{"sf1_id":574057,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Skyfall Chapter 18","author":"Abyssa","words":6063,"posted_at":"2013-08-08T19:47:00.000Z","tags":["Alien","Canine","Doctor","Gay","Human","Male","Rape","Science","Werewolf","Wolf","drugged","experiment","prisoner"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/574057-skyfall-chapter-18","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/574057","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=574057\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"18\n   Having left abruptly when he saw the\nanger in my glare, Misha left me a mess. I knew he was afraid, and I was glad,\nbut my anger couldn't last. I didn't have the energy to keep it up. My mind\nbecame numb as I sat and stared at the ceiling, trying to ignore the soreness\nin my body. I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to punish him for what he'd done,\nbut I was motivated to try for a few moments before I slipped back into\nnumbness.\n  At some point, Fleur came\nin and reactivated the bonds on my hands and removed the strap over my chest\nwhile she cleaned me off. I watched her place some bloody rags off to the side when\nshe was done.\n  She tried to talk to me,\nand I think she asked if I was okay. I figured it was pretty clear that I\nwasn't okay, so I stayed silent and numb. I wasn't going to talk about it with\nher, anyway. I saw Fin enter the room at some point, and Fleur began to talk to\nhim instead. I only listened to some of their conversation, but I noticed a\nbandage stuck to Fin's lower neck leading into his shoulder.\n  \"...and now he's not\nresponding. His vital signs are dangerously low today, and he wasn't even given\nany drugs. I can't believe Aras pulled this shit on two-fifty-seven, especially\nwhen he's so vital to Hale's research!\"\n  \"I told you brining in\nAras was a bad idea.\" Fin sighed.\n  \"Doctor Hale said the two\nwere close! I didn't realize he'd rape two-fifty-seven! Look at him, he's\ntraumatized! I can't get him to respond.\"\n  \"It wasn't your decision\nanyways. Doctor Hale has placed Aras as the head doctor for his research from\nthis point on.\" Fin said, which made me whine. \"Hale's playing games. He knew\nwhat would happen. I doubt he even cares about the research at this point.\"\n  Fleur groaned, \"You think\nit's all just a psychological game?\" She snapped, \"Then why the hell am I\nspending so much time examining samples and collecting data? I'm sure Hale\nrealizes what an amazing resource this alien can be! What's he thinking?\"\n  \"Do we ever know what\nhe's thinking?\" Fin snorted, \"Are you honestly surprised?\"\n  I whimpered. Fleur looked\nback at me. \"Two-fifty-seven?\" She asked, pausing for just a moment before she\nturned back to Fin, \"Fuck this. If he wants to just kill off out most important\nresearch then there's nothing I can do!\" She shouted before storming away. \n  \"Don't do anything rash.\"\nFin called out to her as she slammed the door closed. I heard her yell\nsomething back in the hallway. He sighed and shook his head, \"You always say\nthat when you're about to do something foolish.\"\n  Fin sighed and unstrapped\nmy bonds. \"Come on. I'll move you to a holding cell, at least. Just don't try\nto run on me, or I'm going to have to beat the shit out of you.\" \n  I didn't respond to him.\nI was groggy and too weak to even think about running. I tried to focus on the\ninsignificant details in life, like the fact that Fin seemed more calm and kind\ntowards me than he had before. Perhaps he finally felt some compassion. I\npretended that was the reason as he helped me stand up. Standing up caused me\npain in places I didn't want to think about, and I whined quietly in discomfort\nas I staggered forward. Fin shot me a look of uncomfortable pity as he led me\nout of the room. \n  He took me into another\nroom. This room seemed familiar, and I assumed it was the room I had spoken to\nthe female werewolf in. The lights were on now, and I saw the room was more\nlike a large hallway that was lined with five cells on either side. I curiously\nglanced at the cells, but only saw passed out men or pacing feral wolves in the\ncages. One wolf snarled and bit at the bars when we passed it. I was too\nexhausted to attempt to communicate with it, but I wondered if I could.  \n  I was placed in a cage\nthat had solid metal walls on either side, and bars on the front. I sank down\nonto the floor instead of the small platform that resembled a bed while Fin\nlocked the door behind me. Across from me, the cell was empty. I wondered if\nthe female werewolf had been real and if she would be back.