Ch.6 Surface Tension
Twilight sighed bitterly as she typed away at her computer, her on campus lab eerily silent with Spike's absence. After what happened at the park, the teen was a lot more protective of the small puppy. While a contributing factor her dear companion's absence was not the sole reason behind her foul mood.
After three days of playing with Sugar's group, she didn't know how to feel about the group. She was steadfast in her belief that they were planning something, but she couldn't help the small trickles of doubt that crept in from time to time. She still couldn't get Sugar's words out of her head or how sincere they sounded. It almost made her rethink her opinion of the girls.
Shaking the treacherous thoughts from her head, she focused further on her data.
It's all an act, she thought with a frown. A trick! They just want me to let my guard down so they can mess with me!
Sugar popped into her mind a second later, earning an irate groan out of her as she leaned back in her seat. Her arms fell limply at her sides, eyes drifting shut against the migraine growing behind her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Petal gruffly asked.
"No," she groaned. rubbing her temples.
"What's wrong?"
"What isn't?" she sighed, staring at the ceiling. "My best friend is trapped in a rock and I'm spending time with people that want to throw me under a bus. Heck, they're keeping the act up even though I know they're messing with me! If you weren't helping me keep away from Sunny and Sour I'd be a screaming wreck right now!"
"Sounds like you could use a drink," the Wraith snorted.
"I'm a minor," Twilight flatly replied.
"So?" Petal said with an audible frown. "It's not like human teens don't break rules from time to time."
"I'm not like that," she huffed.
"So when you...what's the legal human drinking age again?"
"Twenty-one," Twilight stated, raising a brow.
"Right," she snorted. "So when you turn twenty-one you'll have about four years worth of shots to go through. Queen help us all!"
"That may be a possibility," she sighed. "I can't wait to get out of this place."
"Uh, I was kidding," Petal deadpanned. "Plus, I think you might want to have a friend that can drive you back home or hold your hair back later."
"Hopefully, I'll have found away to set you free by that point," Twilight frowned.
"Or you could call Sugar to keep you stable," the Wraith offered.
"No," Twilight said coldly. "As soon as I am away from this school, I will never talk to her or any of the other Elites ever again. Period."
Petal let out a frustrated groan along with the sound of a hand smacking and sliding down her face.
"Is it really that crazy of an idea that she wants to be your friend?"
"Yes!" she yelled, then took a deep breath as she resumed her typing. "And when they finally make their move I'll prove you wrong, complete my research, and get the hell out of this place."
Petal didn't know which shocked her more, the blatant refusal of reality the girl was displaying or the fact that she had just cursed. Fighting the urge to lash out, she took a deep breath and muttered something that made Twilight pause her typing.
"You have got to be the dumbest smart person I've ever met."
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the pendant, took it off, and threw it across the room.
"SHUT UP!!!"
The sudden surge of rage the Wraith sensed shocked her more than the girl's reaction, but that was the tip of the iceberg as the girl jumped out of her seat. Tears leaked past her glasses as she glared at the pendent on the ground, her whole body shaking with barely contained fury.
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!!! EVERYDAY I'M TREATED LIKE SLIME JUST BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT MY STUDIES!!! EVERY SINGLE DAY HERE IS A LIVING HELL THAT I WANT TO ESCAPE FROM WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING!!! IF IT WASN'T FOR MY FAMILY, I WOULD'VE HUNG MYSELF BY NOW!!! ALL I WANT IS FOR EVERYONE TO JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE SO I CAN FIGURE OUT A WAY TO GET OUT!!!"
She fell to her knees, tears falling freely down her face as she continued.
"But It's not like you have to put up with that kind of thing," she sniffled.
A heavy silence filled the room, Twilight's wet panting the only sign of life. Then, in a tone so devoid of life that it chilled Twilight to her core, Petal broke it.
"You're right. I don't have to put up with that kind of shit. But at least you can move around and have a family that looks out for you. I don't have any of that. Hell, I don't even remember anything from before you found me. My family? My real name? Why I'm trapped in here? No fucking clue. So there's that, I guess."
Her eyes widened at that, her anger long sense snuffed out as she stared at the pendant. With shaky hands, she crawled to where it laid and gingerly scooped it off of the ground.
