Sam's Puzzle

---

Whispers steeled himself for the retaliation but none came despite Damion's superior position. Instead Katherine, his savior, punished Ember on her own accord. Though he couldn't see the illusion he knew well enough what she was capable of given her twisted little mind. Well really, everyone was twisted in their own way but Katherine had the drive to actually utilize her pain rather than keep it locked away. By her hand, Ember kept backing away with outstretched arms. The black-haired executioner kept shaking and even went so far as to yell at her partner, but that only gave him a hint of what she was thinking.

"You are truly something," he admitted quietly.

It was sickening for sure, to feel so relieved by the pain of another, yet he rationalized it with the notion of justice. She got what she deserved for slamming him into the wall and for inflicting pain on all those other poor anomalies that tried escaping in the past. This attack was a mere fraction of the pain Sarah felt when she died and no one would disagree with him that she was worth much more than the air manipulator. Besides, it wasn't like Katherine killed her. At least not yet.

He very nearly missed Reiza's interruption of the entire attempt to defuse the situation but frowned when Katherine's eyes dulled in color. Of course the two healers would want the least amount of conflict. They didn't want to pick sides. They wanted to play the field and get out with the least amount of scars, yet they were playing it stupidly. The one time they ought to play passive and let the two violent groups have it they instead try to make peace. Unfortunately, Whispers wasn't having any of it.

"Who are you to tell us how to act? Maybe instead of trying to make us all buddy-buddy you ought to pick a side," he asked.

Still, he wouldn't delve into a speech since Sam appeared to have other plans. A beep sounded and a loaf of bread appeared in the middle of the room. It had been a long time since Whispers saw anything tastier than enriched gruel but he could still recognize rye bread when he saw it. Brown, soft, and real. It was real food...and Reiza had the (rightful) gall to grab a bite before trying to "warn" them about the dangers of eating.

"The only evidence you have is word of mouth and it's shaky at that," he started, "you have as much motivation to lie as the rest of us and if we're all sufficiently weak enough you won't have to worry about us killing you. Besides, your sister is a physical healer isn't she? If you get poisoned she could just flush it out before doing any damage."

As much as he hated to admit it, Ember's inquiries made sense and he hadn't known how hungry he was until he saw that tantalizing loaf.

"Damion.." He looked at Ember when she spoke his name, and was more than a little worried when he saw her. She was backing away from him, she looked absolutely terrified. The look on her face was one of pure horror, and she threw her arm in front of her face in a protective fashion."E, Ember? Are you all right? What's wrong?"He walked towards her in a worrisome fashion. He wasn't sure what was wrong really, maybe it was the stress of Sam's damn game. All Damion knew was that something was wrong, and he wanted oh so desperately to be able to help her.

"Please, Damion, stop!" He stopped in his tracks when he heard this. If he was concerned before now he was scared, though he tried not to show it on his face. She sounded terrified, even worse she sounded like she was in pain. Was she afraid of him? The very thought was enough to completely destroy Damion if he let it. But he wouldn't. He would never hurt her. He watched her unsure of what to do. He was so focused on Ember that he barely even registered Rezia speak. Then he turned to Delirium. It had to be her. Forcing Ember to see something truly horrible. Whatever it was it centered on Damion himself. Like she was trying to somehow create a rift between himself, and Ember. To Damion something like that was an inexcusable crime. How could the rebels hate them for torturing, and killing others, when they had no choice. Now however Delirium was clearly choosing to torture Ember.

Thankfully Ember's eyes widened, and she seemed to snap out of it. Whatever horrible vision that was plaguing her seemed to vanish, and Damion felt more than relieved. Though he shot Delirium, a hateful gaze, a look of complete scorn. He would not let her get away with this. At this moment Damion resolved to cause her as much pain as possible, not now of course, but when an opportunity comes his way, he will surly take it. Of course Damion would not be sparing Whispers his wraith either, he will give both the rebels more than enough reasons to consider him a threat.

He soon turned his attention towards the food, which had just recently arrived. It wasn't much but it was food, and Damion was fairly hungry. He watched as Rezia divided the bread into pieces, slightly surprised at his willingness to share, and his boldness to reach the food first. Considering how sadistic Sam tended to be he wasn't very surprised when the boy ended up spitting out the food, claiming it was filled with some kind of chemical or poison. Whispers, and Ember both seemed to think he was lying or that Sam otherwise wouldn't want to watch them all starve. Though as Whispers had correctly, and surprisingly stated that the boy was keeping food from both his own mouth, and his sisters. Damion didn't think they were lying.

Damion walked towards the center of the room, and took a piece of bread for himself. The one decent thing about his abilities was the sole fact that he had a resistance to foreign poisons, and chemicals. Though he usually had to be careful when it came to exposing himself to dangerous substances like that, even his resistance had limits, and he wisely decided not to have to much. He had no idea how much was in the bread, but a single piece would do little to actually harm him. If he wanted to survive, if he wanted to protect ember he would need to keep his strength up after all.

He turned to the others, an idea popped into his head. Ember was right, there would be no amusement in solely watching everyone else starve to death, Sam would probably make them work hard for actual food though,and though he could probably survive off of these poisoned scraps, he would still work as hard as possible to insure that Ember was able to actually get edible food. Perhaps, he placed this out simply to find out who was most desperate."Watching everyone starve would be rather boring. Maybe he planes on making us compete, or otherwise earning untainted food? Seems sadistic enough for the likes of Sam."

Delirium was insane. The vision was consuming her, it was too much and she couldn't stop. She was an idiot to do this in front of everyone. In the back of her mind she vaguely paid attention to their reactions, but she didn't care about them, she cared about the vision she was creating. She reached into the deepest darkest depths of her own mind, things she feared herself, that she could turn on Ember. Delirium was sadistic, she was in control. No, actually she was severely out of control. The thought struck her on the head painfully. She was out of control, and losing energy fast. Normally she didn't add feelings like pain to her illusions, at least not this long. Panic suddenly caught her throat. She couldn't stop, so she would pass out because she couldn't handle this much strain on her mental capabilities. She could feel the world going fuzzy.

She wasn't like this. She hated Ember, because Ember did terrible things. But look at herself, she was no better. The vision blurred for a second, the large tiger momentarily fading, then Delirium blinked, steadied herself, gritted her teeth and forced herself to stop, if not to keep herself from passing out, then to see what the other commotion was about. When Delirium released her vision from Ember, she should have just bolted for her room, because either Ember or Damion could kill her in response, but she was too weak. She slumped slightly, trying with all her might to stay standing. A pain twanged in her head. She could feel a headache coming on.

Useless, she thought. She gets all riled up and now she can't protect herself if she tried. She watched as everyone appraised the bread that had been delivered to them and simmered in her own self loathing. She needed to get a grip on herself or she wouldn't make it out of here alive. Thoughts buzzed around inside her pounding head. Not only had she practically attacked one of the most deadliest people in this place, but she'd also severely weakened herself in the event that Ember decided to retaliate. Delirium just had to assume it was her look that the food had come when it did.

When Rezia announced that the food was poisoned and would make them weak, Delirium sighed unhappily. She didn't know wether he was telling the truth or not, and frankly she didn't care. Surely Sam wouldn't want one of his little entertainers to die as quick and painlessly as eating a piece of poisoned bread? As long as it didn't kill her, she didn't care. She was already weak. She hobbled over to the bread, took her small chunk that Rezia had divided, and hobbled into her room without a word. She shoved the whole thing in her mouth then lay down on her bed. She didn't care what the others had thought of her. Hopefully sleep would claim her and chase her headache away.

So much hatred and so much distrust. Lydia couldn't fathom why they'd want to fight each other so much, how did they even have the energy to fight against each other and bear the facility's yoke at the same time? Their fighting was tedious. Delirium, juding on the way her eyes turned colours and Ember panicked, had most certainly done something to the dark haired girl, and apparently it left them both spent. Why would they waste their energy? What was the point of it. And then there was Whispers, getting in their face about picking a side. Why did there have to be sides? Why couldn't they play this smart and not give Sam what he wanted, save themselves and their companions the trouble? But these creatures were too hostile, slathering and foaming at the mouth with some rage she couldn't understand, but she very much feared. She felt like she was placing her delicate throat in front of the teeth of wolf in this room.

