At first she hadn't wanted to approach the embassy; Unlike the other two, she didn't trust quick, and gave away even less. Strangers in a strange land weren't welcomed with open arms, they were turned away by closed and bolted doors. Her disquiet and wariness had cracked by degrees, but her watchfulness never had. It was why she'd realized none of their human handlers other than Zirune remembered Noel existed and she'd known something like this would soon happen.
The people in a row were unmoving and blank faced, one or two mouths hanging vacantly open. They didn't twitch or shuffle or even cough, just in an apparent vigil. She walked up and waved her gauntlet in front of the doorman's eyes, but he didn't blink. A fly had landed on his nose. With a weary sigh, she pushed open the glass doors and stalked inside.
At first her own armor stopped her short, until she realized the purple lights were bringing out old bloodstains on the black plates. Frowning at her gorget, she slowly raised her eyes and looked at the rest of the people around her.
The music thumped and blared, but for all they noticed this place may as well have been a tomb. Women in various states of undress walked around mechanically, like puppets marching under a clumsy hand. The men she assumed were normally customers handed them money, and then they'd both pause for about five seconds before they'd hug without expression and break apart. Even for a brothel it was rather shameless, but her prudishness could wait.
Noel sat on the edge of the stage, her gaze at the floor and her hands folded. The prettiest strippers stood around her like an honor guard as Abigail walked up and tilted her head. Even knowing all she did, it was hard not to be apprehensive. Noel was older by far than her and ancient compared to Iodine; she was generally placid, but was always unpredictable and dangerous. The little albino corpse slowly looked up and over at her.
"...We should return to the base. They'll miss us." Abigail said calmly, keeping the horror out of her voice by effort of will. Noel picked up on it anyway, slowly looking around at the silent herd. With a wave of her hand the music died.
<...Was I in the wrong?>
"Removing free will is always wrong." Abigail said immediately. "I'm sure you'd the best of intentions, but do you think any of them would choose this over their own ideals?"
Noel panned around again before standing and waking to Abigail's side. She was much smaller and more fragile; her skin looked like porcelain and she seemed made of glass. Even while she shuffled like a crone, people on the furthest edges of the room were shaking their heads and coming back to life.
<I was only trying to help. I didn't mean to scare you.> She thought, looking up.
"You haven't, I was only worried. It would be a poor joke to be as old as you only to die by, say, being struck by a car." Abigail joked, lied, and smiled. Iodine and the others had rarely seen it, since she saved them for Noel. The smaller child of night said nothing, stare unbroken. Abigail held out her hand before Noel took it, the two of them heading into the night and back to the base they called home now.
Abigail knewwwww
ReplyDeleteI kid