\n  My body longed to curl up\nand hide, and that's what I did. I curled into the corner of the room and\nclosed my eyes.\n \nTime passed. I couldn't tell you how much, or even what happened to me.\nI was moved back and forth from the cell to the metal table and strapped down\nand drugged so many times it lost meaning. I no longer felt the sting of the\nneedles, or the tight bonds around my wrists and ankles. I no longer felt much\nof anything.\n  Misha Aras came back to\nvisit more times than my memory recalled, I'm sure. He would speak to Fleur and\nFin about my condition, occasionally run some tests, and then dismiss them to\nhave his way with me. Fleur would sometimes argue it until Misha threatened her\nwith the fact that Doctor Hale had put him in charge, and by disobeying him she\nwas disobeying Hale.\n  At first I screamed and\nbegged him to stop, but it seemed that ruined the mood for him, so he would\nbind my mouth shut and drug me. He stopped telling me he loved me and no longer\nattempted to make small talk before, and instead his visits became strictly for\nhis own pleasure. At least he was finally admitting that to himself. \n  After this happened, my\nmind refused to remember many of the events that happened between us. I was too\ndamaged to feel the impact of what was happening, and each time when he was\ndone I would feel the empty void seep deeper into my mind. \n  Fleur became increasingly\nupset with Doctor Aras, and would constantly argue with Fin over it. Both of\nthem seemed frustrated with the events for reasons I wasn't entirely sure of,\nbut at least they seemed to disapprove of Misha's behavior as well. They\nmentioned Doctor Hale being away at some point, which confused me. I couldn't\nimagine Hale ever leaving the lab, but apparently he did. This was probably the\nreason they hadn't tried to convince me to transform into my original form yet,\nand to be honest, I wouldn't have been able to. \n  Fleur tried desperately\nto make me respond. She would sneak in to see me during the dark hours. She\nwould bring a lantern and would try and bring me things like food. I couldn't\neat, though. I hadn't eaten since I'd been down here. I was somehow kept alive\nby their injections of forced energy and nutrients. Even if I had been\ninterested in food, I was certain my body wouldn't be able to handle it\nanymore. I felt ill whenever she brought it, and knew I would vomit if I ate\nit. I was too exhausted to explain this, so I just remained silent and\ndespondent.\n  There was a day where I\nhad been hung from the vertical platform while they ran their tests. Fleur slapped\nme and begged me to respond, to feel, but I was unable. I just stared down at\nher sadly while she shook my limp body. I didn't know what else to do, so I\njust waited for it to end. Why she wanted me to respond I wasn't sure.\n  My rage built up inside\nof me, but always dissolved back into the deep emptiness I felt. I no longer\nhoped to escape. After a while I think my broken, dying body was no longer desirable\nto Doctor Aras, and he stopped. I was glad to be at least slightly more\ncomfortable as I waited for my death, but after he stopped violating me he\nbecame more violent. He would handle me roughly when he came in to give me\ninjections or take measurements of my muscles, and he seemed extremely\nirritable. I had no idea if this was because of me or not.\n   Misha Aras was a completely different person\nthan he made me believe he was, and I was finally seeing his genuine, malicious\nself. I felt ashamed for ever caring about him.\n  I became convinced that\nthis world was very real and not a hallucination caused by trauma. This world\nwas real, a reminder that I had failed two lives. I had two chances and I\nfailed to succeed in either life. \n  When I ran from my home,\nI never imagined I would even survive long enough to land on another planet,\nand this one had offered hope. While I was lied to and slowly imprisoned, I\nwent along with it and let myself become a slave. I willingly remained ignorant\nbecause I was too afraid to leave or say no. I was naïve and assumed things\nwould just turn out okay.\n  I had killed a woman for\nno real reason. She was acting violently towards a violent man, and I was told\nto destroy her. I did so because so because I felt some strange urge to protect\nthe man who was slowly destroying me. I thought doing my job would help me\nsomehow. I sighed as I realized my mistakes and curled up on the floor of my\ncell once more. This life was over for me. I waited in the dimly-lit cell for\ndeath to claim me. \n   Finally, I saw and welcomed my death\nsentence. Fleur clipped a few papers to the outside of my cell, and I could see\nthe words clearly scribbled across the paper:  Condition: Serious and\nDeclining.