They argued about the bread, and Lydia could feel her brother's nerves as the quibble broke out. She saw that she needed to intervene. Make her play now, while the air was not yet tainted by whatever violence was sure to unfold. Delirium left in a rushed huff, looking like she was about to vomit, snatching a piece of bread and retreating to her room. Lydia exercised her fingers, and in response to Whispers' tonally antagonistic comment, she murmured, "My powers have their limits. I can't heal that many people at one time. I'd prefer to conserve my power for times of more dire need." Her eyes were foggy now as she gathered her strength. Everything would be okay. Sam couldn't have made any of the tasks murderous, right?

She pulled away from Rezia, folding her bony arms over her chest nervously. "I think now would be a good time for me to, as Whispers put it, 'pick a side.'" She swallowed hard, looking at each of them in turn. Delirium was gone, but if she understood the way Sam had laid the pieces out to play, that wouldn't be a problem for now. "I need protection, and of course, I'm not strong enough to easily perform my task on my own. So to ensure Rezia's safety, and ease my mind, I am willing to make a deal with whomever has a task against me. I will allow you to perform your task without hindrance from either myself of from Rezia," she cast him a hard stare for a moment, "but, you will help me perform my task, either after your task is complete, or before, if you're task incapacitates me somehow. And I'll add in exclusive healing rights if that's what it takes." She ran her fingers over her scar-ridden arms, where the majority of the wounds still looked a week old, despite the time that had passed, due to the repercussions of her ability, reminding herself of the pain she'd endured in the past, she could take whatever Sam had devised for her. She could still feel the weight in both of her pockets, of the container that held the object of her task, and the knife Rezia had given her. Should she give it back now? Would she still have the ability to use it after this was all over and done with? She bit her lip. No, taking it out right now would be a bad move.

"Distrust me if it pleases you," She continued after a moment, smoothing her skirts and sighing nervously as she looked at the three others in the room, one, possibly two of them intending to do her and her brother harm by Sam's word. "But I have no reason to trick you. What's the point? There is no escape." She flexed her fingers again, as if preparing to heal some invisible being before her, and then folded her hands quickly behind her back, glancing around nervously, hoping Rezia wouldn't react ostentatiously and try to dissuade her from her self-made task of getting whatever pain was her due out of the way as quickly as possible. It was for his own good.

Ember mentally agreed with Whispers sentiment. It did appear Rezia could have motivation if it meant he and Lydia could eat in secret having Lydia simply heal them of the 'poison'. At least Damion wouldn't have a problem, and he perhaps could let her know the truth. She watched warily as he picked a small bit up ready to try it. Delirium, the little witch, didn't seem to care about deliberating about the safety of the food as she snatched up a portion and fled to her room. She appeared thoroughly spent which relieved Ember. If she had too much strength Ember would easily be at her mercy once again. She inwardly shuddered at the thought. While she still feared Whispers, Delirium had proved to be far more dangerous personally to her.

"Don't eat it,"

The desperation coming from Rezia drew her from her thoughts. When she realised that he was preventing Damion from eating a scowl crossed Embers face.

"You realise poison doesn't affect him." she commented, half accusing him as she said it. "Do you want him to starve? Perhaps it is easy for you as I am sure you have been well-fed by your masters. We however haven't eaten for many days."

Before her anger and frustration reached its peak Lydia interrupted. For a second she considered ignoring the girl and continuing to attack Rezia, however it soon became apparent that her little speech held a deal worth considering. Her head cocked to the side slightly as she considered Lydia's proposal. Her dark eyes carefully assessed Lydia trying to decipher whether the girl was lying or hiding anything. Content for the moment she was not, her gaze fell on Rezia as he decided to follow with his own. Since his had no relevance to her, she quickly returned to staring at Lydia. Her eyes looked the girl up and down, weighing up her options.

It would certainly make things easier….however then she would have two tasks to worry about. Then again, she would have Lydia's assistance. The idea of not following through with the deal briefly crossed her mind before being dismissed. Sam had destroyed most of her morality and therefore she clutched at the few straws of it had left with ferocity. She would not go so far as to break a promise. She was about to open her mouth and accept when another thought crossed her mind. She frowned.

What if Lydia's task involved harming Damion? Better make sure she didn't have to deal with that. Any other option would not bother her in the slightest. Harming Whispers would weaken him making him less of a threat and anything involving Delirium would be suitable revenge for the horrific vision she had forced Ember to endure.

Before fully making her decision she watched as Lydia started to rub her arms. Her gaze focused on the numerous scars. Ember's brow knitted with some confusion before looking Lydia in the eye.

"You cannot heal scars?" She questioned, feigning lack of serious interest, however there was a hint of disappointment.

She quickly changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on her thoughts.

"I am considering accepting your offer." She said carefully, her face neutral. "However, you will get nothing from me if Damion is involved in your task."

She stared the girl down, before suddenly seeming to relax, shrugging her shoulders a bit.

"Beside I can't help you just yet. I'm awaiting the presence of a knife."

While she waited for Lydia's reaction Ember considered Rezia's secondary offer once again. Technically she would be helping Lydia a bit…in a backwards sort of way of course. However did she really want to accept his offer of psychological healing? How exactly did his ability work? How could he possibly have the capabilities of reversing what Sam had done to her? She was consciously aware of how scarred she was, but was more fearful of how much more damaged she could be. If Rezia so-called 'healed' her of her various mental scars she would be left with an entirely sound mind that would then have to come to terms with her actions. The thought made her mentally shy away from the thought.

How could Rezia possibly help her without erasing the past which he invariably could not do?

---

So either they were lying about the bread being poisoned or their task involved keeping someone alive. Well, that part was obvious seeing as his task also involved keeping Ember alive. It'd be no fun if everyone ended up dead since Sam would have to find new people to take their places (or at least have fewer subjects to torture). That made him even more suspicious of Reiza's warnings of poison so rather than listening he walked up and grabbed a piece of bread for himself. It was one of the few remaining seeing as Katherine grabbed one and promptly fled to her room.

In some ways that put his heart in a knot since there was always the one percent chance he was wrong, but most of him was happy since he could now release his full power if need be. He didn't have to worry about possibly putting her into a coma or rendering her powers useless if he ended up needing to scream and he always had the knife slid under his sleeve. Indeed the situation was for the better.

Ember herself, brought up another good point (much to Whisper's chagrin, she proved to have more in common with him than either Reiza or Lydia) about Daimon given that poison did not affect him but was interrupted with Lydia's own offer. She allowed whoever had a task against her to perform it on the pretense that they would help her back. He unfortunately, had nothing against her, but the prospect of exclusive healing rights appealed to him. Plus, it would exclude Ember from another much-needed resource. They all had scars of the physical and mental variety and it would have been nice to see one of them heal Katherine, even if it was at the cost of his own-

-no. He wasn't thinking clearly. He needed to eat before letting his spite get the better of him.

In the background of all the conversation he chewed on the piece of bread, not so much for the nutrients but to get his mind off of his partner and more toward the greater good. The real food proved to be infinitely better than starvation and much better than the nutrient gruel they gave to anomalies to keep them from the verge of death. Unfortunately, it didn't really keep his mind off of Katherine as much as he thought it did. It just erased some of the anger he had toward the others in the room.

"As much as I hate you two for complying with Sam, I'm willing to extend the same offer," he said finally, "should no harm come to Katherine I will protect you and as you've seen already. She can do more than enough to keep Ember at bay."

Rezia was obviously upset, but Lydia clenched her jaw and tried to stay calm. Hearing him sound so unhappy made her want to burst into tears and take it back. She understood her brother just wanted to protect her, she had the same feelings towards him, but this logic superseded her own safety. And when it came down to it, she'd prefer to be hurt by one of the other subjects than harmed by Sam himself. It'd be a more dignified way to go. And by taking her safety into her own hands like this, she was absolving Rezia of any blame. He couldn't blame himself if she was hurt. It was her choice. Her heart swelled. Everything would be okay. As long as she kept him safe, they'd be okay. She could handle whatever Sam had in store for her, just like she always had. It was only a matter of cleaning up after him.

When Rezia seconded her proposition, she glanced at him, and understood his earlier turmoil. But it was safer this way. They could calmly let what was inevitably going to happen happen without any struggle or undue injury. She tried to send him some warmth, there was tenseness around his eyes. Were the others getting to him, or was it her fault? Hopefully soon they'd be able to leave the center area and have some time to cool off and calm down. But not right now, there was business to attend to.

