Syrin bit her lip, as much as she hated to admit it, Ren was right about that, and she did need to rest after using of so much magic. "Fine, but if there is any trouble, wake me up." She said as she walked to the couch.

Ren nodded and walked to the chair, she sat down in it as Syrin laid down on the couch and closed her eyes.

_______*later*_______

Ren groaned quietly as she awoke, she rubbed her eyes and blinked, the room was dark and quiet. 'I must have dozed off.' She looked to the couch and saw Syrin asleep, she then looked to her right and she froze in absolute terror.

Looming over Ren in the dark room was Seth, she glared down at her with a cold expression, but what made this most terrifying was the large kitchen knife in her right hand. "Seth!" Ren said in a startled tone.

Seth simply grinned and swung the knife, Ren yelped and lurched forward, the knife slashed her right arm and she cried out in pain, which apparently woke Syrin up as Seth was blasted away by a magic bolt.

Ren clutched her arm and looked at Seth as the lights came on, when the rabbit looked up at her she seemed furious, but what was most disturbing was that her eyes were now glowing pure white. 

Seth stood up and started marching over, knife in hand, but Syrin threw up a shield and spoke. "Let's get out of here!" She stated in a panic.

Ren forced herself to stand and followed Syrin out the door quickly just as Seth broke the shield down, they slammed the door shut and ran away from the apartment.

Syrin quickly teleported them to the entrance of the apartments, and it was then that they noticed that it was night. "Why is it night? it's not supposed to be night for another six hours!" Ren asked out of confusion.

They heard a loud crash behind them and immediately took off running as fast as they could. "Not important right now!" Syrin stated as they ran.

Ren noticed that the streets were oddly empty, as they ran, she snuck a glance behind her and saw Seth walk out from the apartments, she looked right at them and walked towards them quickly.

"What is wrong with her!?" Ren asked as they ran, they turned the corner and continued running until they were on Altain Ave.

"Come on Ren! stop running from the inevitable and surrender!" Seth's voice called out, but it sounded distorted.

Syrin spotted a hardware store nearby, and she quickly teleported them inside, Ren collapsed to her knees as the bleeding started to affect her, her left hand and the fur around the cut were now red from the blood, Syrin quickly took a look around.

The store was empty and dark, there were building supplies littered about randomly, as though a riot had happened. "I'm not sure what's wrong with Seth, but we need to hide and take care of that cut." Syrin replied as she lit her horn.

After Ren stood up and followed Syrin deeper into the store, they heard a voice call out to them. "Come on Ren! you can't hide from me! I know your scent by heart!' Seth stated.

Ren stopped moving and sat down at the end of an isle, she grunted in pain and looked at Syrin. "She's right, as long as you stick with me, your in danger, you should get out of here, I can hold her off for a while." She said as she clutched her arm.

Syrin shook her head and walked over. "Not with that arm, and you are crazy if you think I'm going to leave you to die." She said.

Ren said nothing in reply as she grit her teeth, the pain in her arm flared up as Syrin looked at the wound. "Move your hand." The unicorn instructed.

Hesitantly, Ren moved her hand and Syrin winced at the sight of the wound, she took a breath and lit her horn. "Try your best not to move, this may sting." She stated.

Stinging would have been a blessing, but instead all Ren felt was pain as Syrin worked her magic, it soon stopped though, and she breathed heavily. "You'll feel a dull pain for a few days, but it's better than bleeding out." Syrin said.

Before Ren could say anything, a loud crash was heard from the entrance. "I know your in here Ren!" Seth's voice called out. "You should know better than to play cat and mouse with me!" She added menacingly.

"Go and hide, I'll see what I can do to buy us time, this personality can't last forever." Ren stated as she got into a crouch, she then started to move to another part of the store.

Syrin took a quiet but deep breath and walked around, she soon hid behind a low wall and peeked, she spotted Seth walking around, her glowing white eyes searching for her prey.

"Come out and play Ren!" Seth called out madly.

Elsewhere in the store, a loud crash was heard, Seth immediately looked in that direction and started running over. "I'm coming for ya!" She shouted.