\n   I was convinced this was my end, which made my\ncondition plummet faster.\n \nDoctor Hale's voice echoed from a distant place. Fleur was yelling at\nhim. I couldn't comprehend what was said, only the fact that Hale was calm and\ncollected, unlike the last time he had met with me. Last time he seemed enraged\nby the fact that I was dying, and yet now he was calm. My condition was far\nworse than it had been before, though, and I was actually dying now. He\ndefinitely cared less, or at least he was showing less emotion. I wondered\nabout his trip away and where he went...perhaps something was wrong with him and\nthat's what had made him irritable. Maybe he had to return somewhere to become\nnumb again.\n  Hale knew the dangers of\nemotions, I was sure of it. He knew how to control me using my emotions, so I\nwas certain he was aware of how weak they could make you. That's why he hides them, I decided. It worried me how much like\nhim I felt in that moment, numb and calm. Calm was an odd way of describing it,\nbut perhaps this was how Hale had turned into the demon that he was...I hoped I\nwould die before I became that kind of monster. \n  I was curled up on the\nfloor when he entered the hallway and crouched down beside my cell. I avoided\nhis eyes, I couldn't see anything anyways. My vision was blurry, and all I saw\nwas the sleek black uniform he wore. The bright red markings hurt my eyes.\n  \"The phoenix.\" Hale said\nas his blurry figure loomed over me. \"Bring the phoenix down to talk to him.\"\n  I stared upwards\nmomentarily. I had nearly forgotten that just a few floors above me Kato was\nalive and hopefully well. I wanted to protest Kato's visit, I did not want him\nto see what they had done to me. It would hurt him more than it was hurting me.\nKato still had a chance to escape, but I couldn't control their decisions. \n  \"I suppose it's good we\nwere unable to force a transformation, then.\" Hale sighed. \"It'll be a shame if\nhis condition does not improve. Tell me what you've given him to stabilize him\nso far.\"  \n  Fleur listed off the\nnames of drugs and herbs they had tried to give me. Even their energy boosting\ninjections failed. My body simply rejected the forced energy. Most likely I was\nalso starving to death due to the fact that my body did not absorb any nutrients\nfrom their other injections, and I refused to eat the food Fleur brought.  \n  Hale reached out and\ngripped the bars. \"Do you want out of here, two-fifty-seven?\" He asked. \"I said\nI'd let you out. That promise wasn't as empty as you think it was, but first\nyou need to cooperate.\"\n  I let my eyes wander to\nHale's for a moment, just to send a hopeless stare towards him. I was sure that\nwhen he let me out there would be some kind of condition, so I whispered, \"No.\"\nbefore curling back up and trying to escape into sleep.\n   He stood back up. \"Bring the phoenix. He's\nbeen dying to see his rotting friend, anyway.\" He commanded before leaving the\nroom. Fleur glanced down at me briefly before stepping out of the room. I\nclosed my eyes and waited for Kato's arrival. I wouldn't be able to stop Kato's\nvisit from happening. It would be nice to see Kato, and I might as well try to\nenjoy his presence. \n   I must\nhave passed out, because I jerked awake to the sound of Kato yelling, \"Fuck\nyou, Caliber! You're just going to sit here and stand guard while they destroy\nhim?\" I heard someone slam into something else. \"What about the damn goddess?\nDoes she not think Decipher is worth saving? I've prayed to her every night!\nWhat does she have to say?\"\n   My mind raced. Caliber was a guard down here?\nHad he been here the entire time? I had completely forgotten there was a\ngoddess, and one that seemed to take an interest in me. I had failed her, too,\nand now I wasn't worth saving.\n  \"Kato, stop or I'm going\nto have to escort you out.\" Caliber said in a tone more serious than I think I\nhad ever heard from him.  His voice\nbecame hushed, \"you know what Hale would do if I tried anything. I'm not even\nallowed to look at him. Besides that, the goddess cannot save those who aren't\nwilling to save themselves. Stop speaking of her. You're going to get us into\ntrouble.\" He whispered something else that I couldn't make out, and then his\nvoice returned to normal, \"Now go visit Decipher and see if you can bring some\nlife into him.\"\n  I heard something crash\nin the hallway. Kato stumbled into the room and towards my cage. He knelt down\nin front of my cell and stared at me with dripping eyes. My hand happened to be\nsprawled out towards the edge of the bars, and he reached out and touched me.