Ember was eyeing her. Lydia met her eyes, watching the faint play of expressions dance across her face. Then she asked a question. Non-sequitur. Or perhaps not? Did Ember hold the task against her? Lydia felt a wave of nausea mixed with a certain stillness wash over her. While Ember did scare her immensely, she was glad that she'd made her proposal before the girl had the chance to hunt her down. That probably would not have ended well.

"I can heal scars. But I can only do so much healing every day, and I've had more important uses for it." She said, casting her eyes to Rezia for a moment. His skin was perfect and unbroken, as if all the testing that had been done on him and to him had never occurred. Then her large doe eyes turned back to Ember. "You understand?" She drew her eyebrows together.

Looking at the girl, really looking at her, Lydia felt a connection to her. All she was trying to do was protect herself and protect Damion. There was nothing wrong with that. But her powers were so potent, it had demonized her, made her feral. It wasn't fair to her at all. But life just wasn't fair. Lydia felt that they would never be friends, but she hoped Ember understood her. The were not so different, save for the circumstances.

Ember's next words made her shoulders relax in relief. Damion was not her target, and as long as she was not considered a set with Rezia, there would be no trouble. Though she did not like the idea of splitting up, it was for the greater good. She'd have to deal with it. She took a few steps forward, a small, rather shy smile on her face. She was about to speak when Whispers spoke. 'As much as I hate you two...' he started with. Lydia's lips thinned. But there was no way she could accept his offer. But perhaps Rezia could. Then they would be playing for different sides.

"I don't think anyone needs to keep Ember at bay so long as you and your partner stop poking sticks at her." She said coolly. "If I recall, you did provoke her." Then she turned back to Ember, trying not to roll her eyes. She didn't care for Whispers or Delirium. They were too reckless to be trusted. Ember did attack, but in response to being provoked. She was predictable, she acted logically. Cause and effect. But Whispers was foolish, reckless, unpredictable. He'd stuck his hand in the trap and got what logically followed. Lydia wouldn't say anyone deserved to be hurt, but when playing with fire, one does get burned. And she would not align herself with people who toed the line so often. It was too dangerous for her. And anyway, she had to keep Rezia safe, and she couldn't do that under Whisper's proposed contract.

"If you'd like, I can heal you a bit now, and we can talk about what we both need, and come to a deal?" She lifted her eyebrows meaningfully at Ember. She didn't want to talk out in the open. Not with Whispers standing right there, opening his big mouth everywhere.

"Also," she said, casting an apologetic glance at Rezia, "please do not consider my brother and I as a set; we have no plans to work together. My actions are mine alone, and his belong to him." She'd have to talk to him later. But a political split for the moment would be the wisest decision she could make, since the layout of this twisted little game was very clear to her now. Sam wanted to prevent them from making alliances by putting the pairs all at odds with one another.

But if she didn't play by the rules, if she let go of Rezia, she could out play Sam. She knew that her task was against Delirium, and Rezia's was against Damion, while Ember's was against her. Putting the pieces together meant that each partnership would be against the others, which meant that Damion had to be after Whispers since she was after Delirium. And that meant that one of the redheads was after Rezia, and one was after Ember. She didn't know who was who yet, but she figured that would soon be made clear. And part of her hoped that Delirium was after Rezia, and with the help of Ember, she could put the other girl out of commission before she could hurt Rezia. Especially since Whsipers didn't seem to be forthwith with whether Rezia was his target or not.

Either way, that put her and Rezia on different teams. But ultimately, she knew that she was only working for Rezia's benefit, and if that meant preventing him from completing his task to stay on Ember's good side and complete her own task, so be it. She'd sacrifice herself for him in a heartbeat. He had a good heart, and he was kind. He deserved to live more than she did.

Damion cast Rezia, a suspicious look, once the boy ripped the bread from his hand, and almost begged him not to eat it.It was strange, and quite obvious that Rezia's outburst wasn't out of concern, as Delirium walked right past the boy with no arguments. It was possible that it was simply ignorance on Rezia's part, as they had never met face to face. Though Damion had a feeling that wasn't the case. Since Damion had set foot down here he had wondered just who it was that had a task against him, and now Damion was positive that it was Rezia. The boy had been quite obviously paying attention to him, and he was sure that he was Rezia's designated target.

Rezia soon made an offer similar to his sister's, while also offering his healing services to whoever could protect him and his sister. Damion was deeply considering taking Rezia up on his offer. Even if he was the boy's target he would much rather keep Rezia close, and keep a watchful eye on the boy. Damion didn't consider Rezia a threat, he was much to weak, and he didn't seem to have the nerve to seriously hurt anyone, not even someone as horrible as Damion himself. Even still it would not be a good idea to underestimate Rezia, after all his sister's safety was at stake, who knows what he would do to keep her safe. the two of them seemed quite similar in that they would do anything to keep their partner safe. It would be disastrous if Whispers, and Delirium actually managed to partner with Rezia and his sister.

It was for this reason that Damion was slightly concerned when Whispers offered to protect the compliant pair, claiming that he and Delirium could do more than just keep Ember at bay. Fortunately Lydia seemed to turn him down, accurately stating that she was provoked. Damion much preferred Lydia to her brother. She was reasonable, sensible, and more importantly she was smart. Something which she proved when she told the others not to consider her, and her brother a set. Damion allowed a small smile to creep upon his face. Since Ember had agreed to Lydia's earlier offer, coupled with the fact that Lydia seemed to dislike the rebels, Damion was more than willing to see her as an ally.

Even better this left Rezia even more vulnerable, and less protected than before. Without his sister Rezia would be forced to rely on the protection of either Damion himself, or one of the others for protection. This was an opportunity Damion would not allow himself to miss."Well Rezia I'd be happy to offer you my protection. You'll need it, now more than ever i'm sure, without your sister by your side." Damion had to be sure that Rezia accepted his offer of protection. He didn't want the boy to accept Whispers proposal instead. If he really was Rezia's target that left Damion with a unique bargaining chip.

Rezia was in no way Damion's friend, in fact he quite dislike the boy. It was more than just the fact he undoubtedly knows all about the emotions, Damion tried to hard to lock away. No it was something more, in some ways, he reminded Damion of himself before he ever came to facility. That was not a good thing in Damion's eyes. even still Damion would make sure to get as much use out of Rezia as he possibly could.

The world was spinning around her and her head was pounding as if someone hand crawled inside her skull and started hammering away. She felt blurry, if that could be an emotion. Like nothing really mattered, everything was kind of hazy and all she could feel was her pounding head. She really needed to stop pushing herself so far when it came to her illusions. But it always seemed to take hold of her. As if her illusions were controlling her, begging for more, begging for twisted, awful things. She was going to throw up. She looked around frantically, but the feeling subsided and she shrank to the floor in relief. It would be bad to get rid of the few things in her stomach. She should just try to sleep it off, but she probably wouldn't be able to claim unconsciousness over this headache. Instead, she tried to focus on something else.

The voices outside were muffled but she focused only on it, and listened in. The more she listened, the more she frowned. Ember was trying to ally with the compliant ones? It made Delirium uncomfortable. But she wasn't necessarily surprised. The two pairs were both weak insufferable things who couldn't stand up for themselves. But still, what if one of them had a task against her? Having two against one would probably not end well for her, even if one wasn't much of a fighter. Delirium smiled triumphantly. If she allied herself with Rezia, then Ember and Damion would have nothing to protect themselves from her mentally damaging visions. Maybe with the help of Rezia, Delirium could mold the minds of the others to help her escape. Trick them with illusions. Besides, Rezia probably wouldn't be too affected by her.

However, she didn't want other people to know she was planning on taking up Rezia's offer. Sure, Rezia was one of the ones that didn't rebel and didn't muddy the water, but it's not like Delirium really had anything against them. Ember and Damion killed for Sam, Rezia and Lydia probably just didn't rebel against him. Delirium wanted to pity the compliant ones, but really, they weren't like her and Stephen. They couldn't really defend themselves so what other choice did they have? Delirium suddenly felt very sad. They were all in a big mess of things.

