Empty. She felt so very, very, empty. It wasn’t just aioiness. It was like her ability had sucked something out of her. Hollow. She gnced down at her hand and watched as the ied on it, spreading less like fkes and shards and more like an icy-white root. Before her very eyes the wicked tendrils began to darken, a bck smoke filling them until they’d turhe color of obsidian. She felt a little more drain out of her as she admired the glittering bck material, turning her hand over with trembling shoulders. She felt empty, like a bottomless pit that could never be filled.

  He did this to me, she thought as she let her instincts rise to the surface. They were… broken. It felt like her mind was glitg, statid twitg sensations crag spasmodically in her brain. She swallowed and drew the bck ice ba, letting it sink into her skin and send an otherworldly chill through her entire being. It felt s. A, it was a little pleasurable too. Her fiwitched as the static cleared a little. Her ability was hungry, it wanted something insubstantial, something that y deep at the heart of every living thing. It wants souls, she shuddered and turned her gaze back towards the crowd.

  There he was, her ‘partner’ for this ‘mission’. Greg was standing with a happy looking older couple, talking merrily with them. She reached up and squeezed at her arm as he made eye tact with her. His lips thinned for just a moment before his father said something auro the versation. She felt that hollow feeling deepen, again, colder, emptier. Was it even possible to feel more hollow than she already did? She’d pyed it off as a rea to his decision to go to the UK, throwing a tantrum a few nights ago and ending their ‘retionship’.

  He wasn’t a bad guy. I kind of liked him. A good lover. It was… warm. She shook the thoughts off as her shoulders sagged, If it was a different time, maybe a different life. It might be nice. She reached up and ran her fihrough her hair. Stop it! You e! She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall of the dojo, far away from the rest. No one’s ing to see me anyway. Who in their right mind would-

  A fa the crowd.

  No.

  A calg smile.

  No no no.

  A faint ripple in the air that she knew all too well.

  No, please no, go away. I don’t want to see you too.

  Messy dark hair, eyes that were blue like gciers, almost white. He caught her gaze and his smile curled upward. What is he doing here? How is he even here? She thought frantically as he began to work his way through the crowd towards her. His hands were in the pockets of his long trench coat, a turtleneck raised to his throat. He tilted his head up and smiled down at her from over his riding across the grass with a fident gait before ing to a stop just a few feet away. “Hello Sister, gratutions on graduating!” he said, showing his eerily white teeth.

  “Phillip,” she breathed, “What are you doing here?”

  He shrugged bndly, “’t a big brother e visit his darling sister on her special day?”

  She looked away and squeezed her arms, “You know what I mean.”

  He snorted and rubbed at his wrist, “These cuffs are tight, but effective iing past an RTE,” he muttered as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a cloth doll. She recoiled at the sight of it. It was grotesque, like it was made from human skin and had its eyes and ears sewn shut. “Got it in a dungeon, isn’t it ?” He said with a chuckle, “Nobody hear us talk and people will lht over us, even Bck Lotus with those amazing senses of hers. It’s just you and me, Sister.”

  She felt her stomach drop out from under her. He was going to kill her. He had said that he would one day. Was this it? A final release, she supposed, death at the hands of her brother to escape servitude to that mohat paraded around like a hero. Her eyes shot towards the head of perfectly coifed blonde hair amidst the crowd. So many fawning over him. He wouldn’t look her way. He wouldn’t care. She was just a tool to him. Just like she was to Liberty and Phillip. Her lips twitched and he raised an eyebrow, following her gaze.

  “I thought you liked the dark-haired boy, what was his name? Gravitic? Halloway hates him, by the way,” Phillip said casually, turning to gn Greg’s dire.

  She flinched, “N-no! We broke up,” she said quickly and looked down at her feet, “He’s leaving the try and the mission was a bust. I don’t need him anymore.”

  “Aww,” Phillip purred, “Poor thing. So is the blonde boy your new cover?”

  “It’s not like that,” she muttered.

  “Mhm, sure,” He said and leaned frabbing her by the . It was so cold. So unbelievably cold. She didn’t think she could get colder. He jerked her head up to look him in the eyes. “You are very, very fortunate, you pathetic little failure. Even with my cute little doll there are way too many witnesses here, if I left a body behind there would be problems. More importantly, Liberty told me to let you live,” he shrough gritted teeth, “I wao watch you bleed, but she says your exunication is punishment enough. You don’t know enough and aren’t worth enough to kill and cause a se.”