\n\"Decipher...\" He whispered. \n  I whined and jerked my\nhand away at his touch. I couldn't handle anyone's touch anymore, and\nespecially not one that was affectionate. I couldn't trust it, even though I\ntrusted Kato as I looked into his dull, defeated eyes.\n  He jerked his hand away in\nresponse and gripped the bars. \"I'm so sorry, Decipher.\" He cried as he hung\nhis head. I took a minute to look at Kato. The side of his face was bruised and\nscabbed over; it looked like he had gotten into some kind of fight. His arms\nwere spotted with bruises and his feathery hair was shaken out of place. He\nlooked exhausted and drained of life himself. The sight of him like this hurt\nme, and I could only imagine the sight of me hurt him so much more.\n  \"They told me you were\ndying, Decipher.\" He cried. \"I thought you were already dead. I tried so hard to\nget to you. They said it could be me instead of you, but they said it was your\ndecision. Why didn't you let them take me?\"\n  \"Kato...\" I whispered,\nstaring out at his broken expression. I could hardly believe he was there, kneeling\nbefore me in utter defeat. \n  \"I tried so hard,\nDecipher! I broke my promise. I tried to get into trouble!\" He shouted, causing\nme to withdraw again. \"All they did was give me a few bruises...I just wanted\nthem to take me...LET THEM TAKE ME!\"\n  I sat up and pressed\nmyself into the corner of the tiny cell, staring at him with wide eyes. His promise? My mind raced and recalled\nthe conversation we had in the tunnel that led to the Edge where I asked him to\nstay out of trouble...and I had made a promise, too.\n   Kato looked up at me. \"Decipher...don't\ndie.\" He pleaded with me. \"You said you wouldn't die. You fucking promised me\nyou would survive.\"\n  My ears perked forward as\nI remembered my promise clearly, but it only added to my feeling of failure.\n\"I'm not worth saving.\" I whispered. \"You heard Caliber.\" \n  \"No, Decipher.\" He sighed,\n\"You're mistaken. You're not worth saving because you refuse to save yourself.\nHave hope, Decipher.\" He whispered in a shaking voice, \"Continue to hope.\nSurvive, and we will make it out. You promised me you'd take me when you left,\ndo you still want to?\"\n  I was suddenly sad. I\nwanted nothing more than to escape with Kato, but he was right. I did not think\nI was worth saving. I had promised him, though, and I couldn't go back on my\nword like everyone had done to me. I was conflicted. It was so hard to make\nmyself believe I could ever escape here, and even harder to try and convince\nmyself to try. \n  \"I can't leave here without\nyou.\"  He said. \n  All I wanted was for him to\ngo and escape without me. Something about seeing him fly as the flaming bird he\nwas caused me to long for his freedom. The image of this was engraved into my\nmind, and was one of the only clear, happy memories I had left. I wasn't sure\nwhy but all I wanted was Kato to be free, but I felt like if I was with him I would\nsomehow cause him trouble. I realized he wouldn't leave without me, though, and\nI understood that I needed to become strong enough to save him. Kato would\nthink I was the one saving him, but in reality I knew we both shared an equal\nresponsibility for the other person.\n  \"Yes, Kato.\" I said after\na few moments as I stared into his eyes. \"I did promise.\"\n  \"Focus on getting better,\nDecipher.\" Kato said softly, \"They want you in good shape so that you can\nwithstand their experiments. If you endure just a little longer, I'll figure\nsomething out. You need to endure, and make peace with yourself and your\ndecisions. If you have no hope then it will remain impossible.\" \n  Kato took something out of\nhis pocket; it was piece of stone that looked like it had come from my dagger.\n\"It is possible, Decipher.\" Kato whispered as he slid the stone into my cell. I\nslowly approached the bars and dragged the fragment of the dark stone towards\nme. \"I know it's possible. Take this, and try to see the possibilities.\" \n  \"Kato...\" I said quietly as\nI clutched the stone, \"How long has it been?\" \n  Kato closed his eyes, as\nif the question hurt him. \"More than a month, Decipher.\" \n  I had no expectations, but\nit was surprising to hear that I had been here an entire month. It made sense,\nbut I felt suddenly guilty for letting myself slip into the darkness of my\nmind. There were so many gaps in my memory. I hardly remembered what the world\nlooked like in focused, clear vision and with a clear mind. I fumbled with the\nshard of dark violet stone in my hands and pondered what he meant by his\nstatement. My mind was too scattered to focus on asking him. \n  \"I know what Misha did to\nyou, Decipher.