Just sitting down and focusing on something other than the pain had caused the dizziness and nauseous feeling to go away. She was just left with the gnawing headache that would last a while. It would prevent her from creating the illusion of pain, but it wouldn't prevent her from creating small tiny illusions, like messages. Delirium steadied herself. She would just tell Rezia she wanted to talk to him privately about his offer. She inched over to the door and opened it a crack, just enough so that she could see Rezia. Steeling herself, she attempted to create an allusion. Instead, she was met with pain, searing pain, as if someone had slapped her. Delirium recoiled in shock. Rezia had said something about healing mental things, but Delirium hadn't taken into consideration what that might mean in relation to her ability. As she created the illusion, it would fizzle out in a flash of pain for herself. Delirium considered for a moment. It was almost like he was 'healing' her visions as they were coming at him. Trying to fix Delirium's problems and throw them back at her in a physical form. It didn't make sense. He wasn't even looking at her. Did he even know he was doing it? Maybe he didn't have to look at her because she was literally reaching into his mind, connected way more than simple eye contact. Delirium sat back, fighting back the new pain. She wasn't sure how Rezia's power worked, but it didn't seem to her that it worked like this. It might have just been this weird circumstance that made it like this. Delirium remembered that Rezia could possibly feel emotions. Earlier she had her suspicions, but now it might be her saving grace.

Delirium tried a different tactic, attaching an emotion to each illusion. Privacy: Suspicion. Offer: help, understanding. Talk: Kindness, sincerity. It was excruciating, but she managed to get the message across. She would not want to ever do that again. Suddenly Delirium's task looked very impossible. And with that, she crawled into her bed and passed out.

At the confirmation that Lydia could indeed heal scars Ember felt a small spark of hope, which she immediately snuffed out. Far too often had she allowed the emotion to get the better of her and ended up with bitter disappointment. The revealing of a little more detail to Lydia's weaknesses also interested Ember, albeit for a less savoury reason. She followed the other girls gaze to Rezia and noted the unblemished skin. Only further proof of the self-sacrificing nature of the pair, all too easy to use against them. A lump rose in Ember's throat at the way her own affections for her partner had destroyed herself.

With some effort she dragged herself out of her thoughts finding Lydia asking about her understanding. Ember managed to give her a nonchalant shrug in answer feigning disinterest. The blonde had begun to stare at her and she found herself shifting uncomfortably returning her gaze with a slightly frightened look. Evidently Lydia was analysing her, as Ember herself had been doing minutes earlier. It wasn't quite so appealing when you were on the other end of the microscope.

Whispers arrogant voice swiftly interrupted the conversation, and thankfully Lydia's concentration. An angry flush coloured Ember's cheeks at the mention of Delirium's rough hallucination and her hands clenched into fists, but she refused to turn around and be goaded fearing the consequences.

"I don't think anyone needs to keep Ember at bay so long as you and your partner stop poking sticks at her…If I recall, you did provoke her."

Ember's eyebrows shot up in surprise for a moment. Why bother defending her? She gave a puzzled glance over at Damion, feeling distinctly out of water in this sudden sea of human emotion. Her glance turned into an obvious expression of longing. How easy it would be to simply walk out of here with him and have some much needed time to be with the only person left that understood. Her emotions felt like they would soon bubble to the surface and she needed to talk to him. To leave the other pairs behind and for once let her protective mask fall off. At the same time she feared it. It would mean facing what she had done and also what Sam had done to Damion.

"If you'd like, I can heal you a bit now, and we can talk about what we both need, and come to a deal?"

Ember blinked slowly, before partially shaking her head to bring herself back into the present. Currently it was far too easy to be swept up in the past and what could be rather than the rather delicate balance of the now. Looking at Lydia it was clear she wanted to talk privately, and she had no problem with that…however it dawned on her that somehow Lydia was aware that she could help her now.

She managed to nod to Lydia, however inside she was panicking a bit. There were so many problems with revealing her back and the possibility of having all the damage removed. Firstly Sam would undoubtedly be furious as she knew they were supposed to be permanent and Ember was terrified that he would simply torture her again as a consequence. Nonetheless in a way she wanted to partially rebel against him, to remove his sign of ownership from her. Beside since she was no longer in the facility perhaps it wasn't so consequential…

What worried her the most was what Damion would think.

Unconsciously she looked back over to him, worried. Truth was that in some ways…she deserved it. The memory began to surface unbidden. She shuddered as she remembered the girl begging her, pleading with her to prevent Sam from finishing her off.

"I'll be back in five minutes. Time enough for you to consider what your secrets can cost you."

Ember could tell Sam was furious underneath the cool words, but she remained silent and expressionless as she observed what was left of the young girl on the bench. As soon as the metal door slammed close behind him, Ember made her move to withdraw to the far end of the room. Abruptly her wrist was clasped with an iron grip. Shocked she spun around to face the wide, traumatised eyes of Sam's recent victims.

"Finish me off."

The words were barely a gasp. Immediately Ember tried to pull away, only to have the girl grip on more tightly.

"You know what he'll do…"

This time the words were far stronger, desperation adding weight to every syllable. The girl's fear was almost tangible and Ember was suddenly completely incapable of looking away. Caught incidentally without any ability to prepare herself from the pleading and still so far from being able to protect herself from pain, Ember found herself leaning over and instinctively drawing out the life of the poor wretch. Instantly she went still, her eyes glazed over and now looking straight past Ember.

For a moment there was complete silence, and then the door crashed open. Like a whip Embers head wrenched to the side to find Sam standing in the doorway mouth partially open in shock. All at once the realisation of what she had done rushed over her in a flash and the terror sunk straight into her bones. In complete panic she tried to wrench her arm free of the corpses grip.

"She just died." Her whispered lie turned into a yelp as Sam strode towards her.

"What have you done?" His voice was a roar.

"I didn't mean to-"

Her stammered words were cut off as she was slapped hard across the face. She cried out as the force of the blow sent her crashing into table.

"Do you want me to kill Damion?"

Her breath caught in her throat, the air in her lungs suddenly evaporating. The blood in her face drained away leaving her ashen. She barely managed to shake her, before he backhanded her with so much force her head ricocheted off benchtop.

"You are fortunate today that I will let him live." He knelt down in front of her, his furious gaze digging into her as he hissed out his words. "But don't you dare think I will let this go unpunished."

The memory fizzled and died leaving her wide eyed and on the verge of hyperventilating. She forced herself to get it together, steeling herself against the temptation of giving in to a full relapse. If there was any day that she wished she could forget it was the day when she had incidentally bargained with Damion's life.

Realising she'd spaced out for a bit she sent him a faint smile, trying to assure him she was ok. She noticed Rezia had gone to talk with Whispers, what was left of her smile disappeared completely. Still looking at them gravely, she took Damion by the arm to lead him over to Lydia. There was no way she was leaving him near the scheming pair.

She'd made her decision. She'd save Lydia's side of deal in case she needed it later, keeping her guilt to herself.


"I don't need healing." she said firmly. "What do you need me to do for you? And how will you assist me in getting the knife someone must be hiding or Sam has not sent."

Damion kept a level face as Rezia declined his offer, and went to speak to Whispers about the deal. However he was actually quite annoyed. He had thought that the boy would make the smart choice, and accept his offer, instead he seemed to make his decision based on what seemed most fair. What a ridiculously stupid notion that was. In life there was no fair, there was only survival or death, kill or be killed. Damion had obviously chosen to kill, though it wasn't really his life he was concerned with, it never was. He frowned slightly. There was a time when Damion would always make the fair choice, the kind choice, the right choice, but that time was over. He had given all of that up for something more important. Ember was always more important.

He put these unpleasant thoughts to the back of his mind, turning his attention away from the foolish boy, and turning his attention back over to Ember, and Lydia. Ember, and Lydia were discussing their deal, and Ember seemed to be thinking about whether or not she should let Lydia heal her. Damion had noticed the way she walked, and realized that something must have happened to her in their time apart. He was hoping that all of this would reach it's conclusion quickly, Damion was already growing weary with the others. he wanted to retreat into his room with Ember, and really just be with her. It has been far to long since they last saw each other. He wanted to just be with her, enjoy her company.

When Ember took hold of his arm he stiffened up a bit, though he still let her lead him back over to Lydia. It was always a small risk to come in physical contact with him, and usually he wouldn't let anyone touch him, though Ember was the exception. Even still her touch made him uneasy, mostly because he didn't want to hurt her. It was really one of his greatest fears, hurting Ember because of his dangerous abilities.

