There was no clock in here, nor a window. It was impossible to know if it was day or night, but nonetheless Aoi awakes. Something wasn’t right. 

She stumbles through the now-familiar path to the light switch. The light blinds her after hours in the dark, like it always does. 

Aoi had closed the shutter to the serpent’s aquarium after what happened. Even if she was safe, she didn’t want the thing staring at her all night. She presses the switch to open the shutter. While she waits for it to lower, she tests her weight on her leg. It had healed, at some cost to her Soul Gem. She had used a Grief Seed at least a little, almost out of spite. 

The serpent is not coiled in the giant snail shell like it usually was when it was resting. It is slumped on the bottom of the tank, not moving. For a horrible moment Aoi thinks it has died— what would happen to her now that it was dead? Then she notices there is still a slight twitch in its feelers, and then a languid movement of its tail. The Soul Gem fastened there was entirely black. 

A Witch’s barrier might provide some opportunity to escape, if that Incubator didn’t come to kill her immediately. The creature certainly hadn’t done anything to endear itself to her. Now it would die, alone and light-years from home, to be cut open, taken apart, and run through the Incubators’ microscopes and chemical testers. An animal’s death. 

This cell might be on board a starship, too, Aoi had realized. Light-years from home. All of that could describe her as well. The creature, at least, might have a real home to go back to and a family of serpents to await its return. Perhaps if this thing made it back, all the whaleworms would happily tangle around each other like pasta noodles. 

Though she was in the same situation… no one, probably, would tangle around Aoi like a pasta noodle.

Aoi went up to the top of the tank and disabled the force field. No reaction from the creature.

Aoi: {Hey. Are you okay? … Hello?}

No response from the creature. Aoi turns the force field on and off a few times, then splashes in the water with her shoe. No response. The creature lies on the bottom of the tank, unmoving. Aoi stands and turns around, to see if it will attack her again. It does not. 

Aoi sighs. Surely this worm wasn’t serious. 

Peering down into the water, Aoi contemplates ways to fish out the creature’s Soul Gem. If she could just get it into her arms, there might be a chance at some healing. Her mace isn’t nearly long enough to reach the bottom, though she tries anyway. Nothing in this bare cell that would be useful.

Only one option left.

Aoi turns and walks back down the stairs. It isn’t worth it. 

She turns back.

Though it upset her– she had to be honest and admit it did– Aoi wasn’t really the bitter type to hold the attack against the creature. It really did not matter what happened to her. Looking back, she could see how the wings on her back gave her an unfortunate resemblance to the fairy Incubator Aisha. More than enough for an alien to assume they were in league. 

When it came to who had more to go back to if they survived this… Aoi knew it was probably the serpent.

Aoi: {I’m gonna come in there and get your Soul Gem, okay?}

No response.

Surely it wouldn’t be that bad. Aoi dipped her hand in the concentrated salt water. It stung, but she’d dealt with worse. She left her shoes behind and slid into the water in one go. 

Aoi gasps at the stinging sensation on her whole body. Drowning in this would be a horrible way to go.

Aoi: {If you’re going to kill me then at least make it quick for me, okay?}

No response. 

Aoi shuts her eyes tight and dives.

She had to come up after a few seconds. The pain was incredible and she couldn’t tell what she was doing. She put herself directly above the creature’s tail and dove again. She had to struggle and use her wings to reach the bottom, the thick liquid pushing her back up. 

Finally she blindly touches the loose sand on the bottom. Where was the Soul Gem? Her lips burned and the brine was deep in her ears, the pain making her dizzy and nauseous. She didn’t think she would have the courage to come down here again. She had to open her eyes and look. 

It was as bad as she expected. No, worse. Her eyes seared like acid. She reflexively opens her mouth and now it’s in her mouth, in her nose. She sees the Soul Gem. She grabs onto it and pulls. If there was a clasp or something to undo, this was over.

The serpent lifts its tail slightly and the Soul Gem’s band comes off. Aoi grabs it tight. The water, at least, pushes her up easily when she goes to surface. 

Aoi scrambles out, shoving the creature’s Soul Gem aside. She chokes and gags on the brine. Her dried-out eyes drag against the inside of her eyelids. She may have even thrown up a little. Coughing, she crawls over to the Soul Gem.

With it pressed against her chest, she starts the healing. Aoi can’t think of much but the physical pain, but the creature probably understood that kind of pain, at least. Her wings dutifully soak up the grief, and when she opens her eyes for a split second to peek, about a quarter of the black is gone, revealing a swirling rainbow Soul Gem. Good enough to stave off becoming a Witch for at least a little while. 

She leaves the Gem by the water and crawls down the stairs, fumbling blindly along the walls for the shower. When she moves her fingers and her elbows she can feel them encrusted in salt. She finds the shower and turns it on. Aoi sits in the water, not even taking her clothes off. 

A few times, she tries to look up into the spray to flush her eyes, but the water is too hot and the pressure is too much. Tears come up, and they’re too hot as well. She sits in the shower, heaving and sobbing, aware the tears are from something more than the physical pain.

Serpent: {▆▓▚▙▁▏▍ ░░}

No response.