Ren hid behind a corner as she watched Seth search the area where she knocked over a bunch of paint cans and some metal beams, the glowing eyes gave away her position, but they also made her far more menacing, a low growl was heard and she spoke. "You can't have gone far Ren, I'll find you." She stated angrily.

At this point, Ren was glad that Seth never learned to focus more on tracking a scent, as such, she could only tell the general location, and nothing more.

Ren watched as Seth slowly approached her hiding place, she slowed her breathing and hid.

Seth walked until she was at a crossroads of sorts, she looked around briefly before walking away from Ren's hiding place. 

Ren waited for five seconds before quietly moving, she planned to slowly make her way to where Seth had just checked, but just as she placed her foot on the ground, Seth snapped around. "There you are Ren!" She shouted as she charged over.

Ren immdediately stood up just in time for Seth to collide with her, she was forced to the ground and was staring directly at the large knife that Seth was trying to stab her with. "Snap out of it Seth!" Ren pleaded as she used all of her strength to fight back.

Seth's mad grin grew as she pushed the knife down slowly, she started to laugh maniacally at Ren's attempt to fight back.

Ren felt her heart racing as the knife inched closer and closer to her head, and for a moment she was certain she was going to die.

That was of course, until Seth was smacked in the head by some kind of metal object.

Seth cried out in pain as she fell to the ground next to Ren, who got up and ran off with Syrin. 

As they ran for their lives, they heard Seth's furious cry. "Fuck you Syrin!" She shouted.

Ren and Syrin quickly entered the door to a small warehouse room and closed the door, they ran into the isles of boxes and spare materials.

They had barely managed to hide when they heard a voice.  "Here's.....Sethy!" The rabbit stated as she broke the door off its hinges.

Seth had lost her knife thankfully, but she apparently noticed something that caught her attention while she looked around, she walked over to something and glass shattered.

Ren and Syrin took the extra time to hide and they split up ever so slightly, Ren resisted to urge to gulp when she saw that Seth had grabbed a fire axe. "With Her return, we, strongest of her servants, return to finish what we started!" She stated cryptically.

"We shall hunt down the servants of the great enemy and slaughter them all! leaving only the faithful unscathed by the fires of war!" Seth continued.

'What is she talking about? is she referring to that mad rambling from earlier.' Ren wondered.

Seth soon walked past Syrin and spoke. "Come out come out." She chuckled darkly. "Come out and plaaaay." She added creepily. "Is this what the servants of the great enemy have come to? cowards that dare not face their foe?" She taunted.

"She has already arisen, the great enemy has fallen and your power shall wane, let me end it quickly and painlessly, for there is no hope for the servants of the enemy." Seth continued.

Ren looked at Syrin, the unicorn motioned to Seth and nodded, with a deep breath, the fox got out of her hiding space and stood. "Seth!" She called out.

The rabbit grinned madly and looked at Ren, her white eyes glowing brightly. "You are mistaken, the one you call Seth is not here right now." She stated as she readied her axe.

"What did you do to her?" Ren demanded as she clenched her fists, her claws drawing a little blood from how tight she had her fists clenched.

"I do not understand why you love that child, her mind is weak and fragile, her strength is non existent, she was so easy to take control of in her fractured state." The rabbit's grin grew. "Now kindly stand still, and die!" She shouted as she lept forward with the axe raised.

Ren immediately jumped back and the possessed Seth was slammed into the ground by Syrin's magic, the fox immediately took the fire axe from Seth and stared down at the rabbit who began to laugh madly. "Are you going to kill me Ren?" She asked while laughing. "You can't even hurt me, all you will do is kill your precious Sethy." She taunted.

Ren growled. "I'm sure she'll understand when you are gone." She stated before kicking Seth hard in the face, knocking the rabbit out.

Ren threw the axe aside and grabbed Seth, she lifted her up made her arms hang over her shoulders as she carried the unconscious rabbit on her back. "We need to find the others before she wakes up." She stated.

Syrin nodded, but before they went to leave, she cast a binding spell on Seth's hands. "Just in case." The unicorn said.

Ren and Syrin walked out of the warehouse and into the main store, and Syrin spoke. "Why are you carrying her like that?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked.

