Daeva: Black Diamond Chrysalis - Danielle Bolger (essential reading txt) 📗

broken down too, right?" The small brunette girl by me questioned. "If all the aura of a person is taken away then the core begins to break down into a vapour form. That's right, isn't it?"

"That's correct." Lara responded stiffly.

"And they're getting more powerful..." Abigail murmured as she struggled with the thought. "So that means... that soon a plaza full of people will..."

A long few moments stretched out before Vanessa, still atop the stage, intercepted the silence. "She might be a Princess Polly but even I'm having trouble breaking the news to her."

"What? What news are you talking about, Vanessa?" Abigail asked with a very quiet and shaky voice.

During the discussion I had been surveying the surroundings which drove me to stand up and make my weary way towards another table.

"Well it looks like Barbie is back on her feet!" Vanessa commentated.

"Bethanie, don't." Lara directed. "Just go home now. We can take care of things from here."

I heard her warning and I knew what it meant but still I had to find out for myself. I had to know the fate of the little old lady who, slumped in the metallic chair, possessed no shine at all. When I reached her I placed my hands under the jaw in just the same position Abigail had done to Kieran and waited. Then I reached down to her wrist and raising the limp limb I placed my index and middle fingers to the thumb-side and waited again. Then I placed my palm onto her chest, just slightly to the left. There I waited again, longer this time. I waited a whole minute for a thump that never came.

Hands grasped themselves around my shoulders from back behind me as Lara's voice spoke softly into my ear. "Bethanie, just go home. You've been through enough for now."

"Bethanie?" Abigail called back from Kieran's chair. "What's wrong? Why do you look so upset?"

"Come on." Lara ushered as I felt a tug from my left. "You need to get out of here, already. This place has drained enough from you."

My feet followed hers as she guided me back to the table where Abigail was perched and with the brunette's high pitched squeal sounded as if Lara was drawing her with other hand. She began to move away but, fixing my feet firm to the ground I tugged back.

"Kieran..." I muttered. "I can't leave him in this place."

"You need to, we all need to fall into the shadows. Soon people are going to come and investigate what happened here and if we're the only ones walking around with energy that's going to be inconveniently strange, but don't worry, the boy is safe."

"Like that elderly woman back there?" I retorted dryly. "No, no I don't think so, he's leaving with us!"

"That woman..." Abigail's quiet voice erected. "The one you were just with. She's... okay, right?"

A long moment stretched out, one that I was surprised no one filled until finally Abigail gasped sharply. "No... no, that can't be! Her aura, her... soul... It couldn't have been all taken! Could... it?"

"You know..." Vanessa stated loftily. "I've seen plenty of Polly Pockets but I've seen any of them cry. It's weird, seeing one in the flesh, sad."

"She's..." Abigail struggled through the breaks in her voice. "That woman, she's dead?"

I closed my eyes firmly before reopening to the same dark, dismal world. Thunder pounded in the distance just before the cascade of falling rain reverberated on the plaza's rooftop. "It's not just her, Abigail. There's at least three more people that show the same empty aura that she does. The elderly man by the left, the overweight woman by the taco counter and..." I swallowed. "That ten year old by the pram. He's gone too."

"No!" Abigail shrieked. "No, that's not true, it can't be!" Reaching across Abigail's small hand shook me. "Bethanie, stop lying like this! It's just nasty! Take it back, take it back now!"

"Even if she did contradict her words and said it wasn't true would you be able to believe it?" Rebecca's shoes clicked against the shiny tiled floor. "You know the truth, too soon maybe judging by your personality, but also far too late. You have the nox seed inside you so no matter what you do you'll never be able to shield your eyes from this truth again. You can fight it and I urge you to, but you should know that by now you can't possibly escape the fate laid out before you."

"Rebecca!" Lara shouted. "Stop it, she doesn't have to hear this yet!"

"What's the big deal?" Vanessa quipped. "It's not like she doesn't know. Even if she hadn't worked it out I told her today! If she doesn't understand then that just means she's living in denial."

"Wait!" I called "Truth? To do with Abigail? But she's innocent, she hasn't erected her erosreaver yet - she's safe!"

Vanessa smirked cruelly. "You haven't realised it yet either. God, newbies are so pathetic! No, Polly Pocket doesn't have her erosreaver yet which means her seed hasn't sprouted but don't treat this like a regular herb garden. Just 'cause a seed doesn't sprout straight away doesn't mean it's a dud, these ones are just waiting for the right time." Hazel eyes flashed before the girl leapt down from the stage.

"Damn it, Vanessa! What's your problem!?" Lara yelled. "Why couldn't you have just waited until her summoning!? She doesn't have long like this, why ruin her peace?"

"No!" I screamed.  "Her seed won't sprout unless she believes she's about to be killed, that's the rules!"

Vanessa tsked. "Oh, poor, Barbie, she was fooled by Ariel's performance hook line and sinker! Let me guess," Vanessa turned full face to me, "she told you that the only way your erosreaver could be extracted was if you believed that you were about to die, am I right?"

