11:49 PM

December 24th

Lilian Rose As soon as the conference was done, I made my way in secrecy towards the location Dryder sent me. My identity as Diana disappeared as I found it easier to accept who Lilian Rose was, someone willing to play dirty while the illuminating Silvereye worked her way into the public's shining graces.Still, I hadn't expected… Little Requeim of all places to be so festive on Christmas Eve. The giant pothole of a town was bustling with activity, all manners of grotesque people behaving in ways that I had never expected them to. They cheered and celebrated in a merry fit, wearing red hats and drunkenly making their way around.

"Merry Christmas, you hideous thing!" Said one man with a knapsack on his shoulder dressed like a green furry thing… or mutated to look as such, threw a present into my hands as he went around doing the same for others. "Don't have it all in one day!"

Hoping it wasn't a bomb, I opened it up to see… needles and a vial of drugs. I didn't even know what kind, but maybe that was the real present. I tossed it aside, watching as some lanky vagrants dashed for the thrown box like vicious animals.

"Ehhhh, girlies missing out! Don't mind if I do!"

I stopped, watching my appearance in a puddle. Lilian Rose had to appear different than Diana, had to be an individual of pure determined wrath. The fangs in my mouth, the black sclera of my left eye and the hardened claws of blood-colored flesh on both of my arms proved that.It was either here, or a party at the First Precinct. I didn't want to be surrounded by others who would only half-heart their grievances or drink away their…

That thought was ironic, as I spotted Dryder chugging down a bottle as numerous onlookers egged him on. "Drink! Drink! Drink!"

"Dryder." I interrupted them, dragging him by his collar away. They booed me but I just walked away, Dryder still drinking until he threw his bottle down with the rest of the trash.

He seemed nervous, his steps were slower than mine despite him being the person who was supposed to guide me. The last time I was in Little Requiem… things didn't end up good. "Where is this place?"

"Brothel." He burped. "It's called The Hellfire Club, run by Crimson Souls."

The ground dragged with how hard my feet stopped. "You took Ana- Anomaly to a fucking brothel?!"

"Hey!" He protested. "It's actually… got pretty good worker's rights, Crimson Souls are a pretty big about the whole sisterhood thing, they don't exploit their own. And… Anomaly's not working even working there! Just got promised she'd be protected. I don't like it much either, but we need to keep her away from the police and… well… that club is one of the most dangerous parts of LR. Even Skeleton won't dare invade on the Heart's territory. It lasted through the old leadership and into the new."

The Crimson Heart… a former piece of Soul Killer split off from the rest of the hivemind, just like Anomaly, except she didn't cling to any other person. As far as I had to guess from my brief interaction with her, she was a Nexus, and spread a similar Mutation as Soul Forfeit into her followers, through which she could manifest extensions of herself. They resembled her, even had the same powers as a Kaisel Clone… how?

I couldn't come to a conclusion by the time I entered the Hellfire Club with it's gaudy flowing shades of scarlet that each blended into eachother in… an admittedly fashionable way. Every dancing body was like a flicker of flame as neon lights strobed upon them and paint splattered on their face and… barely covered bodies glowed with a pristine shine.

The Christmas Eve was… appropriately reflected in the scant clothing of the entertainers. One of them walked over to Dryder, a sultry smile on her face as she whined and grabbed his arm. "Dryderrrr! Where have you been, hon'! You know how much we miss you!"

"Are you kidding me? You're a regular?!" I gave him an incredulous look, one I made sure had every ounce of disdain possible.

"Oh, who's this little firecracker?" The woman approached, her blonde hair bouncing along with… other assets as she placed both hands on my shoulder and inspected me. "Wooooaaah. Cool fangs! Hah, you'd fit right in with us darling!"

"Not here for a job." I made my displeasure clear by holding onto her wrists.

She only seemed to like my roughness all the more. "Oh… honey, don't you know you can only look? Not touch… but hehe, I'll make an exception for you. And…"

She leaned in closer, her breath ghosting over me. "I'll make sure to give you a good Christmas present."

"That's enough, Suzie." Dryder coughed. "Lilian's only here to make an acquaintance with the boss, besides… she bites."

"I do not-!" I shut up, before remembering that… when I was Lilian Rose, I did bite.

