—Virgil Clay, Lecture
Violet internally glared at Stephanie, her back to the window, and her usual veneer of innocence close to evaporating into the mauve mist around her. The lancer was stronger than her. Stephanie could kill her easily—if she decided to. Violet couldn’t bring herself to submit to any possible fear of such an obvious coward. If the woman had a spine, she wouldn't have needed to isolate Violet before making such a suggestion. Even so, she couldn’t fight her. She could hardly explain that, even if she did survive the fight. But she was angry. Perhaps not as angry as she should have been. Not furious like the heroes in the stories she loved were, but she was livid nonetheless. The lancer had all but admitted to planning her death, and Violet was close to losing her carefully-cultivated control again. Her usual plastic smile began to melt, even as she kept the bubbling rage behind it from surfacing.
“What was my idea?” Stephanie repeated. Violet shook her head and took a deep breath.
“Nothing, sorry. I was just working through your suggestion. I… We’ll want to set this up anyway, then, right?” Violet asked, lifting up the clear tubing in one hand. Stephanie let out a deep breath of relief as she realized Violet was agreeing to her plan.
“That could be dangerous. We’d have to run pretty quickly to completely avoid whatever is attracted when the pylon runs out of energy. It would be safer in some ways to just leave it as is, but…” Violet was already shaking her head, and Stephanie clearly knew why. The woman was looking for the easiest solution. It was what had nearly gotten Violet killed before. But she knew why it wouldn’t work, even if she was denying the fact to herself.
“If we just leave, everyone will follow us right away, and we’ll be trapped in the middle of an eventual swarm without cover. The second we walk away without setting this up, Aubrey—at the very least—is going to come and investigate. Even if no one does, they’ll hardly wait around for long hours or days while nothing happens. The fact is, we need to cause a distraction sooner rather than later. If we don’t, we are going to have to face a swarm anyway. And probably prison. We have to do this now. It’s the only choice, as far as I see it,” Violet explained, voicing the concerns both of them clearly had. Stephanie glanced at the crystal and gripped her arm with her free hand.
“I mean, I can’t intentionally bring a swarm here so quickly. That’s…” Stephanie trailed. Violet groaned internally. She should have expected as much. The idea to kill a person was supposed to be easier than the act, after all. That was what every story had always told her, anyway. It wasn’t her experience so far, but only the stupid believed that what they experience must necessarily be universal. Violet wasn’t so shallow, and she could see the reality in Stephanie’s eyes. Somehow, the woman had built a mental wall to exonerate herself. She could promise safety to children and abandon them to certain death. She could leave them a hopeful lie while knowing they would be killed. But an active role in their deaths was a step too far. Violet didn’t understand it as significantly different. She was certain that either act would fulfill the requirement for control necessary to grant her clarity.
Then again, Violet had no intention of doing either. She chose not to delude herself with innocence. She was growing to accept that she was a killer at heart. Just the thought carried too much decadent anticipation to deny it. But, clinging to some ghost of decency she’d learned from books, she at least wouldn’t sacrifice her new friends in favor of a woman she hated. She had no agency in the proposed plan, and it tasted so sour compared to the deaths of Derek and Caitlyn. Once a yellow lancer had suggested it, she had to agree. It was that or deal with a potentially volatile situation. And one where it would be her word against a respected lancer’s. That wasn’t control. That was submission.
“I understand,” Violet replied. “Let me do it; I’ll get it set up. We can wait a few minutes and start moving once the pylon looks like it’s getting low. All you have to do is wait, then run. Fifteen or so. Does that work for you?” Violet asked. It was a bold suggestion, but Violet remembered what the lancer had done before. Derek had actively laid bait. And Stephanie had left him to do it. She didn’t have the stomach to pull the trigger herself, but she could obviously live with someone doing it for her. It was a not-so-clever way to disguise violence so her hands never felt dirty. Violet could see the blood anyway, but Stephanie only really needed to deceive herself. And Violet had learned years before that no one was more willing to believe a weak lie than the person telling it. Tension melted off Stephanie, and she nodded gently.
“Thank you, Violet. I’ll keep you safe out there, I promise,” Stephanie said. Violet suppressed an eye-roll. The promise would be true right up until Violet actually needed serious help, and then it would evaporate. The woman had already promised safety to Violet and her friends twice, only to favor her own safety both times. It was pathetic.
“Can you at least tell me how to do it properly?” Violet asked. “I don’t want to make any mistakes.” Stephanie nodded.
“It’s fairly easy, actually. Make sure each port is unobstructed, then insert the tube about a foot into it. If there is nothing in the way, you’ll feel it automatically seal. There are a few ports at the base of the engine where the crystal is housed. It doesn’t matter which you use; they work the same way. Once they are connected, simply enter my code using the screen between the ports at the pylon base. It’s 632969. It will start as soon as you do. Then we can wait maybe fifteen minutes, no more, and we have to go. Circle around the other side of the pylon with me, then we can use the mist as cover to leave before anyone notices,” Stephanie explained. Violet nodded.
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“Alright, I’ll take care of it,” Violet agreed. Stephanie nodded nervously, then made her way to the far side of the pylon. This way, she could still speak to Violet, but she couldn’t be seen by the students inside the station. Violet was irritated as she began to secure the first tube. There was no good response to the situation she was in. No real method to regain control. Whatever she did, she’d have to risk facing a swarm of hedron. The only way she could think of to regain control of the situation… was to force the strongest combatant they had to help them fight it off. The lancer wouldn’t flee before the swarm got there; Violet would make sure of it. They would face it together, exactly as everyone had planned.
