Reclamation

As much as she tried to stay up, Sydney ungracefully fell asleep at the table, gently snoring.
Using her leg, Riley pulled Roxanne's chair back in, she glanced at the group seated before her- as if to ask who would go check on the girl. She felt that she herself wasn't suited for it. Probably. The group hadn't really liked her before, she felt, and with this act keeping her quiet she wasn't even sure how they felt now- probably suspicious, she internally sighed.
"Sometimes I wonder if it would be best if I was in the past, with Riley. The way it used to be, horrible but somehow I feel it's even worse here." The words escaped her mouth before she realized.

 

Riley shook her head, Roxanne would be fine-She could handle herself. She did want to train, but was unsure what they would do outside, so instead she went to the training room. At first, everything was fine and she was calm- Except then she saw Roxanne. Forgetting the efficiency of her roller skates in the heat of the moment, she ran towards the girl in panic. She had no idea how this stuff worked, but she tried to listen for her heart. Damn you, lack of medical knowledge- she couldn't tell if she could hear it or not. Carefully she lifted the girl, walking out and sending a quick signal to her table. She quickly called the elevator and managed to get the girl up into her room- She remembered it from when she had walked up with Richard. She gently pulled a blanket onto her, trying not to wake her. She let out a loud sigh- hopefully she'd be alright.

---
Sydney woke up with a start, she'd dreamed again. She had dreamed of Riley. No not that Riley, Big Brother Riley. He was alive and had smiled. He was about to speak, but that was when the dream ended. She yawned, having woken just before Marcus spoke about training she heard and lazily followed him outside.
Today for sure- She would swim in the moat. (Well, without a challenge, of course)

 

Sydney watched calmly as Marcus walked up the air- so that was his flow, air stuff- but when he began to fall she rushed to catch him. She stopped however, when she saw the air cushion his fall. At the sound of one of the adult's voices, she stiffened "Sorry, just- uh- It's a nice tower. We wanted to see it up close...?" Great Sydney, fucking perfect response.

---
Riley glanced back at Roxanne as she reached for the doorknob. If the girl was sick, the responsible thing would be to watch her. But would it be weird? Waking up to find a random member of your group, who you barely talked to, beside your bed? In the end, her sense her of responsibility outweighed all other thoughts and she seated herself on the floor. Her back was against the side of the bed and she was carefully watching the door- From her past experiences, she had developed the habit of watching, waiting for someone to burst in and wring her neck.
She shuddered despite the warmth of the room.

 

Claired stepped out of the hot shower, thankful for the fact that now she felt normal again. Whatever that breathable water had been made her feel icky. She stood in front of a mirror, finishing the drying of her hair with a vigor that seemed out of place. She fitted a second smaller towel into position on top of her head. If she didn't know any better she'd say she looked like she had just gotten out of a sauna. So nice~ she hummed mentally, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Of course, her eyes practically turned red as she caught the tail end of her false persona whistling a tune in her head. Sharp eyes locked with those of her reflection. "Cut it out," she hissed, only to find herself blinking as the reflection subtly shook her head. Uh uh uh! it chimed in her head, giving her an overly cutesy wink. You've had your fun, Claire, it giggled girlishly, only to disappear entirely as the violent girl's fist connected with the glass, cracking it in several places.

Her hand remained very still. Blood welled at her knuckles, a few drips plopping into the skin below. Her eyes remained deadlocked on her broken reflection. "I said stop. I don't repeat myself." When no response came she drew her hand away. A quick turn of the knob and water flowed again––she settled her hand under the stream and watched the red wash away in a continuous red string until it twirled down the drain. Sufficiently cleaned, she grabbed some paper towel and wrapped it around her palm. She made a note to go to the storage room at a later time. For now all she wanted to do was sleep. So sleep she did.

In her room with the lights off, in nothing but a towel with her wet hair kept up in the confines of its wrapping.