"Oh, darlin', biting is the norm here." Suzie's hand trailed down to my arm, and she nodded to Dryder. "Boss has been expecting you… let me take you both to a… private room."

"By all means." Dryder smiled fondly.

As she dragged me through the writhing bodies, she spoke clearly… and her voice echoed clearly in my head. "Derrick's a good one, relax hon', the man is a gentleman. He ever tell you that he used to run with us when he was younger?"

I tried to speak but I could barely hear myself over the blaring music. So I just nodded.

Suzie's voice came with crystal clarity once more. "He's a broken man that's kept himself together through sheer rage and empty bottles, but he's thankful, beyond thankful for what you did for…"

Was this Suzie speaking to me… or?

Once we got to a private room, she opened it up with a chip in her hand and welcomed us down a… staircase. I took a glance at Dryder, hating every moment of this, and took the first step down. Suzie followed behind us as everything became darker, but there was an unnatural splash of color amidst this black canvas.

A red door, all the way down. My steps were neither slow nor hurried, as I felt an intensifying miasma of Energy radiating, it was like a dense fog over my senses — one that burned away reality. Was I even walking? I began to doubt that, maybe I was imagining walking and my mind was telling me that was what was happening. I'd seen the Crimson Heart's illusions, but this club seemed to be… a focal point of her Energy.

"Relax." Suzie's voice came from behind and in front of me. "When she welcomes you into her domain, you best be generous and respectful to your host."

I stopped in front of the door, unsure of what awaited on the other side… but courage took my hand and grabbed the door for me. Twisting the knob… we entered.

It was a hotel room, quiet and smelling fairly pleasant in comparison to the sweat and sex upstair-

There was a window, and I could see and hear the midnight fireworks bursting into the sky alongside the cackles of maniacal criminals having fun as it became December 25th. We had been walking… underground.

Dryder scoffed. "I stopped questioning it a long time ago, Lilian."

Suzie closed the door behind us, as red light flowed over her body and veils of red cloth apparated in the air around her, until she resembled the Crimson Heart. She was the Crimson Heart now… one part of her.

"You're as much of a hivemind as that thing is."

"Am I?" She laughed, her voice pretty and delicate. "Although I have the same origin as… a being I consider a parent to me. I am nothing of The Revenant beyond a thorn, a rose they planted that has turned into weed they can never quite prune."

"The Heart…" Dryder tried to explain things. "It's a complicated affair, but she hates Soul Killer, and she knows the thing best."

"Oh, you flatter me, Derrick." The Heart lifted her sleeve up to her mouth as though the hide unseen laughter. "But that privilege goes to The Bladefather, he was the one who freed The Revenant in the first place."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"What?" I stammered. "I… I knew they were linked, but…"

"That story is largely unimportant in the grand scheme of things." She moved through the hotel room like a ghost until she stopped by the bathroom, her movement barely registering to me. "This Anomaly, on the other hand, is much more… variable as an asset. I have yet to determine the worth you saw in her."

"She's in there?" I looked at the bathroom door.

"Locked herself in." Dryder said, his voice heavy. "Thinks she's been taken hostage… she kind of is. We're hoping that… you can talk to her."

I looked at the door, took a deep breath, and knocked on it. "Lieutenant, it's me… Diana."

Saying that created a weird itchiness through my body, like my skin was stitched on me.

I heard a voice scoffing from the other side. "You think I don't know your games, Heart? This is another illusion."

"Lieutenant, it's me. Diana Ulrich. Diana Jones… whatever the fuck you want to call me!" I shouted. "I know things are… not looking good, but… it's a lot to explain!""You think kidnapping me will make it easy to break me?""Look," I slammed on the door harder, holding myself from breaking it apart, "it was your ass that turned my world upside down last time we talked in a washroom, it's only fair now that I get to do the same to you! Open up, or I'll break it open."

There was a tense silence, before I heard the unlocking of a door, Anabelle Grazhe opened it — and a shard of ceramic shot out at me. I hastily covered my own face with my blood-red hand, the ceramic met the steel and a note of sound rang out. That sound burst through the limb as it exploded apart and I was caught by Dryder.

Anabelle held another shard of ceramic to her throat, but her appearance was wildly different. Where bullets had crushed her skull were now molting splotches of red, like burn scars, and the bits of hair that had regrown were now red vines that blossomed with… flower buds. And her irises were no longer gray, but a fierce red with white pupils.