\" Kato said as he avoided my eyes and looked at the bruises\ncovering his arms. \"Once I found out, I attacked him, and the guards did this\nto me. I wish they'd done more. I hate walking around as if everything's okay. I\ncan't fucking stand seeing him knowing what he did to you.\"\n  For a moment, my mind\nwithdrew again and I was tempted to curl up, but I resisted. Instead, I stood\nslowly and sat on the stiff bed for the first time. My muscles were weak and I\ncould barely keep myself sitting upright, but I tried. I allowed myself to\nabsorb some of the energy from the countless injections I had recently\nreceived, and felt slightly better. \n  \"Hale only brought you\ndown here because he also wants me to survive.\" I whispered, staring at Kato,\n\"Everything you just said...Hale could have easily planned this all. Are you sure\nyou aren't working for him, Kato?\"\n   It wasn't that I didn't trust Kato, I\nwanted to...but my mind would not allow me to. Kato had never betrayed my trust,\nand yet I was still so afraid that he would.\n  Kato's eyes looked\nsurprised and sad, but he seemed to understand. He shook his head. \"I am not\njust trying to convince you to survive because Hale wants me to. I know that\nwas his plan, but I also want you to live. He doesn't think I'll ever try to\nescape. He thinks I am a coward...\" He whispered. \"You have to believe in me! I\nknow everything you've put your faith in has let you down, but please...don't\ngive up on me. I was a coward, Decipher, but this has to end. I can't stay here\nforever, you showed me freedom! I can't stay a prisoner here and neither can\nyou, or eventually they will actually kill you.\"\n  I stared into Kato's eyes\nand considered his words. I wanted so badly to trust him, but I was so afraid\nit was another lie. If it turned out Kato was lying to me, it would destroy me.\nI wasn't strong enough to handle that. I considered the fact that I had nothing\nto lose, though. If I didn't trust him, I would assume Kato was lying to me and\ncontinue to rot anyways. But if I did trust him and he turned out to be telling\nthe truth, there might still be hope for my pathetic life. Still, it was so\ndifficult to tell myself it was worth trying. \n  \"Decipher, listen to me.\"\nKato said, his expression suddenly dark. \"If you won't focus on getting better,\nI still won't give up on you. I will die trying to save you, Decipher, whether\nor not you realize you're still alive.\"\n   The\ndetermination in Kato's eyes haunted me, and I knew he was telling the truth.\nHe truly would die for me if I refused to help myself.\n  I nodded slowly and\nwhispered, \"I understand.\"\n   A guard wearing a helmet stepped into the room.\nI didn't see his face, but the visor of the helmet was pointed at me. I assumed\nit was Caliber. \n  \"Come on, Kato.\" He said,\nhis face still pointed at me. Even through the echo of the helmet I knew\nCaliber's voice, but it was darker than I had ever heard it before. I hoped he\nhadn't changed. \"Your time is up.\" He said. I could tell he was struggling with\nhis orders. \n  Kato gripped onto the bars\nof my cell. \"Please, Decipher.\" he pleaded with me one last time before Caliber\ngripped his shoulder and pulled him up. \n  Caliber dragged him away,\nand looked back at me one last time before he exited the room.\n \nIn my mind I wanted to believe that I had resolved to save Kato, but I\nwas still broken. They left me in my cell for a long time. Fleur didn't remove\nme from my cell when she came to give me my daily injections, so I remained\ncurled up on the bed, clutching the stone that Kato had given me. The\ninjections seemed to be doses of energy and nutrients, and no drugs that harmed\nme. I slowly began to focus on absorbing the nutrients. \n  My body was starting to\nfeel more aware of the world around me, but my mind attempted to stay hidden\nand oblivious. One step at a time. I\nthought.  \n  The lights went on and off,\nmarking the days that passed, and I sat alone in my head until one night I was\nwoken by a familiar voice.\n  \"You're back!\" She said.\n\"You don't look so good.\"\n  My ear flicked at the\nphrase. It was dark, and I couldn't see her as I stirred awake. She must have\nbetter night vision than I did. \"I'm surprised you can see me.\" I said softly.\nI was somewhat surprised at my answer. I hadn't attempted to communicate with\nanyone since Kato had been here, but suddenly, this girl made me want to talk.\n  She snorted. \"You're a\nwolf, too. Kind of.\" She said with a laugh, \"Don't you have pretty good vision\nin the dark?\"\n  I thought for a moment.