"P-Petal, I'm so sor-"
"Save it!" she snapped, then bitterly sighed as she said, "I'm gonna...take some time off from this shit for a bit. Do whatever you want, I guess. I...I need to get my head fixed."
As soon as she said that, the gem's color washed away into a milk white. At the same time, Twilight felt a part of her snap, like a tether holding her to something she hadn't known was there until just then. Shaking, she held the gem up to her face, her panicked reflection greeting her on its surface.
"P-Petal? Can you here me?"
No response.
Her heart sank at that.
"Petal? Please say something! Petal?!"
Still no answer.
A great numbness fell over her as she stared down at the stone, the world around her starting to fade out of her perception. She rolled onto her side and held the gem to her chest, new tears starting to flow while she curled into herself. Wasn't this what she wanted? To be alone and able to focus on her projects?
No....not like this...
A ding from her phone on her desk caught her attention. Forcing herself to move, she dragged herself to her feet, slid the pendant back into place around her neck, and made it over towards her desk. Her dead eyes sluggishly scrolled over the message. She gave her surroundings a slow once over then looked down at her phone again. With a sigh, she tapped out her response to its sender. A part of her was scared of what she had just agreed to, but the overwhelming majority of herself couldn't bring itself to care.
***
Lemon was a whirlwind of excitement, the girl running all through out her class club room like a bolt of lightning on a caffeine high. While not the biggest club in the school, nor the most well-funded, the Rock Club was still fairly well maintained and up to Crystal Prep standards. Amps and a wide variety of both electric and traditional instruments hung on display or sat in the corners of the room waiting to be put to use. Vividly colored band posters haphazardly covered the walls in between the instruments at random points . There was even a mini-fridge loaded with energy drinks for anyone that needed the extra boost. Two empty cans of such were sat on a paint spattered desk at the head of the room, a fact that may or may not have had something to do with Lemon's current rush of energy.
"I can't believe she said she'd come!" Lemon gushed, cramming a handful of trash into an already overfilled pin. "That's like, super awesome! I wonder what kind of music she likes! I bet she's a huge EDM fan!"
A soft knock at the door brought an excited squee out of her before she zipped towards it.
With a wide smile, she threw it open and cried, "Welcome to the CP Rock Club!"
Her joy died a miserable, painful death the second she laid eyes on Twilight.
The girl looked as if she had just buried her dog, her shoulder slumped and eyes empty of any real life. It almost reminded her of how she looked back at the park, but a lot more worse for wear. At least then she was worried about her dog. Now?
Lemon shook off the gloom the girl seemed to radiate and regained some of her smile.
"Glad you could make it," she said, stepping aside. "Come on in!"
Twilight nodded and let herself in, not once looking up from the ground. Lemon chuckled nervously at that as she let the door shut on its own. The girl wandered into the middle of the room and stopped, finally letting her eyes wander away from the floor and towards the countless instruments on display.
Lemon was at a loss of what to do next.
In all honesty, inviting Twilight to her club had been more to see if she would actually show up than anything else. A casual whim that, given Twilight's standoffish attitude, she didn't hold out much hope for, but decided to try anyway. The girl was not exactly friendly, but Lemon didn't hold that against her too much. Given Sunny and Sour's reputations with the girl, it was a small miracle Twilight gave them a chance in the first place.
Taking a deep breath, she moved to the girl's side and asked, "So, what's up?"
"Nothing," Twilight said hollowly.
"A-Are you sure?" Lemon stammered behind a shaky smile.
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, froze, then closed it and shook her head.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Lemon asked, concern finally showing on her face.
The lavender teen turned a dead look at her, then let out a defeated sigh and nodded. That told Lemon more than it really should've. The amaranth teen blinked in shock at that, suddenly frantic as she ran to the paint-spattered desk and wiped the junk off of it. She gestured for Twilight to take a seat on the desk and scurried over to the fridge.
"You want something to drink?" she asked over her shoulder.
"Sure," Twilight responded, voice still dead to her ears.
Lemon fought off another chill as she pulled two cans from the fridge. She turned just as Twilight took a seat in the desk and was met by that same empty stare from before.
"S-So which do you want?" she asked behind a nervous smile. "Kicking Kiwi or Raging Raspberry?"
"I don't care," she murmured.
Lemon flinched, but maintained her smile and set a green can next to Twilight all the same. She popped open the remaining blue can and took a swig as she sat down next to her guest. Twilight took the offered can, but simply stared down at it in her hands. An awkward silence settled between them, one girl waiting for the other to speak while the other struggled to find the words.
