towerofanimus | Herald of the Future

Entry tags:

Herald of the Future

Characters: Abel Nightroad and Cain Knightlord
Setting: Their room
Format: Actionspam
Summary: Cain and Abel got very dead, they're waking up.
Warnings: Mentions of death, probably foul language.

[There was a resounding CRACK and then everything had gone black. Not more than a heartbeat of consciousness left to know he was dying for certain, and yet he managed to feel so much in that singular moment.

Fear... He had never been afraid of dying, he had never truly believed that it would happen. He had always had the security of being the most valuable commodity on Mars, as well as being the pinnacle of achievement even among the clones. When things seemed bad or hopeless, he always believed in their superiority deep inside. He had never really been afraid, because he didn't have to be.

But more than anything, there was fear for his brother. He was so scared of Abel dying too, of his twin getting hurt in any way. Sheer gripping terror of separation, of being alone. They were one... one heart, one mind, just two sides to the same coin. They weren't made to be alone, they couldn't endure it. People might believe that Cain would cope with that possibility better, that he was more mature and level-headed. But the truth was, Cain needed Abel more than he needed oxygen, and the thought of being separated with such finality was enough to have him losing his mind.

Anger... It took him by surprise, the sheer force of his rage, like a swirling tsunami crashing through his body and razing everything else to the ground. He was furious that his death should be so meaningless, so ignoble, so... SOON. He had been patient, he had been SO patient, smiling and waiting for the perfect moments to act in order to get the future he wanted. He had deserved that future. He was better than them, better than anything they could throw at him, and he absolutely refused to die as a tool to humanity.

And then... it was all gone.

How long it had been, he didn't know. An hour? A day? A week? All he knew is that he had been dead, and now he was suddenly breathing once more. Unharmed, no pain, just sucking in a ragged breath as his body refused to move. Paralysed... he was... It might have been more frightening if his whole being wasn't focused on his brother, long minutes passing with only the sound of his hammering heartbeat for company.

Until abruptly he was moving... lurching off the bed almost drunkenly and looking around wildly for his brother, blue eyes intense as they swept the room.]

ABEL!

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Do you fucking know?

[because he doesn't think you do. it was... black, and it was empty and it was nothing and it wasn't--

...that was not the part that hurt at all, how could they... take you away, you're his, Cain, you're -his- and they're not allowed t... o have you, so... how is this...

how did he let this happen?]

[The only answer he has to give is to somehow pull Abel closer to him, leaving no air left between them at all.

He is still yours, brother. Always and forever. Not even death can change that.]

[except it had.

it had been a blessedly short while, but you...

you had been really and truly gone, Cain.]

...

[it's all he can think about, playing in a sick loop. Cain's slurred murmur of his name from the other side of the door; the splash of blood, crack of bone and...]

[He doesn't want that to be what Abel sees when he looks at him. Cain is supposed to be synonymous with comfort and love for his brother, never fear or pain.

Just another thing to add to the burning resentment and hatred of this place, another log to fuel the fire.]

...I love you.

[he knows it isn't fair-- but he wants to make him promise never... never to leave him like that again. neither of them had imagined that was the fate that had awaited them when they took the elevator, but...

Cain was supposed to... to be able to get them out of anything. everything they endured on the colony -- everything they had been through since the day they had been 'born' and brought into a world where they existed as property rather than people... they had gotten through it all, and Abel had always believed it was because his twin was always one step ahead.

...they hadn't been ahead of the game, this time.]

...We... have to get out of here, Cain.

We will, I promise.

[Somehow, though quite how was anyone's guess, his voice managed to sound firm and confident on that. Perhaps it was the rage lending him strength, because there was no way he was going to let that pass.

They had been made examples of once, it would not happen again. They had learned something from their trip, though not nearly worth their lives, and Cain would put it to use. He would get them out of here, and nobody would lay a finger on his brother again.]

Now.

[he doesn't want to be here anymore. in this place that didn't hold their lives in any esteem at all -- where they were expendable and worthless. where they were toys.

...suddenly, 'home' isn't seeming as deplorable as it once had.

at least he knew his brother's life was... safe.]

You know... you know if I had a way now, we wouldn't be here any more.

[He knows Abel's desperation, he feels it himself. He is... frightened, genuinely so. Of being used, of being killed, of losing his brother, of being worthless.

But intelligent as he is, he is no magician. Even he needs time to plan and... His heart is wrenching in his chest, fingers tightening in his brother's nightclothes.]

I'm sorry.

[Abel pulls him back by the shoulders -- far enough a proximity that he could stare into the mirror of his eyes. his own are sharp and have that slightly unhinged possession of a fervent need. to protect him, to keep him safe -- to never, ever have to watch him be tossed about like trash again.

to never... ever, have to watch him die.]