\nNight vision wasn't something I had focused on, I hadn't needed to. I remembered\nthe night I killed Sheila and realized I had seen perfectly in the darkness. I\nconcentrated on this thought and opened my eyes completely.\n  I felt my pupil constrict\nand dilate as it adjusted to the lack of light, and then I could see the room\nnicely outlined. I was suddenly remembering how much I was capable of,\nespecially right now when they weren't drugging me and I wasn't keeping my mind\nnumb. \n  Across from me, there was\na human girl. She looked young, younger than any of the humans I had seen here,\nand I suddenly felt worse for her. She didn't seem to have any odd features on\nher naked body; it all looked like human skin to me. Her brown hair seemed to\nhave a sable pattern, though, much like the gray, feral wolf in the cell beside\nher. Then I noticed her eyes. They were deep, amber orange and resembled the\nshape of a wolf's eye more than a human's. \n  \"Well?\" She asked, staring\nover at me. \"You're looking at me now. I'll take that as a sign you can\nsee.\"  \n  My focus snapped back to\nher, \"Sorry.\" I said, \"I am...I am just getting used to being awake again. I was\nbeginning to think I had dreamt you.\"\n  She shook her head,\n\"Unfortunately, no. I'm real and here. Although I think it's been a while since\nI was in here...I'm not sure.\" She sighed, rubbing her head, \"They've been doing\ndifferent things lately, and the drugs make me pass out these days.\"\n   \"I'm sorry.\" I mumbled. It was nice to have\nsomeone else to pity instead of myself.\n  \"You're an alien, right?\"\nShe asked, \"I've been wondering about that. What kind of stuff can you do? What\nare those funny markings on your arm? They seem to have lots of weird energy\naround them.\"\n  I looked down at my\nmarkings, surprised. They resembled bloody scars that had been blackened now. I\nhadn't even thought about them since they had attempted to force a\ntransformation when I first got here. \n  \"Oh...they store energy. The\nkind of energy my people use to communicate.\" I said as I traced the lines of\nthe markings with my fingers. They were sore to the touch, but felt okay other\nthan that. \n  \"What can you do with that\nenergy?\" \n  I thought about her\nquestion for a moment before glancing at the shard of stone Kato had given me.\nPerhaps if I used my own energy to activate the stone, it would show me\nsomething...a vision, maybe. I remembered Caliber mentioning that this stone was\none that represented the dark Goddess, and the blue flame I had ignited across\nmy dagger's blade.\n  The girl sighed and\nyawned. \"You don't talk much, do you?\" She asked before curling up on her bed.\n\"Well, goodnight, alien.\"\n  I looked up and opened my\nmouth to respond, but it seemed she had fallen asleep instantly. I took the\nstone and placed it across my markings. I tried to focus on letting the energy\nseep into it, but my mind was having a hard time pulling the energy out. I took\nthe edge of the blade and carefully sliced open one of the markings. \n  Wiping away the blood, I\nrevealed the sea-green glow of the marking. My markings were dull, and I could\nhardly believe I was still alive with how little energy pulsed through them. I\nclosed my eyes and began to focus again. The bright glow moved from my arm to\nthe stone, and I held onto it tightly. My head began to spin, but the feeling\nwas different than being drugged.\n  It felt like the stone\npassing through to another dimension, and by holding onto it, I was being\ndragged there myself.   \n  I crashed into the\nfamiliar sea of floating petals, but this time they were a deep violet. They\nheld my body and filled it with a peace I could hardly comprehend. When I\nlooked up to the sky it was clouded and streaked with indigo and blues. My eyes\ncombed the landscape and I saw large spires of twisted, purple crystals jutting\nout of the ground. The crystals were massive, some nearly the size of\nmountains. Somehow, this place gave me the calm, safe feeling of home. \n  I knelt beside a massive\ncrystal spire, admiring the fine, twisted edges as it streaked into the sky.\nThe inside of the violet crystal was veined with cerulean blue that sneaked\nthroughout the entire thing. I stood and traced my finger across the veins. A\nrush of wind behind me distracted me from the beauty of the crystals. \n  I turned to see the\nGoddess approaching me. She was human this time, with a tall, strong figure and\nhair so dark it glistened with deep indigo highlights. Her hair flowed around\nher as she walked towards me. She wore a fabric that was made of a starry,\nviolet sky that wrapped around her body and flowed with her movements. It\nreminded me of Asodar's pelt. \n  I fell to my knees as she\napproached. My mind raced through all my feelings of failure, and I clutched at\nthe petals beneath me.