Lemon had no idea how to deal with this kind of situation. Out of the three of them, Sugar was always the one that knew how to work with people. She was the therapist while Lemon was more of a performer, the bard that every party needed to lighten the mood. That didn't mean she couldn't at least try.
"Take your time," Lemon breathed, taking a swig from her can. "I can wait as long as you need me to."
That seemed to get a reaction out of the girl, her eyes briefly shifting towards her before going back to her drink. Nodding, she finally popped it open, took a long pull, then started talking.
"A friend and I just had a fight."
"Oh," Lemon cringed. "Was it bad?"
Twilight nodded.
"It started out small, but then she said something and I just..... snapped. I said something stupid and now she...she doesn't want to talk to me. I can't even apologize to her and...I really messed up."
Twilight was about to start crying again, but froze when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. Both girls blinked in shock at that, neither of them having planned or expected this to happen. Neither of them complained as Twilight leaned into the embrace and let herself fall apart. She knew that Lemon could use this against her, that she was opening herself up to more pain, but in that desperate moment, she just didn't care. Lemon let her have her moment, gently patting her back as the front of her uniform became damp with tears.
When the flow finally stopped, she pulled away from Twilight and sheepishly looked away.
"W-Well that happened," Lemon chuckled awkwardly. "D-Do you feel better?"
"A little," she sighed, a small smile forming on her lips. "Thanks."
"No problem, dude" Lemon smirked, happy to see a bit more life in the girl, then turned nervous again as she asked, "Did she...um...say she didn't want to talk to you again or..."
Frowning, Twilight thought back to Petal's exact words.
"No. She said that she 'needed to get her head fixed'."
Lemon let a relieved smile grace her lips.
"Then she'll be back."
"A-Are you sure?" Twilight asked, nervously rubbing her pendant.
"Yeah," Lemon nodded. "She probably needs to blow off some steam for a bit. I'm sure she'll be back as soon as she gets all of that taken care of."
"I hope so," Twilight mumbled, picking her drink back up off of the desk.
"In the meantime," she frowned, heaving herself off of the desk. "We need to make sure this doesn't happen again."
"How?" Twilight asked.
"Easy," she smirked, running towards one of the speakers.
With a flick of a wrist, the device hummed to life. Not long afterwards, she plugged a cord into one of its jacks and ran back towards the confused girl. With an eager grin, she plugged the other end of the cord into a karaoke mic and placed it on her lap along with a pair of noise-dampening earmuffs. Twilight raised a brow at her as Lemon put on an identical pair of earmuffs.
"I want you to put those on and scream as loud as you can into the mic," she said, voice a little louder than earlier. "Don't worry, the room's completely soundproofed. Let it all out! Don't hold anything back!"
Taken aback at that, she stared down at the gear on her lap with trepidation. There was no telling what Lemon could use such audio for. At the same time, that very thought added fuel to the temptation to just go for it. Feeling oddly more impulsive than normal, she took a long pull from her drink, put on the ear protection, grabbed the mic, and screamed into it.
She felt the air vibrate around her, but that barely phased her as she took a deep breath. She screamed again, the howl filled with her rage at everything around her. Panting, she took another swig from her drink and screamed again, a huge weight falling off her back with each roar. By the time she was done, her throat was sore, her drink finished, and all of her frustrations were gone. She laughed drunkenly as she slumped back to her seat, a strange feeling of weightlessness enveloping her where she sat.
Lemon took in the sight with a satisfied smile, taking the mic from the girl and plopping down next to her.
"Feeling better?" she asked.
"Much better, " Twilight laughed. "I don't think I've felt this good since I was in junior high."
Lemon laughed at that, while a small part cringed at the implications.
"Yeah, I don't have a lot of club mates so when things get heavy, I come down here and just let it all out. Keeps me sane, y'know?"
"Yeah," Twilight sighed, an almost dreamy expression plastered across her face. "I think I might make a habit of this."
Lemon lit up at that.
"That's totally cool with me! Heck, maybe we can have a jam session."
"Maybe," she yawned, her eyes starting to droop.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lemon worriedly asked.
"Yeah," she nodded. "Just....really...."