  The words hit her like a truck, she felt smaller, her soul crumbling just a little more uhe weight of everything. A tear ran down her cheek as she tried to pull away but he held her tightly, his gaze leaving hers for just long enough to g the side of her face. “Bck?” He muttered, puzzled. “Why are your tears bck?” he asked and pulled his hand away, reag for her face to touch it. She jerked away and he grabbed at her again, “Hold still you little-”

  “Phillip Wayne!” A bright voice called out causing the two of them to freeze.

  She watched Phillip blink and turn his head and she looked past him. She khe voice but she couldn’t believe that he would deign to intervene. Maybe he might, just for his sick games. She could barely imagine what that man was thinking, what motivated him to do anything. Glimmering blue eyes and blonde hair framed a picture perfect smile. He was like a prince charming made ma, agly beautiful in his youth. Yet she knew all too well the kind of cruelty that hid behind those eyes.

  “How?” Phillip muttered, “Listen kid, you’re interrupting a family discussion.”

  “Am I?” Otis asked, gng betweewo of them. “Seems rather heated! Today’s a very special day for me, I’d rather it not get all messy.”

  Phillip scowled a Jessica go, “I was just leaving, punk. What’s your name?”

  “Otis,” Otis said without hesitating, “The Most Promising Hero of the East Coast camp,” he tilted his head in fusion, “Why are you leaving? Jessica hasn’t had a ce to say her piece.”

  Phillip whipped his head towards her and gave her a look before breaking into a smile, “Wow, you do work fast. Already got your cws in him?”

  “Brother, stop,” she begged, “Just-”

  “Hardly,” Otis scoffed and walked in closer, looping around Phillip to stao Jessica, “I don’t have any i in that kind of thing. What’s so iing about fug anyway?” He asked, gng her way, “It just makes more people. I hate people. Why oh would I make more?” He asked as if Phillip was the stupidest person on the p, “Goodness, are all of Liberty’s hen mentally defit?” He paused, “I suppose Rift was salvageable, I like him,” he admitted with a thoughtful tilt of his head.

  She felt a chill run down her spine as he leaned against the wall. What is he doing?

  “That’s not the kind of talk I’d expect from a hero,” Phillip said, standing up a bit straighter.

  “Poorly educated too,” Otis shook his head and turo Jessica, “How do you put up with this? I am so terribly sorry.”

  “Stop,” Jessica squeaked, trembling as he ed an arm around her shoulder before leaning in an inch from her ear, “Please. You’re making it worse.”

  Phillip frowned, “Don’t you-”

  Otis held up a hand out of the er of her eye and Phillip froze, his eyes going a bit hazy for a moment. He looked fused, blinking rapidly as he tried to shake off whatever had overe him. Otis leaned in a bit more a a hand on the spot where the bomb had been. “He knew,” Otis purred, “He knew. He let them do that to you. He obeyed and now he’s here just to hurt you. Annoying. Impudent. Subhuman thing,” he murmured as he ran his hand up and down her abdomen, sending a wave of hrough her, “You don’t deserve that, do you?”

  She tensed, “Wh-what? What are you talking about? What did you do to him?”

  He tilted back a bit, “Jessica!” He admonished her, “You’re one of mine now! You belong to me,” He said as if she said something silly. “That means you are above everyone else. He is a thing, not a person - he has nhts, no will, and no value - he means nothing to you,” he rumbled, his lips shaking with a mix of disgust and madness. “What could something less worth-while than an i possibly have to say that would affee of my Heralds.”

  “Herald?” She murmured, turning to look at him.

  “Heralds. My champions, the deliverers of my will,” he said, “I told you I would bee a King, King of the world. If you’re part of my inner circle, what does that make him?”

  She swallowed as that gnawing hunger roared to life in her gut, that o e, a desire to rip the lifeforce from her brothers body and leave it lifeless on the ground, sufferiernally in a state of eorpor. Her fingers flexed as Otis’ hand reached up and stroked her head, “No one see us, thanks to your brother’s toy. Your brother is stupefied by my power. He’s at your mercy, you could end him right now…” He whispered, “...or…” he let the option hang in the air like a det fruit.

  Her breath was ing in rapid, she felt her ice slide down her hand taking the form of cws. She could rip his heart ht there, she could destroy him. Otis would even have a way to make the body disappear, to make everyone fet it even happened. No one would know. She could bleed her brother dry with a crowd of civilians standing there, unaware. A chill of excitement ran up her spine as she realized just how powerful he was, how powerful she could be if she just let him ge her. He could fix her broken, worthless soul.