When they reached Lydia, Ember had declined Lydia's offer to heal her, and this puzzled Damion somewhat. He was going to speak, but then he saw it rising from the center of the room.It was the muzzle along with the key to opening it, the key to keeping Ember safe and shutting up Whispers. Damion didn't really care that the muzzle hadn't been stored in Whispers' room like he had originally thought, or that Sam had lied to him about it being here somewhere. He just knew that he needed it.

He would need to act fast, Damion would get this over with now. Perhaps it was a reckless, and a risky move, it might have been smarter to simply hide the device and wait for an opportune moment but he couldn't risk losing his chance at completing his task. Whispers would certainly want to get his hands on the muzzle so no one could use it against him. He reluctantly took his arm away from Ember's grasp, and spoke to Ember in a whisper, though as a courtesy to his new ally Damion spoke just loud enough so that Lydia could hear him."Things are about to get ugly. Be careful."

He quickly moved over towards the precious device, quickly shedding his gloves as he moved. Whispers would not just let him force this device on him after all, there would be an inevitable struggle. He picked up the muzzle, leaving the key where it laid for the moment. A sadistic, and menacing smile laid upon his face. Delirium was fortunately absent at the moment, a perfect time to strike really. He would not make this easy on the irritating rebel. No he would make him suffer, for provoking his beloved partner, for never keeping his mouth closed, and for being incredibly stupid in trying to be free where anyone else would have realized long ago that freedom was no longer possible.

Damion concentrated for a few seconds, a layer of slime like acid forming on his hands. After a few seconds in his palm stood a ball of green ooze. The acid was not quite strong enough to eat through the bone, but more than enough to cause a great deal of pain, and agony. With a grin he threw it at Whispers, not really caring where it hit so long as he was foucused on either the pain or the deadly substance that almost hit him. Damion ran at his target with all the speed he could, lunging at him when he got close enough. All Damion had to do was place a hand on him, then even if the rebel wanted to fight a futile struggle, he would have his poison to fall back on. He could even wait until Whispers was to weak from exposure to his poisonous skin to fight back if he felt like being particularly bothersome.

---

The two siblings were more pragmatic than he initially thought. Instead of staying as a unit it seemed that Reiza was forced to take the Rebels' side (read: the right one) since he made it rather clear that his task involved the Dark Ones (likely Damion) somehow. Whispers merely scoffed at the idea that it came down to not prodding Ember as the fact of the matter was simple. The two were natural born killers, ready to follow through with Sam's wishes at a moment's notice and too damaged to live a life that didn't include hurting anomalies. Lydia was making the wrong choice, but if her task was against himself or Katherine then he had no choice but to live with the consequences.

"I have no ill intentions toward her," he replied as the gray-haired man walked over, "how I feel about you two is irrelevant for what I need to do."

He left the words vague but hoped that his feelings got through regarding Lydia and his task. Though no one but he and Katherine had mental powers he feared what could happen to Reiza if either Ember or Damion got their hands on Lydia. They could probably force Reiza to sabotage them if given the chance. Whispers often had to remind himself that he wasn't heartless in every regard and things like holding hostages was rather despicable (even if he'd thought about doing so). He didn't want to do the same with Reiza if it was possible as that would damage the overall goal of leaving and keeping the two of them sane while doing so. Their powers would only be as good as their mental states and Stephen assumed the same of the gray-haired male. It'd make no sense for a crazy person to heal another crazy person (Katherine excluded).

Lost in thought, Whispers nearly missed the ball of green sludge flying toward his face and slid to the right, no longer caring about the other things around him. Fear took over his body, as it did when Ember had to punish him but unlike last time the consequences were more dire. Katherine wasn't there to protect him and if he failed then he couldn't protect her. He would not allow himself to get caught, even if it meant sacrificing Reiza.

As Damion sprinted toward him, he started whispering his power. Jumbled noises came from his mouth resembling something closer to Latin than English.

"Sed fringilla elit gravida, ultrices dui at, finibus dolor. Donec iaculis libero nulla, euismod malesuada massa vehicula ac. Nullam ultricies ante ut metus pharetra commodo," he spoke, voice growing in intensity, "integer congue pharetra rhoncus. Aliquam mollis tortor efficitur nunc sagittis condimentum. Aenean volutpat posuere ligula quis congue. Pellentesque quis venenatis justo, eget sagittis elit."

Though perhaps distorted on camera, those within the room ought to have heard high-pitched rings that descended into nausea and headaches but as his voice grew louder he took the opportunity to move farther and farther back.

Lydia could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Everything seemed to be working out in her favor right now, and she hated it. She wished that she didn't have to work this puzzle, it'd be so much easier to just retreat into her room and hide with Rezia, accept their fate and enjoy what little time they had left. But she needed to do this for him. And without any kind of strengths, she needed to play at psychological warfare. Even though she didn't have the power her brother had, she had learned how to make allies of the scientists around her. At least some of them, that was. And it hadn't been enough in the end, never enough, but it had been something, and it still was. She didn't know how long she could keep this up before she made a wrong step and detonated the minefield, but she had to try. She just needed rapport with someone, anyone.

Damion made a small effort to ally with Rezia, but just as she'd assumed, he went to Whispers. She felt like she was going to vomit, even though everything was going as she'd anticipated. She didn't want to be alone. Despite allying with Ember, she was still quite afraid of her. While Ember was predictable, Lydia knew she herself wasn't perfect, and a wrong step of the right calibre would not end well for her. How long could she keep this up before the stress wore down her mind. She needed to stay calm though, for Rezia, give him some reprieve from the emotions that were most likely swirling around at the moment.

Her offer had sent Ember into some kind of state, a slightly haunted look on her face. Had that been a misstep? She remembered noting earlier that Ember walked with stiff gate that implied some kind of damage, and her question about the scars so obviously confirmed that. How had she missed that? Apparently it was a sensitive topic for Ember, and Lydia gritted her teeth regretfully. She could have played that one with more tact. But she could play it innocently from now on and wait for Ember to come to her for help if she truly needed it instead of pressing the matter. She understood the need to occasionally let sleeping dogs lie. Sometimes it was just easier that way.

At this point, the dark haired girl grabbed Damion and pulled him towards her. Lydia cast a final sad look in Rezia's direction, she wished it didn't have to come to this kind of separation, before returning to the task at hand. Ember said very firmly that she didn't need healing, so Lydia nodded meekly in return. It seemed that Ember wanted to keep her shield up, so she'd have to try not to stare too hard or vocalize too many inferences about the pair, or she might alienate them.

"My task is to inject something into Delirium." She spoke in a soft voice, her fingers unconsciously lifting to her neck, to the very visible places she'd been given injections in the past. "I haven't made any plans for that yet though, I want to get your task over with first." She let out a faint, strained laugh. She wasn't one to purposefully put herself in the path of pain if she couldn't help it, and even though this was inevitable, it made her very nervous. Especially the part about the knife. Speaking of which..."I have a knife that Rezia gave me, I'm not sure if it is the right one or not though." She pulled the knife out of her pocket, holding it very delicately by the blade, proffering it to her attacker. "Also, if you wouldn't mind telling me what exactly you're going to do to me, so I can prepare myself, I mean, if that's alright?" Her voice was going a bit high now, and there was a visible tremour to it. She lifted a hand to cover her mouth, trying to gather herself. "And I don't really want Rezia to see, unless he has to, if that's okay." She mumbled through her fingers. He had enough problems, she didn't want to worry him further.

More than that, she really did not want to cry, yet she felt the tears of fear in her eyes. She tried to regulate her breathing, lifting her fingers from her lips to her eyes to brush away the stray tears that had crept through the dam in her eyes. There was no need to overreact, everything would be fine. She'd be fine. It'd hurt for a little bit, whatever it was, but then the pain would be over, and she could continue with what she had to do. This had been her whole life, she should be strong enough to take it on the chin now. She needed to be brave for Rezia. That was something some of the scientists had told her when she was younger, when the tests were just starting, when they cut her skin or broke bones to document their regrowth. Be brave for Rezia. Don't cry or scream or kick, just be calm and brave. She could do that.