Before she could finish, the lavender girl nodded off. Lemon caught her just as she was about to fall off of the desk, a relieved sigh slipping past her lips. She carefully dragged the girl to her side, an odd mix of emotions rolling around inside her as she watched her sleep.
It was hard for her to think that someone that looked so peaceful asleep was full of so much raw anger. It was almost worse than the dead way she presented herself earlier.
Frowning, she lightly tightened her hold on her guest. There wasn't a lot she could do for her, but that didn't mean wasn't going to try anyway.
***
Darkness. That was all Petal could see from where she sat. An endless void of twisting coiling darkness that flowed around her like ink-laced water. It slid coldly across her body, filling her with chills.
A shuddering breath fell out of her along with a small stream of tears. Twilight's words echoed through her head like a shout in a cave, each reverberation a metaphorical punch to the gut. She curled in on herself as she tried to force the pain away.
Why did this hurt so much? She knew that Twilight had it rough. She knew that she was going to push the girl to far at some point. She knew that there was a chance that Twilight would lash out at her.
As for her past?
Why am I letting this get to me? she thought bitterly. So I don't know my past, so fucking what? I don't need it, right?.......right?
Seemingly in response, a feminine chuckle echoed around her.
She jumped to her feet, spear quickly manifested and at the ready.
"Who's out there?"
The voice chuckled again, then, in a jeering tone said, "Oh how sweet, the little puppy thinks she's a wolf. "
Petal flinched, not so much at the taunt, but at how similar the voice sounded to her own.
"Come out here bitch, and I'll show you just how much of a "puppy" I am!" she snapped, keeping vigilant.
The voice giggled, raising Petal's temper even higher.
"What's so fucking funny?!"
"You," the voice jeered. "Poor little Petal, trying to go against her nature to protect her friend. How delightfully foolish."
"What the fuck are going on about?" she growled.
"Nothing that you don't already know," the voice whispered, just inches away from Petal's left ear.
The Wraith swung her weapon, but hit empty air. Letting out a frustrated growl, she shifted her attention back to her surroundings.
The voice giggled and said, "You cannot go against your nature forever, dear. The hunger we all feel will make sure of that."
"Fuck you," she growled, but it lacked its usual bite.
She could feel her tormentor smiling at her from the shadows.
"It will drive you into making a meal out of your little friend and there will be nothing you can do to stop it."
"SHUT UP!" she roared, throwing her spear into the darkness.
Panting, she summoned a new spear and scanned her surroundings for even the slightest signs of movement. The same cold silence from before soaked the area in its choking embrace, as if the void itself was holding its breath. Unfortunately, it didn't last.
"It doesn't have to be that way," the voice purred. "I could help you."
"What do you mean?" the Wraith asked, not lowering her guard in the slightest.
"You already know the secret to keeping yourself under control. It was taught to you by your mother before you were strong enough to hunt for yourself. All you need to do is remember it."
"And you can help me do that?" she spat. "Yeah, I'm calling bull shit."
The voice giggled at that, earning another irate growl out of the Wraith.
"Very well. I see that there will be no convincing you at this time, but know that should you change your mind, simply call my name and I will come."
"And that is?" Petal asked, ever so slightly lowering her spear.
A chill shot down her spine when a hand rested gently on her shoulder. She froze in primal fear as the figure behind her knelt down to her level, lips just inches away from Petal's ear. Then, in a voice so much like her own, but poisoned by an elegant lilt said two words that resonated with her more than they had any right to.
"Lily Bouquet."
She woke with a start, once again back in her crystal prison. Heavy gasps fell out of her, her core pounding in her chest like a heart would've if she had one. Her eyes were wide with fear as she placed a shaky, sweaty palm on the shoulder the figure touched in her dream.
As she laid there on the floor of her prison, she struggled to make sense of her dream. Her mind was reeling, moving too quickly in too many directions for her to think clearly. Eventually, a thought managed to force its way through the maelstrom to the front of her mind. A thought that set a sickening stone into her gut.
She rolled to her side and curled into the fetal position, jaw set into a tight clench as she tried to deny the truth.
At some point in the future, she was going to have to make a choice.
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Oh sweet Petal, your past life is comming back to hount you.
Welp, shit's about to go down really soon
Look's like Lily's creeping back in
I really am hoping Petal manages to make a new way. I like Petal and don't want to see her be forced into becoming a villain.