an angel's smile is what you sell

[menocrede.livejournal.com]

Who: Lilith, Josiah
What: Obstacles are meant to be overcome. Regardless of the consequences.
Where: Atlantis and... somewhere else?
When: After the gummi ships started working

He faintly heard the waters rushing all around them. Closer still was the slow trickle of rainwater against the rocks, echoing inside the cavern. The silvery blue reflections lit up the black grainite walls, lending a peaceful air about the place. If he listened, he could hear people's voices just beyond the rock walls, talking in hushed monotones. But was it really their voices he was hearing? He could sense their souls, even muted beyond the cavern walls, and maybe that was what he was hearing instead.

Something was wrong.

Had he been here before?

He looked up at the roof of the cavern, listened to the water and the voices, and tried to erase that feeling that something was wrong. It wasn't safe here - the others were in danger. He knew it. But... he couldn't remember. Faces, blurry in his mind, and names that just wouldn't come to mind. And something important. Something about magic. Something that wasn't supposed to be real.

He closed his eyes as his head began pounding in sync with the dripping water. He had to concentrate to hold that sense close - that ability to sense people when he couldn't see them - and it wasn't long before that became the most important thing in that cold, damp world. Those people... the ones that were important, if he could, could he hear them too?

Eventually, the cave, the water, the reflections, and the voices all faded away again into blissful darkness.

Lilith opened her eyes, and looked out over the waters that surrounded the sunken city. The people there had been hospitable, if cautious, of her arrival. She hadn't made the welcoming situation any better by refusing to tell them where she came from, how she had arrived without any of the guards noticing, or the mechanics of the ship that, until recently, had refused to work. She didn't know where Song was, didn't know where any of the Refugees were at actually. She supposed she could have actually logged onto that silly network of theirs and asked, but...

She rose to her feet, and began heading back to the gummi ship, ignoring the looks that the Atlanteans, mostly the men, threw her way. It was better this way - without that girl interferring, she could take care of Calum without any hinderance. She had never promised anything, not to Song, not to Josiah, not to anyone. The only person she had ever promised anything to had already proved that he was untrustworthy, a traitor to everything they had in that brief moment of time so many years ago. If the Brethren Court hadn't gotten to him sooner, Lilith would have burned him herself.

That was unsteady ground she still walked on. That girl kept reminding her that she owed it to her current master to try and save him - again, she owed no one anything. Whatever the boy had done in the past, he had done of his own free will. He knew the consequences of his actions, and now there was nothing to be done except rid the worlds again of the black scourge that possessed him. Whatever came of it, and whatever the Refugees wanted to believe, their peace, though hard-earned, was not without catches.

The bracelet Kida had given her rattled against her waist from where she had tied it as she made it to the gummi ship, typing into the console just next to the door. She didn't usually accept gifts from humans - they were signs of emotional bonds that Lilith had long since discarded - but she realized, eventually, that she could use this gift. The tiny gold coin and oddly-shaped turquoise beads weren't monetarily significant, but, from being bound to the grimoire for centuries, she knew a spell or two that she could place on the jewelry.

Maybe even a spell that would help her in destroying Calum.

She sat in the pilot's seat, flicking a few of the switches before pausing. She glanced at the screen off to her left, frowned, and then typed something into the keypad next to it. After a few seconds, the network those human children used to communicate with each other appeared. She quickly read through the latest posts, looking for something in particular, hoping against - ah. There it was. She read through the post quickly, and then hurried through the rest of the network. Most of the humans she didn't bother with, but there was always that one in particular...

Sherwood Forest. And Neverland. Well, that was interesting.

It was time to go.

She closed her eyes, taking in a breath. She wondered briefly how much longer she could keep hiding secrets from any of them, but quickly banished the thought. It wasn't the far future she was concerned about - once the pirate was dead, she wouldn't have to worry about any of this anymore.

He opened his eyes only for a moment, but in that brief instant, he could have sworn he saw a glimpse of war about to break out in heaven. He struggled to wake up more, but the more he fought, the more he was pulled back down, away from the cool, calm cavern and into that chilly, biting darkness that was his only world now.

He had to warn them.

But...

She was still there too. Waiting patiently, and she knew more than any of them.

And it was with a growing sense of anger and frustration that the darkness overcame him again.