 

Roxanne woke not long after, slightly dizzy. She realized for a second she was kind of warm. And there was not hard floor beneath her, but rather something soft. "What?" she said quietly as she sat up slowly, setting her arm down on the bed to steady herself. She was... in her room. She didn't remember going up here, nor laying down, in fact she distinctly remembered collapsing in the training room. This was not the training room, and how she got up here was a mystery for about two seconds before she noticed the top of someone's head. Mystery solved.

New mystery: whose head?

She leaned down a little, and saw the profile of Riley. Mystery solved.

New mystery: why?

"Um... hi," she said kind of awkwardly.

 

"... Hey." Riley looked at Roxanne "You kind of collapsed. So... Well the responsible thing to do was to watch over you... I think. It's um, it's only been a little while- so it's not like you were out for a long time."
Riley looked away, fiddling with her thumbs before standing up "Well- if you're all right, I'd better get going."
Was her face red? She hoped it wasn't red.
---
"Woah," Sydney put her hand on Marcus' shoulder "No need to go hurting our hands. You're gonna need them for later, remember?"
She glanced up at the tower, she hadn't thought about it before but Marcus' curiosity had made her suddenly aware of how strange it was-
The tower reached the sky, yet they only knew of a few floors. What was up there?

 

Roxanne swung her legs around and let them hang off the edge of the bed. Her toes barely touched the ground. "Thanks," she told Riley. She noticed the girl's face was red, but she had no idea why. "Can I... talk to you for a little bit? I can't... I can't keep this bottled up anymore. It's hurting me, mentally and physically. It's distracting me from my goal and only making it further away. And I would really appreciate it if you listened for a while. But you don't have to if you don't want to." She added the last part quickly, and she sounded kind of... scared?... to say anything. But Riley could tell that she needed it.

 

"Uh, sure. It'll be like a support group- trading stories about our brothers. Your's being nice, mine being a dick." She forgot that other Riley was a secret, she seemed to be doing that a lot. Riley slowly sat down on the floor, criss-cross and facing Roxanne.
"You first then?" She began taking her leather armor off of her torso- to be honest, the armor was small and uncomfortable. With slight hesitation, she took of the falcata sheath and set it down- no one would charge in and hurt her, she assured herself.
"Oh- unless you want me to go first, or something?"
She'd been so focused on trying to trick the adults, her ruse voice had suddenly become her main voice. She didn't even notice when she used it anymore- the gruff yet regal voice seemed natural to her. Perhaps it was- after all, it was practically a feminine version of her brother's voice.

 

"It's not about that," Roxanne said, and lowered herself to the ground to sit cross-legged also. "I... I went and saw Vanthus. I wanted to get Richard's body back. Just to... give him a funeral, you know? I thought he deserved that. It would give me closure as well, right? A proper goodbye. Because as you saw, I really didn't get that kind of closure. It kind of happened. It was kind of unexpected." She sighed. "But... there is no body. I don't know if he destroyed it, or what he did to him... But I'll never get to say goodbye to him. My entire family just... snatched from me... with no goodbye or anything. And that hurts so badly." Tears stung Roxanne's eyes, but she was forcing herself not to shed them. She had to be strong. Riley could. She had to.

 

Riley remained silent for a while before shifting in her seat uncomfortably "Yeah, I... I kinda know how it feels, I guess..."
She thought back to the kidnappers, killing them, saving Sydney, Riley's dead body "... I kinda let my brother die, though. It's pretty different. And yesterday, alone in the training room... I even kinda thought about ending it." She gave Roxanne a smile, but her eyes were wet "I decided against it because I was scared that if I died, I'd go and meet my brother in the afterlife."


Riley sighed, trying to steer the conversation away from that subject "But forget that- Your problems, with the funeral and stuff, that's recent- probably still hurts a lot. So let's ignore me, OK? Let's focus on Richard."