Syrin lit her horn to light their way as they walked. "I mean, you are putting extra strain on your back and arms, instead of just carrying her in your arms." After a moment of silence, and a curious glance, Syrin grinned. "What's with that grin?" Ren asked.

Syrin looked at Ren. "Are you just carrying Seth like that so you can grab her ass?" She asked.

Ren froze with her eyes wide, her fur slightly tinted red from embarrassment, after a few moments she blinked and looking at Syrin, who seemed to be holding in a laugh, and she spoke. "That.......I-I-I don't, I just, no........piss off." She stammered before shifting Seth, she proceeded to carry her in her arms bridal style. 

Of course, Syrin decided one last tease was in order as they exited the hardware store. "Dum, dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum." She hummed.

Ren said nothing as she walked in silence, her slightly red cheeks revealing her blush, while the jokes were inappropriate considering what was going on, it did help to take her mind off things, temporarily of course.

_______*unknown.*_______

Seth groaned in pain and clutched her head, it felt like someone had bashed it open or something, she rubbed it gently which slightly eased the pain for a moment.

She slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by a dim light, it was quiet which was nice, she slowly sat up and looked around.

She wasn't in her room, that much was obvious, and she wasn't in the house that Ren and her sometimes rented for the night, she was somewhere new, and that honestly worried her.

Seth was in a ful sized bed with warm dark blue blankets and pillows, the sheets were black and they all smelled clean, the room itself had faded blue walls on the upper half, and the lower half was gray, there was a dresser, a cabinet and a desk, there was one window with dark blue curtains and a single door leading out of the room.

She rubbed her eyes. "Where am i?" She wondered.

Seth clutched her head again as the pain returned, she grunted and noticed something that she should have realized earlier.

She had no clothes on, at all......for some reason, she heard the door knob turn and laid back down immediately, to the world, she looked like she was still asleep.

Of course it didn't help when she heard the most dreadful sound on the planet. "Morning!" Came a very familiar wake up call.

Seth immediately sighed and just glared at the doorway, expecting it to be empty, but instead she saw an all too familiar wolf demon smiling at her. "Fuck off." She said instantly as she rolled back over.

She heard Karak chuckle before speaking. "Someone wants to talk to you." He said before walking away.

Seth rolled over again and saw Ren enter the room, she looked a little tense, which she raised an eyebrow about.

Ren closed the door and Seth sat up. "How are you feeling Seth?" The fox asked.

Seth grunted and rubbed her head. "Like my head was bashed open, where are we?" She asked.

Ren seemed hesitant to answer, but she did answer. "Somewhere safe, we aren't in any danger here......Seth, what do you remember?" She asked.

"The intervention from you all, my breakdown and I remember you and Alice talking to me, telling me we would get through this." Seth said with a shrug. 

Ren's surprised expression did set an alarm off in Seth's mind. "Did something happen while I was in bed?......you didn't kidnap me did you?" She asked with a serious tone, but not a hostile one.

Ren blinked and sighed as she sat down on the bed. "We have a lot to cover in order to bring you up to speed." She muttered.

They were both silent for a moment before Ren spoke. "Would you REALLY mind if I kidnapped you, I mean, you would be tied up, and I hear some kidnappers tease their victims in interesting ways." The fox said as she looked at Seth.

Seth grumbled. "Maybe later." She whispered, she seemed indifferent, but the idea of being tied up seemed to interest her greatly, she sighed. "What did I fucking miss?" She asked.

"You aren't going to like it." Ren said as she set her hands on the bed.

Seth was quiet as she listened to Ren, waiting for her to start. "It all started the next day, when we began to experience the withdrawal symptoms of Darket, it was just me and Syrin after Alice went to check out the apartment." She began.

The room was quiet aside from Ren retelling the events of that night, and Seth was horrified by the thought of actually killing someone, especially Ren.

The story went on for some time, as Ren explained in detail, the various personality changes she went through, but after she explained that she and Syrin had met up with the others with her unconscious in the foxes arms, that she sighed and paused.

After taking a deep breath, the fox spoke. "There......is one last thing, and this is a big one." Ren started slowly and catiously.

Seth watched as Ren looked at her as though she would break. "Well, what is it?" She asked.

Ren's expression softened as she spoke. "The slums are gone." She stated sadly.