"You're not Diana." She hissed, her hand already moving to close the door before I jabbed my foot in between us…

"I really didn't want to do this…" I took a deep breath to stroke the fire within me, electrical currents rising in my heart as my flesh began to scream with pain and the broken shards of my right hand collected back to the limb. Red meat dripped down my skin as my skin molted off, a layer of pain flowing through my eyes as their color was forcibly burned away into pale silver moons.

"What the fuck, Diana." Dryder mouthed from my back.

"Things are different!" I growled, as I hoped that Anabelle would finally see that I was-

Diana "So, you think you're the only one who looks different?" I scoffed, half in disbelief that my own right hand had healed itself so quickly, the zaps were already making me jittery, stray snaps causing Dryder to take a step back as Anabelle recoiled from a stray spark biting her through the doorknob.

"What the hell is this, Jones!" She shouted, still grabbing her ceramic shard near her throat.

"Please don't kill yourself, you know how hard it was to bring you back to life?"

"I'm not the one doing this!" She shouted, "I have no control over my body!"

"What?" I rubbed my head, some blood came off with it. "Move aside… I need to wash this off."

Her body took a big step backwards, and Anabelle seemed almost unprepared for it. "I- will someone explain to me what's happening?!"

I opened the tap, swiping off the grimy fluids that came from my shapeshifting. "You were killed by Dreadwire… well, technically, you were killed by The Dogwhistler. They'd devised a way to make it non-permanent, basically needed to put your Implant back inside you with a cocktail of Mutagen he designed so that I could… jumpstart it back into fusing with you. And healing you."

"That… clears up absolutely nothing!" She shouted, taking another step backwards until she stumbled and fell into the bathtub. "And it doesn't explain why my body is…!"

"Fuck… how do I explain this?" I met her frantic eyes, I must've been too calm to logic this out so easily. "You have a split personality, one that worked for Soul Killer… but isn't, any longer. And it seems like… whenever your mind is in control, she's manipulating your body?"

I took an askew glance at Crimson Heart, who shrugged. "This is the first case I've ever seen of such…"

"Don't think I've forgotten about you, witch!" Anabelle shouted. "Diana, why the fuck am I taken hostage by the Crimson Heart?! Are you working with her?!"

"I guess… in a sense." I admitted. "The other half of you can help us kill Soul Killer, I don't know how much you remember considering Anomaly wipes your memory, but she's…"

"She's a piece of The Revenant." Dryder nodded, still never looking at Anabelle directly. "Juliet tried to cure you, but it only separated Soul Killer's direct manipulation. A portion of them stayed inside of you."

Anabelle's breathing was rough and uneven, I couldn't even imagine what thoughts were running through her head with everything. Suddenly, she dropped the ceramic shard as her eyes went soulless and the flower buds nestled into her hair bloomed into red spider lilies.

Anomaly rasped out, eyes wide and manic. "This was not in the fucking agreement I made with Dread-"

Then her head lolled and smacked into the wall behind her as Anabelle collapsed, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She didn't move, but I could sense her Energy toiling inside her, it was like thick stones that were in an avalanche over one another and suffocating any actual action.

"That happens." Crimson Heart said without a care in her tone. "Whenever Anomaly takes… control, she passes out now."

I leaned in closer, taking in the sorry state of this woman I had a degree of respect for. I lifted her up, carrying her towards a bed as I paced and thought about what we should do next.

Crimson Heart spoke first. "She's unstable, while I cannot deny the great achievement you and Dreadwire have accomplished, it's effects were not what you thought they would be. If Anomaly cannot converse with us, she is of no use."

"That's not true." I barked back. "Anabelle's still plenty capable on her own and…"

I looked at Dryder, who seemed caught between his past and present. I spoke for him. "She just needs time to recover."

"Oh, I agree." The Heart nodded. "I intend to study her unique… quirks very much. But I fear without direct knowledge of what Dreadwire had in that vial you used, it would be impossible for me to determine any conclusions that would benefit her status."

"Well… I'll find a way to get that information." I just wasn't sure how… me and Ripley had never discussed how he was going to send me all the information he had on the cure to Soul Killer's infection, his Soul Anchors. And I know they used his nanites, so the chance of us even replicating their effect was…

Maybe Starlight? I didn't know how to get into contact with her, or if I even should with all that happened.