  “Or?” she breathed.

  “Or… you could spare him. I’ll give you the opportunity to say your piece here, to stand up for yourself, and wheime es,” He smiled against her ear, his lips so close she could feel his breath, “I’ll let you rip him to pieces. War is ing and Liberty is the target. She’ll be beh you one day too. Wait. Be patient and have your day of glory when you destroy him and be celebrated for it,” He urged her, “Heroes aren’t supposed to kill, but acts happen, don’t they Felwinter?”

  Felwinter. Her lips twitched again as she felt that chill deep in her soul, that emptiness, that rattling cage where her spirit should be. Her eyes sparkled, I like that name.

  “I ’t wait,” she said, her entire body trembling as he took a few steps back.

  He raised his hand to his lips while the other rose to show five fingers. A timer? Uood.

  Phillip blinked and shook his head in fusion, rubbing his eyes before looking down at her. His lips curled in a sneer. Did he not see Otis standing off to the side? It didn’t matter. She ched her fists and took a daring step towards him, her teeth bared and her eyes wide with hate. The chill in her bones fred to life and the grass beh her feet started to die. Low shrieks and whimpers of pain echoed in the air around her as her mind rexed, her fears dying, the static of her instincts became clear, clearer than they had been before Otis had ged her.

  Phillip raised an eyebrow, “What?” he snapped.

  “You didn’t warn me,” she snapped, “You didn’t warn me about the raid.”

  He shrugged, “So?”

  “I was to be just another casualty. Liberty lost her patieh me and now that you ’t touch me easily, you came to torment me and deliver the exunication as some kind of ‘punishment’,” she snarled before letting out a manic ugh, “Like that even matters!”

  Phillip narrowed his eyes, “Excuse me? How-”

  “No! How dare you!” She barked, “How dare you even show your face here,” she bit out, “You insufferable…” she shook her head, “I-I have someone even stronger who backs me now!” she said as bck tears streamed down her face, “He’s going to be a king! King of the world!” she threw her head bad ughed, “What’s some cult mean to me?” she raised her hand to her fad covered it with a bck cwed hand, it looked like armor, “I’ve been so stupid! I believed in her? Please!” She peeked through her cws at his irate fad she let her arm go sck, her hand falling to her side. “What was I thinking?”

  Phillip’s nostrils fred and his hand snapped out faster than the eye could see, his fingers curled like talons ready to grab her and ruin her. Before he could blink, she gripped his wrist with her cwed hand. He snarled and jerked his hand baly to hesitate, his eyes going wide. “Wh-what?” He gasped as his skin began to lose its color around where she touched, his veins turned dark as his fiwitched and tensed. His mouth fell open in a silent scream as he colpsed to his knees. He reached up to grasp at her hand only to pull his trembling fingers away as they sizzled against the bck ig her grip.

  She released him a out a trembling sob, “You are very, very fortunate, you pathetic little man,” She sing-songed, grinnio ear. She felt a warmth seep through her hand and into that hole in her chest, sav it. “I wao watch you suffer, but my King tells me there’s a far more satisfying way to deal with you. You aren’t worth killing here, I want to make a show of it…” She hissed befng Otis’ way.

  Otis’ fingers slowly drifted down as she went oirade before he closed his fist. Phillip cupped his hand, gring at her, “This isn’t-” He began before shutting his mouth and turning away. He walked past Otis as if he weren’t even there and shoved his hand into his pocket, staggering away. No one seemed to pay him any mind even in his wouate as he walked through the crowd towards the portal and disappeared.

  Otis let out a breath, a bit of sweat beading on his brow that he quickly brushed away before turning to give her an appraising look, “Well done.”

  Jessica felt the moment pass and she swayed a little and dropped to a knee, “What did I just do?” She gasped, her mind reeling from her own as.

  “You chose,” he said, standing over her and reag down to take her cwed hand. He didn’t even flinch, “Be proud, You were chosen and you got to choose, Herald Felwinter.”

  She looked up at him, her shattered mind and soul pieg itself back together in whatever new, wicked shape it now took. Her lips curled into a smile, “Herald Felwiner,” she said, “It has a ring to it.”

  She rose to her feet and her eyes drifted away from Otis to a fa the crowd. Just another one of the masses. He couldn’t have done anything. Did I really want him to? No. He’s just a… thing. She smiled and turned her ba the crowd and faced her King. With him. This is where I belong.