Re:Cursed

Nyxil swept forward and snatched the token from the collar of a patchwork rabbit.

The small thing was fast. With enlarged legs — or maybe a body that had been prevented from growing — the creature was too quick for the prospective cultists. Nyxil had been surprised by how fast she was; she'd relied on her wings and tentacles for speed until now, so she was all too receptive to find that her names, when utilised properly, brought her to a pace comparable to a racing hound.

Yet even that wasn't enough to keep pace with the small critter.

Her Talent wanted her to throw her blade again, and considering the tiny thing always stopped to wiggle its tail once out of range, the creature was all but tempting her to do so, but she held back. A Bodytwister was in control of this test. He had specified in no uncertain terms that they were not to harm his cute lovelies.

His words. Nyxil didn't know how anyone could think a creature that was more stitches than skin, and had a face that… well, didn't exist — replaced by unmarked fur — could be cute.

Like most challenges in this Trial, it wasn't all that difficult, but it did require some ability or at least a plan of action. Something to show off what the participants could do. Nyxil simply cornered it, then when it tried to dash past her, she claimed her quarry. Her reaction time surpassed the burst speed of a simple, modified rabbit.

Another accretion token.

Nyxil frowned, and moved to join Mavi. Between them, and the occasional one Tru stole, they'd accumulated near forty tokens. Far beyond they eight their team needed to pass. They had so many, and yet barely any of them were black hole tokens. Only three. To make matters worse, those three were what Tru swiped.

She disliked that it gave the boy a legitimate role in the team. He'd become annoyingly confidant since the start of the trials. Early on, she'd thought it was just his curiosity that brought him to question her instead of keep his distance as he had been, but as time went on, he kept lingering near her side, as if he believed the two of them were on good terms.

"Another accretion?" Mavi had the same reaction as Nyxil tossed her the token. "I guess there's no point looking for any more. You were right; this is intentional. We'll have to find a team to trade them." She snarled as if they hadn't already been trading location information.

"There's not long until we need to make our way to the Biovault entrance to finish up anyway, so why don't we find a group there," Nyxil said. "Even if we can't find a team with as many tokens as us, we can find a few teams to trade."

While the task they were given was simply to gain as many tokens as they could, and make sure there were enough pairs for the team members to pass, they'd agreed it would be better if they had more pairs than stock up on only the one type. Who knew if the Adjudicator considered it an extra step they were expected to do? Already, parts of this Trial had not been explicitly stated.

"You think there's a chance another team even comes close to the number we picked up?" finally, Mavi cracked a smile. A toothy one. As the day progressed, and the tokens accumulated, her frustration towards Nyxil's disappearance relented. Now that they were so far ahead of the other teams, she was happy, and exhausted.

"I doubt there's many." Nyxil left it there. There was no need to bring up what they both knew; those who could do as well as them were not likely to have wanted to become known before the harbinger trials.

They wasted no time leaving the corrupted surface alleys their most recent token had been located. Quickly rising to a jog, they ran for the nearest trolley to take them across Coral to the market before the Biovault. Trailing close behind, Tru just had to raise his voice again.

"How are you not tired?" The boy slid up between them, panting despite having done nothing but talk to the other teams while she and Mavi ran the gauntlets. "You've had us run ragged all day. Even Mavi looks about ready to wilt."

Said girl scowled, and straightened her back as if it would hide how tired she was.

Both Tru and Kal were dishevelled. For hours, Nyxil had them running all across Coral. Despite her and Mavi being smaller and having spent much more energy to collect the Tokens, they were in a better condition than the boys. It had as much to do with their own evolutions and bodily improvements as it had to do with Kal and Tru's simply lacking fitness.

Well, maybe she shouldn't judge them on that too much; before everything had happened, Nyxil hadn't been able to walk around for five minutes without becoming winded. That was nothing on the marathon they'd run today.

It really did go to show how much her condition had improved… and that was exactly what Tru was getting at. This was too great an improvement for a single evolution.

"This is the least that was required to survive in the Dark Star." She turned to glare at him. "But what makes you think you are welcome to speak to me so casually? We are not friends. Barely acquaintances. You think I have forgotten how you spoke to me when I returned? Or before I left the ward?"

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"No, I-" Tru stammered, suddenly put on the spot. "I was just curious. My past actions were wrong, and I'm sorry for them. I want to move on. Hopefully, you can forgive me, and we can-"

"Ha!" Kal's sudden laugh broke his hours-long silence. "Always a suck-up, huh? You're a coward, Tru. More than I am." He spat the words a surprising amount of animosity. "First, it was Grif. Then when none of us showed any talent, you ditched us to squirm beneath anyone else's legs. And now you're tucking your tail and bowing before her of all people? If I was in any position to say it, I'd call you pitiful. But I'm not, so your a scumbag suck-up."

Was that… admission? Did Kal actually acknowledge that he did not deserve to win just by existing? Nyxil could hardly believe it.

"I did what I thought was best."