After regaining her composure a tad, she looked back at Ember. Her eyes were still large and wet, but she felt calmer now. She could handle this. Everything would be fine. She could tame the pinch of fear in her belly, all it took was a little willpower. It was at this point that Damion made a sudden dart away from them, towards something in the middle of the room. Was that a muzzle? Lydia blanched slightly, wondering who is was for. Judging by his name, it was probably for Whispers.

Hopefully Ember had a hand on the knife, because when Whisper's started using his power she dropped it, bringing her hands to her ears instead. She'd never experienced his power before, and it was making her head hurt terribly. She felt even more like she was going to puke, but all that exited between her gritted teeth was a keen of displeasure. Her eyes sought out Rezia, looking to see if he was okay, if he was caught in whatever absurd crossfire was going on because of the muzzle.

The only sound to be heard from the floor below was the sound of static emanating from numerous screens. It was hard to see in the dimly lit room, the main illumination was to be found from the flickering channels. The light bounced off a still form, the only movement coming from the figures eyes which flicked incessantly between screens. Sam's elbows were propped on the desk, a pencil protruding from his mouth and half a page of scribbled notes before him. A look of intense concentration was prominent on his features, though occasionally a humourless smile tipped up the corners of his mouth.

Thus far the experimentation had proved to have both entertaining and fascinating results. From the beginning the emotional strain had been eating away at every participant. Starting with Ember and Damion's touching reunion so rudely interrupted by the fiery redhead's entrance. He'd half anticipated with disappointment that Delirium would be torn apart by the dark ones as Lydia and Rezia would certainly not intervene. However it appeared the girl was smart enough to scare Ember off allowing enough time for her partner to join her.

The following scenes unfolded and Sam's pleasure only deepened. It seemed all their reactions were just as explosive as he had hoped. He even moved so far to chuckle out loud at Ember smashing Whispers into the wall. It seemed that was the catalyst turning Delirium into the hallucinogenic nightmare he had known her to be. However it wore the girl out considerably, and to Sam's annoyance she retreated to her room. It seemed she'd let her normal fiery emotions overcome her logic and burnt herself out. This did not please Sam, as it could result in her not finishing her task on time. Which on one hand would be amusing to have Whispers down here to toy with, but on the other hand would deprive him from watching the silver-haired Rezia from having a taste of psychological torture.

His attention was drawn back to the group as he watched Rezia attempt his own task. Stupidity in Sam's opinion, though truly Rezia could not have known about Damion's immunity to poison. Still he had to step up to the taller male physically which raised his status in Sam's opinion. That was when Sam began to get a little bored. Lydia stepped up to her little speech and then Rezia followed suit with his. Sam glowered as the group began to get some order and he began toying with the idea of killing her in front of Rezia and watching the result. Instead he settled with the idea of sending Damion the muzzle. As he sent his instructions verbally to his guards, Delirium caught his attention again.

She was trying something certainly. His eyes narrowed trying to see, before making the camera do the work for him. She was eyeing Rezia and result was quite interesting. From the look of concentration on her face Sam had no doubt that she was preparing to complete her task, however something went seriously wrong. A look of pain came over her and her whole body recoiled from Rezia. Sam cocked his head slightly, chewing over this new turn of events.

It appeared he had miscalculated the consequences of pitting a psychological attacker and healer at odds and now he was left to decide what to do about it. Delirium was no longer physically able to complete her task…and that was no fun at all. Sam scowled. He'd have to give her another one- however she would need to be thoroughly aware that failure was going to cost her the ultimate price and that this kind of oversight would not be happening again.

He scribbled out another task he had considered for her and called another guard in. With a few sentences he instructed the man to use the concealed entrance to Delirium and Whispers private room that had been prepared in case of the need to intervene. As the man left to do this, his previous order with the muzzle was carried out. Sam watched in anticipation as Damion dove for the device preparing to take down Whispers. That was when Whispers opened his mouth. Sam let out a hiss as the irritating ringing came through the microphones. It obviously was hurting the Anomalies a lot more, however Sam hated the sound. Instinctively he turned the sound down, leaving his finger on the volume switch ready to turn it back up should someone appear to say something of interest.

Coldness wrapped around Katherine like a pack of wolves nipping at her. She was always cold because scientists didn't really care about comfort when it came to imprisoning their creations. She stared gloomily at her walled enclosure. She was leaning against the wall closest to Stephen, as she normally did in case he wanted to talk. But today he was very silent. She slowly tapped out his name on the wall, a morse code of sorts, that they communicated with because his room was soundproof and she couldn't see him. They would listen for vibrations. A response never came for a long time, until finally he responded, She's gone. Katherine bit back a sob. Sarah. Yesterday's events still swirled in her head. Their failure. She quickly tapped back an apology, to which he didn't respond. She settled down onto the floor, sadness eating up her energy. They had failed and Sarah was gone. Why did she care about this boy behind a wall? She rarely ever saw him. She barely even know him. A tear rolled down her cheek as the memory slowly faded, something pulling her from her unconsciousness

Delirium woke with a start, and was momentarily confused, as she couldn't see anything. What the hell? She asked, standing up, completely caught unawares, and swiping her hand up to her face to see what was shielding her vision. Her hand suddenly blossomed with pain as a sharp crack echoed in her room; someone had hit her.

"Don't try anything. Sam has sent you a new task you are to carry out, as it has become aware that you have failed to be able to do the previous one. Your new task will be given after you are reminded for your failure." With that, she was meant with a hard blow to the back. She collapsed onto the floor, knowing that trying to fight back would only cause trouble, and she was in no state right now to fight back.

"I haven't failed my task, I was given an impossible one!" She yelled back to her unknown attacker. She received a nasty blow to the head in response. She gasped in pain and clutched her head, unable to stop the tears that pooled in the cloth that was covering her eyes. Her short nap did little to alleviate her headache, and the blow was suddenly bringing it back with force. She curled up defensively into a ball as she received several more blows to the back and head. Not the worst punishment she's received, but certainly not a walk in the park either. After shaking on the floor for several minutes, she slowly moved her hands to untie her blindfold. She coughed up a bit of blood and rubbed her head sadly as her vision slowly returned hazily. She looked around, now very confused as to how her attacker even got into her room. She glared at camera and flicked who she hoped was Sam, off. She'd have a lovely bruise on her eye, forehead, back, and top of her head. She grimaced as she prodded a swollen knot on her back. Now would be a good time to ask for Lydia's help. She wiped the tears that stained her eyes and looked around her room. On her bed sat a note like the one she had received earlier. She picked it up and looked at the few words there "Electrocute Rezia 3 times."

Delirium frowned confused. Electrocute him? How or what would I electrocute him with? She couldn't damage the cameras or anything to get to some live wires, so her task seemed almost impossible as that last one. A stroke of knowledge finally hit her. The doors, of course. If Delirium made Rezia try to open her door, he'd electrocute himself. It made sense. She rolled her eyes and tucked the note into her pocket. She was glad she wouldn't have to make an illusion for Rezia. She'd likely pass out before finishing it.

Delirium was about to go back to sleep when she heard loud noises from outside. Worried about Stephen, she slowly opened her door, and regretted it instantly. Loud piercing noises struck at her head, and she instinctively placed her hands to her ears, but it was no use. She was spinning in circles in side her own head, completely dumbfounded as to what she was doing, where she was, what was real or not. She backed up in a feeble attempt to escape the noise, and fell into her room. Blindly she reached for the door and pulled it shut. She released a breath of air she didn't know she'd been holding She was a coward for hiding in her room, but she knew Stephen wouldn't be able to control who he affected. Delirium only worried why he was doing it.

Ember listened in silence to Lydia's task details. It seemed simple enough, though she wasn't overly impressed that it was Delirium. That girl had already proved to be difficult to overcome and if Ember was honest with herself Delirium's hallucinations struck fear into her. Then Lydia revealed the knife. Embers eyes narrowed shooting up from the knife to meet Lydia's eyes. So Rezia had had the knife and had not revealed it. After a few seconds her anger disappeared. There was no way she would have revealed it if Sam had decided to provide one for her. The girl's body language abruptly changed. Lydia was suddenly revealing how terrified she was.