She used her “Tools of the Trade” talent to create a throwing star. Not a weapon she was particularly skilled with, but she wasn’t actually planning to use it in a fight. It was simply the first thing she could think of with the appropriate size and rough shape she needed. At least, it was the first thing she could actually create with her talent.
She pushed the tube into place as instructed, feeling the seal clearly secure with a soft but audible click. She moved onto the second port, sliding her shuriken in before the tube. As the strange, not-quite-rubber tube followed, she spoke to cover the lack of a clicking noise as a seal failed to form.
“So, how long will it take us to reach the next station?” Violet asked. The tube reached its limit, but the seal failed to clamp into place. Violet didn’t react, only picking up the coiled tube and walking toward the engine to plug the other end in.
“Uh, I’m not certain. I’ve never made the trip on foot before. Five days, maybe? We’ll have to follow the tracks to keep on course. Not ideal, I know. But two people can travel quickly; I doubt it will take longer than that. Six days, at most. We’ll be able to handle anything we run into on the way, so long as we avoid the swarm,” she answered.
“And you have food and water for that long?” Violet asked as she finished connecting the pylon to the engine. Stephanie nodded.
“In my pack, just in case,” she answered. Violet didn’t narrow her eyes, but she wanted to. That answer likely meant that Stephanie had been prepared to abandon everyone even before she’d seen the pylon. Violet found it sad. Her whole life, she’d been looked down on and dismissed by everyone around her, and even she had never seemed so ready to flee as the woman beside her, blessed with control over lightning itself. Four of her students, not even close to her in strength, were all far braver and more ready to fight. Stephanie’s entire team must have been similar cowards—since they’d gone with the plan. It almost forced a sneer onto Violet’s face.
Instead, she crouched in front of the pylon again, brushing hair out of her eyes and entering the provided code to begin the refueling. The moment she entered the final digit, both tubes immediately lit with a pale orange—movement like the dust in sunbeams barely visible inside. More visible in the correctly connected tube, however. She smirked to herself.
“Well, that’s good, I suppose. I’m sure I’ll make a much better watch if I’m not dying of thirst,” Violet responded. Stephanie’s mouth turned down in a small frown.
“I’m not just bringing you to keep watch,” the lancer said. “Like I said, I owe you. You brought me out of the mist once; I’m just trying to return the favor.” Violet offered her a smile in response.
“Of course; I know that,” she answered. “So, fifteen minutes or so, huh? You don’t think they’ll wonder why I’m waiting out here with you?” Again, Violet looked toward the window where Kiera, Guy, and even Aubrey were watching with clear concern.
Stephanie sat against the pylon, resting her head against the crystal and closing her eyes. “I don’t know. Probably. But they won’t come out until they have to. Can we not talk about them?” Stephanie requested.
“Sure, sure,” Violet agreed. She didn’t push the conversation. Instead, she crossed her arms and scanned the horizon. She could only see so far before the mist was too thick, but it was further than it used to be. Not quite as far as Stephanie could see, but a glance at the water leaking from closed eyes revealed the older woman wasn’t paying any attention yet. It would be safe for at least twenty-five minutes, in the lancer’s mind. She would have been right, too, if Violet hadn’t wanted her help fighting off the swarm.
In reality, she was only allowed to cry quietly for about five minutes before Violet spotted the first hedron. The unsealed tube was leaking clarity, exactly as Violet had planned, and there was, in fact, a responding swarm. For a brief moment, she’d mistaken them for wind, moving the mist in a strange pattern. But flashes of red quickly revealed the reality.
They were too close now. It was either fight or die. No one would be able to run from this. “Well, I’d better get the others. I'd rather not fight all of those with just the two of us,” Violet quipped. She immediately started on her way to the window, waving frantically for help from the other volunteers.
Stephanie screamed as she finally opened her eyes. She could see the thousands of red crystal-caked bats approaching far better than Violet could. Violet turned her back to the window the moment she heard the scream. “Better fight for our lives, or none of us are escaping this,” Violet taunted.
Stephanie didn’t have time to question what had happened. Running was no longer an option, and lightning cracked through the mist as soon as she was on her feet. Violet casually summoned a large, crystal scythe. At the same time, she summoned a small knife and tucked it into her pocket.
The seal may or may not have formed as the throwing star dissolved, but that wouldn’t prevent the swarm on its way. It was time to see if their original plan had been decent after all.
And perhaps it was time to put an end to the cowardly lancer she’d trapped into the fight.
The discord link is fixed now as well. Sorry about that!
Here are the current goals and rewards, as well as how close we were to each at 10:50 AM CST on the day this chapter was published.
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6k - 15k Bonus Chapter – 3,000 Followers
834 / 3,000
Description
Starting at 3,000 followers, I will write a bonus chapter between 6k - 15k in length every 2k followers. This may be a side character, this may be an AU, or anything else. Who decides? You do! When a milestone is reached, I will ask for suggestions and put up a poll of the most popular ones!
Webtoon Chapter – 6,000 Followers
834 / 6,000
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This is also a bonus chapter, but I will have it commissioned as a fully illustrated webtoon!
Spin-Off Novel – 15,000 Followers
834 / 15,000
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I will write a novel of at least 120k words focusing on Kiera, our resident fox girl!
Visual Novel – 20,000 Followers
834 / 20,000
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I will commission art for and develop a full length (and free to play) Cruel Violet visual novel. (This is something I know how to do, ftr.)