"Vanessa, cool it." Lara warned. "They've been through enough already!"

"What, you mean they've been through enough because Barbie witnessed her first disappearing act? Well big whop! I've seen five now! And the sooner these newbies realise the cruel reality the better - save them from acting all teary every time they see a corpse!"

"Vanessa!" Lara growled. "Not now. We need to get outside and focus on recalibrating the earth's aura so that the people here may recover..."

"Oh, they're fine! Well the living ones anyway." Vanessa declared. "So long as the diamonds remains aura always respawns but knowledge, that can only be obtained by going through the difficult times!"

"Well, you sound just like a nox there." Rebecca appraised with her solemn voice.

"Yeah?" Vanessa quipped. "Wanna fight me like they do?"

"You two, shut it!" Lara yelled as dark crystals rose and fell against her chest. "We have bigger issues to be thinking about!"

"Wait!" Abigail's high pitched voice cried out. "Vanessa, what do you mean that Ariel was lying? Are you saying that... my erosreaver doesn't have to be sprouted from a life and death circumstance? Are you saying that the seed could sprout another way?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Even though I wasn't looking at her I heard the smirk in Vanessa's voice. "It doesn't take death for darkness to spawn, it just takes fuel, regardless of the form. And the fuel, in case you haven't guessed it yet, is the human soul when it is most empowered. Or in other words, when it is drawn on the most. Fear, anger, despair, they're all perfect incubators for darkness to blossom."

"I..." Abigail uttered. "I still don't understand..."

Vanessa opened her mouth to elaborate but Lara cut in first, her eyes glaring hostilely at the red-head. "She means that our souls are linked to our emotions so when they're going through any stimulus that overwhelms them then our minds reach deeper and find those seeds imbedded within us. That's when, through our desperation, we pull out a form that we think can save us from the pain we experience. That's when we first allow the darkness to sprout inside us."

"You didn't have to interrupt me, Lara. That was precisely what I was about to explain, not in the same words, true, not so tactful, but no less sensitive than your own approach. And at least if I had said it then Polly Pocket would have been crying because of me and not you."

Turning to Lara's other hand I saw the tears that faintly glisten down Abigail's face. Just when I opened my mouth to try to soothe her my friend's sweet hurt voice cut over me. "It's inevitable. Ever since I took that seed I destined myself to this fate."

"Abigail..." I attempted but she again talked over the top of me, not that I was fighting so hard.

"You know, Bethanie. I see, but that's okay. I get it, I get why you didn't say anything earlier. I dunno, maybe you didn't really understand until now. That's what I want to believe but regardless of how the facts are coming out it doesn't change what they mean. I'm a daeva now. Raziel warned me and so did Ariel. I'm not at the flowering stage like the rest of the daeva-luxes, but I have these eyes and that makes me one of you." Wanly she pricked up a smile. "I was scared but you know, I'm actually really happy now. Because that means that there's nothing holding me back anymore. I can help you now, Bethanie. Now, I can fight with you!"

"You're happy..." I murmured. "Even with this life ahead of you?"

Abigail opened her mouth but from it no sound was emitted. She turned left and right as she viewed the wreckage and again she turned back to me, opened her mouth but failed to make a point. With a frown she shut it and stared at the tiles by our feet. Thunder resounded soon after.

"Come on, girls." Lara who, still grasping our hands, ushered as she began to walk away again. "That's enough for one day."

"You say that every time." Abigail reported with an even voice. "Whenever we're upset, learning about what's really going on, that's when you all send us home instead of explaining! But I don't want to go home, I want to know what's happening! Like..." Abigail whimpered. "What this asura that you're talking about is and also... where Pearl is."

Don't ask that. I pleaded silently to her. Don't...

"The asura," Lara responded from the other side of our captive hands, "is another phantom from the world of Noein. It's more powerful than shades and a lot more dangerous. If it makes contact with civilisation then it'll kill countless people."

"Right..." Abigail murmured softly as she was being drawn by a similar gentle hand that I was. "So that was half of it, but what about the other half, what about the part where you explain where Pearl is?"

"Hey, Abigail!" I tried to distract her. "How about when we get out of here you show me that poem Eric wrote for you? I'm insanely curious to read it!"

"Bethanie..." Abigail murmured.

"You know, I had no idea that Eric was such a poet. I guess that's silly though, considering how good he is at English. It's sweet really - writing a poem for his girlfriend!"

"Yeah, I'll show you..." Abigail consented as silent tears fell down her face.

Once we reached outside the falling rain was much louder as lighting flared and thunder chorused its boom soon after. Then ahead we saw flashing red and blue lights as large vehicles made their way down the street.

Staring at the approaching fire trucks Lara pulled us along. "Come on, we need to bounce."

Fifty meters down the road we took shelter in a bus station. Sitting us down Lara addressed us, "Alright, I'm gonna head back to the others and try to pull some aura back towards the plaza. You two should just head on home now."

"Hey wait!" I called. "The fire trucks, why are they here?"

"Well a whole shopping centre is full of unconscious people so once security picked it up then it was only a matter of time until they sent