Unconsciously Ember tilted her head to her side watching Lydia's eyes as she gripped the knife by the handle. The blonde's voice was now panicked and Ember could tell that she was entering into the pre-shock phase. Ember had seen it many times. It didn't affect her at all. She had had to deal with people going through it many times over, and most of them she didn't have a personal anger towards like she did with Lydia. However when Lydia mentioned Rezia her eyes softened. That was an emotion that was far rarer in her experience and one she had feared herself with Damion. Ember waited patiently for Lydia to recover, her expression remained unchanging. She was beginning to prepare herself mentally as she always did, withdrawing within herself.

"Things are about to get ugly. Be careful."

Her head snapped to the side as Damion spoke, her eyes narrowing to pinpricks in the shock of being dragged from her hardened self. He was gone. She awkwardly twisted herself round to see him racing towards Whispers with a contraption much like her own muzzle. As soon as she saw the poison miss Whispers a cold thrill of fear went through her. She opened her mouth to warn him but the words never made their exit.

Harsh foreign words hit the air with far too much force for the ordinary spoken word. The sound hit straight into Ember's skull causing an instant headache. Immediately her hands raised to her ears, the knife coming up with them. Nausea washed over her and she fought hard to control the pain as the sounds began to get more intense. So this was Whispers power. She had never had any information on his abilities, though looking back it made perfect sense that he was always gagged when she was bought in to deal with another of his idiotic escape attempts.

In the midst of her discomfort, Ember's eyes fixed on Damion, wide with fear. He was so much closer. Rezia had fallen to the floor and dimly she registered that his arm was being burnt by Damion's acid. The information was quickly shoved to the side as the Whispers words reached higher decibels. She held back a shriek as her headache grew in intensity, in response she gripped her head tighter the hilt of the knife digging into her cheekbone. Quickly she shouted out as loud as she possibly could letting all her rage and fear give her voice strength.

"Shut up!" Her voice was a ragged scream attempting to tear Whispers apart for threatening to take away Damion's hearing. "Or I will send this blade straight into your skull."

Truth be told her hands were shaking, and she was in no shape to be able to direct the blade very well. There was much too high a risk of hitting Damion by accident. If there wasn't, Whispers would already have a hunting knife coming straight for him. Her plan relied on her being able to bluff this through, and Damion's health was at risk.

"I will not miss." Her threat was hissed through clenched teeth and her eyes flashed deep red in hatred and anger.

Perhaps she could do it, she was certainly furious enough.

It was all a mess, a mess, such a mess. Lydia tried to take it all in, but it was pure chaos. She'd never been exposed to so many stimuli at once before, and her brain was panicking, trying to catalog details from everything that was happening at once. Not to mention the pain in her skull thanks to Whispers. Although, she was starting to numb to it, but along with it was a strange, cottony feel, all her thoughts were vague and far away as she tried to cope. She wondered slowly if her ears were bleeding. They had to be, with how loud this noise sounded. Everything became still for a second, she couldn't hear anything but that awful noise, and her eyes wandered from Ember, who looked angry, to Damion, to Whispers, to Rezia. Rezia! He was on the floor, wrestling with his shirt. Had he gotten hit by Damion? Her gut twisted.

She ducked under an angry Ember, of all things she couldn't afford to accidentally get in the cross fire, but she had to get to Rezia. Her hands were still clamped over her ears, and her vision swam, her delicate stomach churning with pain and fear, as she half scuttled half ran towards him. He superseded anything. She didn't care if it bothered Ember, using her power on Rezia, he was her first priority.

She knelt--rather, stumbled to her knees-- next to him, mouthing his name frantically as she gauged him for damage. It seemed that he had been hit by Damion's shot towards Whispers. Was this their fate? Collateral damage in a dangerous power struggle they had no place in? Tears were streaming down her face as she took one hand from her ears and placed it on his bare shoulder, partially because of the pain, and partially because she was upset that he'd been hurt. They were such small, fragile things, she could see now that they wouldn't last long in this place. Killed on purpose, killed on accident, what was the difference, really? Used as shields, blocking shots wrought from anger, it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair it wasn't fair. She wanted to scream. She wanted to puke, was she going to puke? No, she needed to be strong now.

There was nothing to do about the headache he was surely experiencing, if she tried it'd just come back as soon as she finished healing him, but she could fix the chemical burn. Easy. She channeled her energy into knitting his skin back together, making a shiny, painless scar, the most she could do for now, because she had to reserve her powers. Her eyes slipped from sky blue to cerulean, and settled just a shade lighter than royal blue. About halfway through her power reserve. She'd need to save some of her power to heal herself after Ember completed her task, or she'd probably bleed out and die very quickly since she had zero healing factor, but that would only take half of what she had left, so she still had a quarter of her power left to work on other things.

After she finished healing her brother, which took mere moments, she clapped her hands back over her ears, but remained beside him, pressing her face against him just as much to comfort herself as to comfort him. Rezia was familiar. Always there when she was in pain, she could handle it better with him beside her. Though the nausea was threatening to overcome her, make her vomit out what little was in her stomach, she managed to to keep the bile from her throat as she shut her streaming eyes.

When Whispers started to prove his namesake, and whisper out strange, alien like words, Damion tried to pick up speed. He knew the rebel's power was sound based, though he didn't really know the specifics of his ability. All he knew was that whatever was coming next was not going to be good. Damion was proven correct as the noise got louder, and louder still. He scowled as the volume increased. He absolutely hated that man's damn mouth. He would force it shut if it was the last thing he ever did. He'd make sure of it.

The sound pierced his ears, it was painful, agonizing even. He stopped in his tracks, being careful to resit the temptation of bringing his hands to his ears, in an attempt to stop the noise. He wouldn't dare risk dropping the muzzle at this point. His head was pounding,it made him feel sick to his stomach. He wanted to puke, though there was very little food in his stomach in the first place, so he held it back. He looked at his target, a mixture of hate, and determination crossed his face. "This won't stop me! I'll force this damn thing over your loud mouth even if it kills me!" He spoke with dedication, his voice filled with clear purpose. Though that hardly mattered as it was unlikely anyone could hear the tone of his voice, much less make out the words.Damion wasn't expecting his voice to hold this much power, but as far as Damion was concerned it didn't matter. It was barely an inconvenience to him, he'd keep going. Even if his ears started to bleed, and the man's voice dropped Damion to his knees, he would find a way to complete his task.

He soon started moving back towards Whispers, though at a much slower pace than before. As he moved forward his target moved backwards. Perhaps Damion could back his prey against a wall, than he would have him right where he wanted him. Trapped and at his mercy. A grin threatened to force itself on his lips at the mere thought of it, but he held back.

As he moved towards the bothersome rebel he was aware of Ember's voice amidst the cloud of noise, though he couldn't make out the words. Even still this angered Damion, he would make Whispers pay for causing her pain. He tried to move faster, doing his best to ignore the pain. As he moved he tried to concentrate on producing more acid, though it was much more difficult than usual, his concentration being broken in several pieces, frankly it was getting hard to think straight. He only managed to produce a trifle amount, what little he managed to create dripping from his hands, marring the floor as he moved. It didn't matter Damion told himself, his natural poison would be more than enough to silence the man. When he was finally close enough Damion lunged at his target. He would bring the insufferable noise to an end, as Whispers was crashing to the ground. Damion would relish the exact moment his hands touched Whisper's skin, his hands around his throat. His poison seeping through the man's skin, his posion bringing about nasuea, and lightheadedness.

---

Sam had it out for him since the beginning. Damion made it clear that his task was against Whispers and that Sam did the honor of bringing him the muzzle that would seal away any of his usefulness. It struck fear into the normally (not) composed redhead who knew that if he didn't kept up his power he would pay for it. The thought of being silenced, being muted, unable to cry for freedom scared him. It reminded him of the same fate that he had in the facility. Every day that he was tested he had to be fed through a tube and every day he had to himself he only had his own voice to comfort him. No one on the outside could hear him and those that did were sent to silence him.

The only person who remotely provided him comfort was Katherine.

Katherine, the redheaded angel she was, only ever used her illusions with his permission and to help him stay sane. They were mostly messages, but Whispers began to depend on them for mental sustenance. They distracted him from the damage he caused the guards (not that he cared most days) or the growing futility from each failed escape. Even with two of the most powerful psychic users, they couldn't take on the facility and the few times they got close Sam was untouchable. Without her, he had no ground to stand on.

"This won't stop me! I'll force this damn thing over your loud mouth even if it kills me!"

This won't stop me either, he thought as he continued his utterances.