"What exactly is your definition of 'best'?" Nyxil asked somewhat curiously, but mostly to prod the boy further. Already he was twisting his gaze between Nyxil and Kal, as if he wanted to tell them different things.

At her side, Mavi was clearly taking some amusement from Tru's panicked expression. He wanted to say his intent to befriend Nyxil was legitimate, while also give a reasoning to Kal that would settle the aggressive boy. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of an answer immediately, and Nyxil wasn't about to give him time to relax. Really, it would have been better if he'd simply been honest about his selfish intent. When all the cults essentially functioned on a self-serving sense of greed and desire, admitting to it was hardly a crime.

"How about this," Nyxil offered. "You give up your position in the team. Forfeit. And I'll forgive your past actions." She smiled, as if she was the most generous person in the world.

Well, long term, this likely was being incredibly generous. If he didn't join a cult, he wouldn't join her hit-list, after all.

Tru, of course, didn't see it that way.

"Give up?" he repeated, indignant. "You want me to give up the trials because I thought there was no way you could have survived and some slightly unkind words? Are you insane? I'm not throwing my life away." A moment after his outburst, he tried to explain his way out of it. "I mean, I'd love to, but that is just a bit more of a sacrifice than I'm willing to make."

Kal snorted.

All Nyxil did was sigh. She hadn't expected much, but it was an honest attempt. Now that she thought about it, once these Trials were over, she'd need to come up with some way to make the cults less enticing to new recruits. Dig up the roots while shaving away the branches.

Their trolley came to a sudden halt, then shifted to a different rail. Nyxil glanced outside and saw a Bodytwister watching them through the glass as a Machine God Worshipper stood over a mechanical centipede with its legs slot into a panel. Nyxil had a second to realise something was wrong before the trolley sped down a dark tunnel.

Nyxil stood to leave. She wanted nothing to do with whatever plan the other cults had for her. Her hand landed on the doors, but before she could fight the trolley to be let free, a hand slammed on the glass. Startled back, the handprint slid towards her, following her step despite missing the hand that went with it.

A startled shout rose from behind her. Nyxil turned to find more of the phantom manifestations scratching at the other windows, reaching for the few other passengers along with her.

She swore under her breath. Nyxil did not want to get stuck out in a phantom cluster.

"What was that?" Mavi asked, her eyes back the way they came. She'd seen the cultists as well.

"We might have done too well." Only the Fleshsmiths knew her nature, so the only reason they'd have anything planned is if they were trying to cut off some prospective heavyweights before the harbinger Trials.

"You think they're trying to get rid of us?" Mavi grit her teeth, but didn't deny it. She knew very well what the cults pulled in the Trials.

Kal, not so much. "Why would they do anything to Trial participants? They'll be throwing offers your way the moment today is over."

And… there went whatever respect he'd earned by reflecting on his own worth. Surely he couldn't be this naive. Everyone knew what happened within the cults. You had to be stupid not to think that applied to the Trials as well.

Seeing the three blank stares his way, Kal was quick to realise what they thought of him and scowled. "I mean, why try eliminating-" he hesitated, but begrudgingly continued, "-you two, without first trying to recruit you? They don't even know for sure if either of you will enter the next Trials."

Nyxil hummed. It was probably clear to anyone who had watched them that they were both well and truly intending to continue. Mavi, because she was already inundated to the Scriptures. They would have her help their primary choice win. And the very fact that Nyxil's abilities were geared towards fighting was itself revealing of her intent.

"Why was a Bodytwister working with a Worshipper?" Mavi asked. "They hate each other."

That consideration bounced around Nyxil's head as their Trolley screeched to a stop. Outside, five other teams waited. Five other teams Nyxil recognised. They were filled with her ward-mates and some of the Scripture acolytes that had been around Grif. Both Dan and Ari's teams were here.

"This… is a part of the Trial?" Nyxil guessed. The idea that they were about to be offed in quiet suddenly seemed unlikely.

The trolley doors snapped at them, and one of the non-Trial passengers spoke up. "You four need to get off. It won't leave until you do."

Nyxil and her team glanced around, not finding the adult cultists gazes all that welcoming. If they waited long enough, they would find themselves forcefully booted off. From a casual glance, she didn't think she would have a problem in a fight against any of the people here, but she had a feeling that rule not to fight applied to uninvolved cultists just as much as it did other participants.

The four of them clambered off. Not waiting for them to stand clear, the trolley rolled back the way it came. A shutter dropped behind it, closing them in. Her team was now locked within what looked like a trolley service station. Some Worshipper machines skittered over near one side, protecting a wall full of equipment from the bunch of kids that steered clear of them.

One of the Bodytwister observers stepped forward. "You will be given five minutes, then the doors will open and you will have your last thirty to do as you wish. Remember what is required of you."

Why exactly had they brought them to teams filled with people they knew? Nyxil glanced over to Ari's team, who looked in the depths of despair.

They didn't have enough tokens.