 

"To be perfectly honest... I almost let myself drown in the moat. I was sinking with the fish, and I was okay if I lived or if I died. I don't know what got into me. I'd be okay with going and seeing my family again." Roxanne sighed. "He was all I had. You have Sydney, Zein and Malik look like they will be a thing... And god only knows with Marcus... I had my brother. I was happy about that. We were happy. And I can't think of what I can do to be happy. Once I kill Vanthus... What do I do then? It wouldn't change anything. He'd just be thrown on top of the metaphorical bodies of my parents and brother. What would I do afterward?" She leaned against the side of the bed like Riley was earlier. "What did your brother do that was so bad?"

 

"Sure, we've got our own groups- But in the end, all of us have each other's back. And that includes you."
Riley stiffened, but eyes seemed to light up with emotion- anger, nostalgia? It was hard to tell.
"Hmm... My brother did a lot of bad things, Roxanne. So bad- I feel physically sick just wearing his armor and using his sword. I'm not one for long tales, or even telling tales- but I guess I'll let you know about my past."
Lazily and (mostly) without emotion, Riley recounted the important details of her past. (Spoilered at the bottom of the post)

 

"Your brother sounds like a piece of shit," she said with a sigh. "If he was so bad though, why are you trying to be like him? Why are you wearing the armor and using his weapon? You came in roller skating and scared the shit out of me by using Sydney as a weapon. Now... it's weird, you know? Is it bad to say I liked you better that way? Now I don't know what you're trying to do here. It's... it's weird. Not that I don't mind you being this way, if that's what you choose to be, but... you don't have to put on an act." Roxanne was afraid she'd freak out on her for saying that, but... it was the truth.

 

Riley smiled and the softness of her expression was much akin to the non-ruse Riley "Well, I'm trying to seem more favorable to the adults. But if you prefer it, then-"
She switched between voices seamlessly "-I guess I'll talk like this. But only with the group. And the sword and armor? Well, it's the only armor I have. Plus, Syd's human- she's a contestant too, and she's got her own challenges. I have to learn not to rely on her."
Riley slipped on the small leather armor and slung her sheath back on, standing up and stretching before offering Roxanne her hand "Well it's best if we go, huh? The other's might worry. Well- unless you want to rest, because then I can just go myself. I'll be fine too. So don't worry. I'll let everyone know you're OK. And I'll come by for mealtime to check on you. And if your not up for it, I'll just carry some stuff up for you to eat."

Was she rambling? She was rambling.

 

"I'll come. I need to train more." Roxanne accepted Riley's hand and stood up. "I hope there's still food down there though. I'm hungry all of a sudden," she laughed a little, and looked at met Riley's eyes. She pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you. For listening to me," she said softly. "It means a lot. And thank you for telling me about that stuff with your brother. I appreciate that too. I won't tell anyone."

 

Riley froze- its just a hug, it's just a hug- "Haha-yeah... Thanks."
Riley opened the door, certain her face was at its reddest, and led the girl downstairs. She waved to the table before continuing to training room. Staying near Roxanne, Riley pulled her sword from it's sheath and began attacking a target. Only her arm and hand moved, the rest of her body completely stationary. After a moment, Riley whispered- just loud enough for Roxanne to hear "Sevlin Arc. My uh... Parents were creative."

 

Zein shrugged. If Roxanne didn't want to train, whatever. She waltzed off, then Riley and Marcus and Sydney did too. She got up and went to the armory, deciding to try out a few different weapons. She gathered several swords, giving each a few swings at a dummy, and a couple of different spears, testing those out as well. In the end, she didn't like how heavy they felt, and ended up practicing with just the dagger. It felt satisfying to her, for some reason. However, she knew she wouldn't like how close she'd have to get if she ever was in an actual fight with it. It worked well in the water, yeah, but she still wanted to find something with a little reach.

In the end, she ended up practicing with a spear. She settled on one with the longest blade she could find, and tore apart the dummy a few times before retiring to her room, taking a long hot shower, and heading back down to the lobby. She was content with sitting around for the moment, since she decided she was taking far too many naps. Perhaps she'd hunt down Marcus and force him to teach her how to fight with a spear better.