That's-- not good enough!! Talk to the girl, she-- has to know something. She has to know something. We have to get out of here, Cain...

[Those eyes... He hated seeing the fear in them and the grief that had barely been allowed seconds to foster and yet had taken root inside his brother.

Gently, soothingly, he reached out and cupped his twin's cheeks with hands that were somehow steady. Thumbs smoothing over pale skin as he tried to keep the fear and anger out of his own eyes.]

I will, I swear to you that I'll get us out of here. Together.

[before they take you away again? ...before you're hurt, or...

his fingers are clenched so tight in the fabric at Cain's shoulders he almost rips it, but he doesn't notice. God, does he want to believe what his brother is telling him now...]

...s... swear it. You won't... let them take you away again.

[even if they both know there's no way he can prevent it after what they had just experienced. at any time... they could be deemed deserving of an execution that would be carried out whether they liked it or not.

...but he wants to hear him say it, so he can blindly cling and pretend he knows nothing of that truth.]

[What Abel is asking of him is an impossibility, and they both know it. He can swear, but they'll just be meaningless words... that's not to say he would just roll over and let them kill him again, but he had no way to make sure it didn't happen.

Yet he would swear to hold the sun in his hands if it's what his brother needed, impossible or not. He only asks for one thing in return, even if it's just as unfair.]

I swear it. As long as you're beside me, I know we'll be alright.

[Abel couldn't help if he was taken either, or if they were separated. But he needed that same assurance. Cain would protect Abel's mind by doing all he could to get them free; and Abel would protect Cain's body by being the fighter if necessary.]

[he nods-- doesn't need to think about it. agrees, without hesitation, eyes fervent and burning where they matched Cain's.

it was clear that he would do whatever was in his ability, regardless what it required, to keep that promise intact.]

I'll always be right beside you.

[He manages to pull a smile to his lips, even if it was smaller than his usual ones, leaning forwards to press their foreheads together again.]

They believe they have cowed us with their display, but they have just revealed more of themselves in doing it.

Everything they do, everything they say, it's just another step towards freedom.

[his eyes wander down, absent, as his thoughts begin to take another course. starting to slide away from replaying what had transpired right before there had been... nothing -- he's thinking of what they had seen.

the long elevator ride below; the drones responding to the handprint, the--]

...The room.

[his eyes find his brother's again.]

It was an empty surgery. [they had died for... that. for an empty fucking room.]

Surgery...

[Perhaps the colours weren't related to the subjects in any way, then, but more the procedures being done on them.]

...If nothing else, I believe we have found an ally in Ruana.

[he eyes the hallway. the temptation to try and contact her is one he's finding hard to resist.

in some masochistically angry and petulant way, he wants to storm right the fuck back down there and keep going until he found something-- but he would never, ever subject his brother to that. he would never watch Cain die again. never... never. never.]

...You should try to talk to her.

I will. Later.

[Not right now. Right now was for them, for he and his brother to reconnect after that...

He didn't want to let go, every bit as childish as Abel in his own way. Let him just hug you a while longer.]

[for once... he's not going to protest. maybe something even softened a little in his eyes at the silent request.

Abel settles for hugging his brother back. ...you're okay, Cain. that was all just... a shitty, shitty nightmare.

you're okay, and... they'll get out of here, soon. it'll... all be fine.]

...Yeah.

[He is almost too frightened to ask, even though logically he know what the outcome must have been.

But...]

You... did they--?

[...is he really asking, if...?

ah, Cain ;( he feels that deep pang in his chest of remembered ache and shakes his head. he knows-- he died, but he is far too obsessed with what had come before to even let that sink in. maybe he doesn't care.

truthfully, it was kinder than having left him alive without Cain.]

[He knows, instinctively, that Abel is lying to him with that shake of his head. Fighter though his brother is, he would never have been able to free himself of that underground maze... besides, he had woken up here just like Cain.

But he wanted to believe it. He wanted to think that somehow Abel had survived and death hadn't touched his baby brother. So he didn't push it, he just pulled Abel even closer.

He won't let them do it again.]

...Do you think she's safe?

[Ruana.

not that he's concerned with her well-being of course. it's not like he's secretly grateful for her help, even if he's still wary of her or anything. but she had opened the doors-- granted them access, and if she was being held down in the Admin levels somewhere, maybe she was being kept by them somewhere. maybe they'd punish her for this.]

[Ah...

He is surprised at the question, and more so because it came before Cain had even thought of it. What did she matter, really? It was Abel that filled his mind now.

Still, he forced himself to push that aside and focus, nodding slightly.]

I hope so, I wouldn't want her to get hurt for us.

If they kill her or remove her access from the network, we might not be able to use her again.

[which is clearly the priority. who cares if she dies, amirite.]

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