I didn't want Ripley ending right back here. It pissed me off, feeling like I already needed his ass again to help me out.

The Heart sighed. "For now… I believe there is nothing we can do but wait for her condition to change. If it even does so."

"It will." I would find a way to do it, without Ripley.

Dryder shifted his gaze at me. "You need some rest too, police can't notice you missing for too long."

"I know… I know…" Rubbing my head, I began to shift back into Lilian Rose. But I couldn't fully commit to the identity with how jumbled my mind was, I could immediately spot some uncanny features not distinct to this appearance. My right arm was a blend of red and silver.

Crimson Heart opened the door for me, it led back into that black, void-like hallway. "I have ways to get you out of Little Requiem unnoticed, I'll have Suzie guide you."

"Dryder?" I flicked towards him… he shrugged.

"Gonna get wasted here tonight, don't think about me too much. You did your best." He took a glance at Anabelle, before following us in.

———

2:51 AM

Back at my apartment, I let myself become Diana once more as I washed away all the flesh that molted of my transformation. This was becoming annoying. Despite the nice change of clothes and my fluffy bed, I couldn't fall asleep so easily.

What a Christmas Eve this ended up being? I remembered that last year, Yvette and I drank so much we were passed out for two days, the thought brought a laugh from me as I churned against a pillow. I didn't have anyone to really spend tomorrow with, I…

...I had told Ripley that I would do dinner today.

But that looked like it was never happening, the confusing thoughts I had for him felt like a constant gun pressed into my stomach. There was this undeniable urge I had to message him, to ask him how he was doing, if he learned his lesson, if he was keeping his promise to Starlight.

But at the same time, the thought of him repulsed me. His cruel words, the way he disassembled my body and put me into this fractured state of being, how emotionless and efficient he had been with it. I rubbed my left eye, it was solid and metallic in texture… and my right hand doing the touching was the same. He had done this to me, changed me more than any other person in my life, and I knew it was better for both of us to keep him out of it.

Restless, sitting up in my bed, I considered asking… Archangel if she was free tomorrow. The chances of a NeoCore Enforcer as popular as her being free on a holiday was zero-to-none, but I was willing to take that chance if it meant just not being alone right now. I even dragged her into ASK, the least I could do was not be a total bitch to her.

She'd been through a lot, as well.

Just when I was about to send a call, I received one instead.

[Incoming call from: Louis (Anthony's father)]

I picked it up, confused as I began speaking. "Uh… Louis, is everything-"

"Diana." His voice sounded hoarse, and it scared me for the worst. "He's awake."

———

3:25 AM The ride to the hospital was the longest of my life. I practically would have flown into his room from my car if I thought I could control it, but instead I ran and burst through the room. A few grimacing doctors were crowded around, but I saw him sitting up and overwhelmed at their presence.

In scrubs, he had overgrown gray hair that frizzed over his equally steel gaze, and they stopped at the sight of my silver. "Diana?"

"Anthony!" I walked over, my hands trembling but my restraint gone as I draped my hands around his shoulders and hugged him. "I… how?"

One of the doctors grumbled, his tone annoyed from having to work on this holiday. "I never believed in Christmas Miracles but… this is certainly proving my husband right."

Louis was sitting in a chair near us, his eyes puffy as he sniffed in to look at his son. Awake after… three months in a coma. Anthony shook his head, clearly dazed and confused. "What the hell happened, we were… somewhere dark and- the auction and… why do you wear an eyepatch now?"

"Uh… I don't even know where to start, but… later, I'll explain everything." I smiled, my first genuine one in days as tears streaked down my cheeks. "You have… no idea how happy I am to see you."

"Yeah, you're hugging me, a lot." He said, and I could feel his cheeks warm up next to mine. "Was I… the doctors say it's been three months, how much could have happened?"

I felt like one sentence could explain enough. "I'm a Corporal now."

"You're a-" He choked, his movement jerky and sudden as he pulled away. "Are you being for real?"

Louis smirked. "She made a whole speech where she announced it, was pretty badass too."

"I…" Breath forced it's way into my throat as I pulled back, only then did I notice what sat on his table to the side. A mask.

Dreadwire's mask.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.