\n  \"I'm so sorry.\" I\nwhispered as I stared at the ground. \"I've failed. You warned me and I didn't listen.\nTruly, I do not deserve to wear your form.\"\n  Slowly, she knelt in front\nof me. \"Decipher.\" She said. Hearing her speak my name sent a chill down my\nspine. I hardly felt worthy of her attention. \"You still walk on the ground\nthat is ready to break at your touch.\" She said gently, lifting my chin with\nher hand and forcing me to gaze into her violet eyes.  \n  \"It began with blood. You\nfelt the effect of rage and did your duty.\" She continued. I realized she was\nspeaking of the vision I had before, \"You walked past the wasteland of your\nlife, and began to see the lies and opened your eyes to the tragedies. The\ntrees, events in your life that appeared good at first, but you knew they were\nsprouting from the soil of lies.\n   \"You saw the good things in your life slowly\nstart to break as you discovered the truth. You knew the truth had the\npotential to destroy your world. You accepted the fact that the truth would\nimprison you, but realized it would also set you free.\"\n  My mind raced as the\nmeaning of the vision was revealed. I swallowed hard and began to shake as I\nwaited for her to explain the next part, which was burned into my mind, You have taken my form. Do you deserve to\nwear it?    \"You're eyes.\" She said\nsoftly as she gazed into them. \"Violet is a rare color in the eyes of the\ncreatures that live here. Only those who are most highly honored by me\npersonally can wear violet in their eyes. Do you know why I choose to let you\nwear it?\" \n  I shook my head. I couldn't\nimagine myself deserving to wear something so special and symbolic, and I\nwondered if others knew about the great symbolism behind the color of my eyes.\n  \"Your intent is pure.\" She\nwhispered gently. \"I know why you fled your home. I know what you had hoped to\ndo. You are strong.\"\n  \"I...do not feel strong.\" I\nconfessed as I looked back at the petals below me. \n  \"If you were not strong,\nyou would have died before you even crashed here. You would have let your kind\nslaughter you instead of trying to escape. Your escape did not make you a\ncoward.\" She said to me, her voice compelling me to look into her eyes again, \"Decipher,\nyou are no longer an alien. You belong here now; this planet is your home. I\nhave accepted you as my own.\" \n  For reasons I couldn't\nquite understand, her statement sent a resonating peace throughout me. She took\nmy hands and stood up with me.\n  \"Darkness is not always\nwhat it seems, Decipher. The lack of light is not evil, yet many confuse the\ntwo.\" She said to me, \"When you return, you will feel the pain that your body\nis currently in. Do not give up. There is a life for you, if you are willing to\nsearch for it.\" \n  \"What about destiny?\" I\nsaid, \"You said I was destined to walk this path of destruction, what did that\nmean?\" I demanded.  \n  \"Whether or not you follow\nyour destiny is always a choice, Decipher.\"\n  I knew that was the only\nanswer she would give me, and I accepted it. I realized I had the choice to\ndestroy...what my future would hold if I remained captive at the lab would be\nhorrible. Soon the lines would blur and I would stop caring. My numbness would\nallow me to justify my actions, and I would become evil. \n   I took another glance at the beautiful realm\naround me. Was this their heaven? I never wanted to leave this place...\n  \"You must go.\" She said, as\nif reading my thoughts. \"Do not fear the pain, Decipher. Master it. You have\nalready done this once before.\"\n  \"Don't leave me.\" I whined,\nterrified to return to the lab.\n  \"I am never truly\ngone.\"  \n  She was still holding onto\nmy hands. I gripped onto hers and mentally pleaded with her to stay, but I was\nalready fading from this beautiful world. \n   I felt like I crashed back into my body. The\npain was overwhelming at first, and I yelled out. Panting, I sat up and\nstared out at the room. Everything was dead and quiet, and the feeling of peace\nhad completely vanished. \n  I desperately tried to\nhold on to the vision, but it felt like a dream, slowly disappearing as I\nbecame more awake. I had to escape. If I didn't, I would turn into something\nterrible.\n   I was going to listen to her warning this\ntime. I would not follow my destined path of destruction. ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/572657-skyfall-chapter-17.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/575328-skyfall-chapter-19.json"}