Even despite the fear he'd never actually faced Daimon on a one versus one scenario nor had he been punished by the man enough to instill the fear that came from Ember. She as some anomalies put it "took your breath away" and for someone whose powers were based on sound breathing was much more important than poison. He only had a few seconds to worry about the possibility of Daimon murdering him and even less about Ember's attack so he focused more on assessing the risk of hurting his future partner.

Reiza ended up being a casualty in all of the fighting, someone who took the hit for him and unfortunately, not much could be done for him. He couldn't move out of the way of Damion's acid (typical that Damion didn't care who got hurt) so he got the worst of whatever the black-haired man had to offer. Hopefully he would live, or at least negotiate a deal with his sister for assistance. There would be nothing gained from his death and so much to be lost. He could have healed Katherine, healed him, or perhaps, sedated Ember and Damion from whatever sickness consumed their brains.

From the side, he barely made out Ember's threat to send a blade through his skull but that, too, only scared him into breaking his knife out.

"Proin interdum imperdiet sodales. Phasellus sollicitudin tortor sit amet est maximus pharetra. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Praesent a lobortis sem, sit amet luctus purus. Quisque fringilla massa eget mi consectetur aliquet non non turpis," he gripped his knife tightly, thrusting it forward once Damion lunged, "Nunc sollicitudin, quam vel consectetur fringilla, sem eros mollis turpis, et porta purus massa vel augue. Proin ultricies pellentesque molestie!"

He wouldn't go out like this, even if it meant dying.

Delirium began pacing the room, her mind sorting through her options. She could go out there and try to help Stephen, ut likely she'd become indisposed from his noise and do little at all. Or she could stay in here like a coward just waiting until the noise stopped. Which could mean Stephen stopped on his own accord... or someone had silenced him. Neither option looked great. If only she had some means of blocking out the sound. She quickly remembered the blindfold she had saved from her transfer into this place. That combined with the blindfold that had just been used on her, might be able to block out some sound. She looked around for something else that might serve as an earplug. She stepped into the adjoining bathroom and tore of bits of toilet paper and rolled them up to small dense balls. She stuffed them in her ears. She then turned to her two blindfolds. She quickly wrapped both around her head, one coming around her chin and the top of her head, and one going over her nose and around the back of her head. She probably looked rather peculiar, but it made some effort of closing her ears off to sound. She could already tell this was making a difference. It wasn't much, but at least she might be a bit useful if she walked out that door. Looking for anything else that could help her, she tore the sheets off one bed and also wrapped those around her head, under her chin and over the top over her head. Now she really looked ridiculous, but it was just another precaution.

Delirium turned toward the door. She couldn't hear anything right now, but these doors seemed to be pretty thick, so it might be completely different out there. Bracing herself, she opened the door and stepped out. Stepehen's voice still affected her, but at least she could stand it. The words weren't causing her pain, only distracting her. She looked around slowly trying with a lot of effort to concentrate at the task at hand. Stephen and Damion were head to head, Stepehen with a knife, and Damion dripping some sort of poison. There was no way Delirium would be able to intervene, because in this state she could not create an illusion. Ember was also trying to face off with Stepehen, but she was armed and Delirium wasn't. She wouldn't be able to get close to Ember because Delirium didn't really have any means of defending herself. That only left Rezia and Lydia, somewhat separated from the rest of the scuffle.

Delirium quickly observed that Rezia had been caught in the crossfire. Collateral damage of whatever this scuffle was over. The fact that a boy who's only defense was to help others was somehow caught up in this saddened Delirium greatly. She had always that the brother and sister were cowards, selfish little people who never fought back because they had no hope. But it suddenly hit her that maybe it was because they had no choice. They were forced into the facility life just like her, the only difference was that they couldn't rebel like she had. They had everything to lose and nothing to win with. No mental powers, no offensive moves. They were stuck taking care of each other and feeling sorry for themselves. Delirium felt sympathetic, which wasn't a normal emotion for her. She wan't to help.

Maybe it was because Stephen's voice was causing her to not think straight, but Delirium started walking towards Rezia and Lydia. It was clear that without the ear protection Delirium had, they wouldn't be able to get out of hear. Delirium however, had ear protection. She quickly made it over to them. Lydia looked about ready to throw up, and Rezia seemed to still be quite pale from the affects of what had hit him. Reluctantly, she unwound the sheet from around her head and wound it around Rezia's. Small stabs of pain now hit Delirium, but it wasn't unbearable. Without even asking Lydia, she went to pick her up, that way she wouldn't have to walk. Her intention was to carry her to her room and come back for Rezia. They were both taller than her, but Lydia appeared much thinner, so Delirium didn't think she'd have trouble carrying her. Rezia however, seemed to be more muscular, so Delirium wasn't sure. If Lydia didn't want her help so be it. But unless Lydia jumped from her arms, she continued to walk towards their door. It was a struggle, because now Stephen's voice hurt, but she still managed to take small steps.

Lydia was so wholly focused on Rezia and the sound that was splitting her skull open, that she didn't notice Delirium until the girl was standing right above them. Lydia took her hands off her ears so she could clutch Rezia to herself, shrinking away in fear. She knew that the odds of Delirium having a task against her brother were very high, and wouldn't now be the perfect time to enact it? She'd somehow wrapped cloth over her ears to mute the sound, which Lydia would have found quite clever save for the fact that she could barely think straight thanks to Whisper's continuing noise. There was only one thought in her mind. Protect Rezia.

She slipped her hand into her pocket as Delirium bent over them, fingering the box the syringe was in, trying to discretely pop it open. If she had to, she'd spring like a snake, despite the pain blurring her vision and the nausea that sent the world careening sideways in her eyes. And, to be quite honest, if she did manage to get Delirium, then Whispers would probably stop so he could help her. Lydia didn't know what the syringe would do to the redhead, but knowing Sam, it wouldn't be good. She just hoped it didn't kill her. She didn't know if she could live with that on her head, even for Rezia's sake.

But then Delirium surprised her. She untied one of the wrappings around her head and put it on Rezia. Lydia stared up at her with wide eyes, her mouth hanging slightly open. Why? Maybe it was because he was her target, and she wanted his healing powers before she did whatever it was she had to to him. That was fairly logical. As Delirium looked at her, Lydia made to scoot away in case she was encroaching, reassured that Delirium didn't want to hurt her brother at the moment. He'd be safe with her, hopefully. And she didn't want to make her opponent angry now, in case she did take it out on Rezia later. If she missed, the repercussions would be dangerous, and she knew she wasn't strong enough to win in a physical fight. Nonetheless, her hand was still in her pocket, now thumbing the plunger of the syringe, in case things did come to blows.

Delirium didn't look like she wanted to fight though. There was a softness in her eyes that made Lydia's throat tighten. She knew that look. She'd seen in on the faces of some of the scientists during her eighteen year career here. Pity. It was the last thing she expected to see here, of all places, when it felt like everyone was regarding her with disgust. She felt new tears prick her already wet eyes, these from sadness rather than pain. She could hurt someone defensively, but how could she hurt someone who looked at her with those eyes? The redhead reached down for her, and Lydia curled herself into a smaller ball, trying to lean away, unsure of what the other girl wanted. As she was lifted into the air, she realized that she was being carried back towards her room. Delirium was helping her. As she realized that, with her free hand she reached out to cling to the girl so she wouldn't fall. They were taking short, juddering steps, and she could see the pain on Delirium's face.

Lydia felt like her heart was going to break into a million pieces. She couldn't do this, she couldn't, she couldn't, no, it wasn't fair. She pressed her face against Delirium's shoulder as her brain fuzzily ran through her options. The darkness was a slight reprieve from the pain her in head, but it didn't help clear her thoughts. If anything, the soft warmth of Delirium was only making it harder on her. But this might be her only chance. She had to do it for Rezia. If it was her own health on the line, she'd let this opportunity slip by. She wouldn't harm anyone for her own sake. But Rezia. She couldn't let him be hurt.

So, with fresh, fat tears rolling down her cheeks and an apology fresh on her lips, she lifted her head and at the same time pulled the syringe from her pocket, aiming for a spot on her neck where she could push the plunger down, empty the syringe, and then hopefully wriggle out of Delirium's arms in time to try to catch her if she fell, or help her if something else happened, 'sorry's shrieking from her lips, unheard because of Whispers' intolerable noise.