Usu by Jayde Ver Elst

swung Mercury over his shoulder. She told him off for it, maybe half a dozen times, maybe more, but it wasn’t nearly enough to phase him at this point.
    They were stumbling towards where they had parted with Usu and Rain until finally coming to a scene which washed away any shame Mercury might have accumulated from being carried like a doll. There before them was an open bulkhead door, Usu tugging at Rain’s limp body with everything he could muster. Without a word or whisper, suddenly both were suspended in the air by a one-handed raise from Modbot, who couldn’t help give a cheeky grin despite circumstances so grim.
    “We’re getting out of here fluffletuffle, enough time on the floor for both of us I’d say.” Those words were almost enough to dull the ache that had overcome Usu’s heart, a heart frozen in terror so deeply that the next thing he knew he was back in the bubble and heading out the same tunnel that had drawn them in.
    Mercury set the remaining device to give them the directional jolt they needed, though she was coughing badly, her cloak stained from the inside out. Yet she could do more, she could do… something. She looked at Modbot and Usu with deathly sincerity. “Listen, I’ll be fine once we reach the top, just need a bit of a recharge, but the girl, she’s losing everything right now. Every second is another day she’ll never get back. There’s something I can do… I didn’t want to, but you just better hope Shitbeard doesn’t wimp out on you okay? Kick his ass if he gives you trouble, I’ll kick it twice for ya myself.” She was obviously not well and had passed every limit she’d ever known, but her determination was steadfast as she ripped open the back of Rain’s dress and folded her own cloak to shoulder height. “This won’t save her, but it will protect whatever she has left, keep it safe you two.”
    With a few more curse words that felt akin to an ancient spell at this point, she slid her hand inside of Rain’s back. Deeper and deeper still, until the top of her right arm fell off and crawled to join its kin. Patterns of grey began appearing and disappearing across Rain’s skin until a metal star began rising out of the center of her chest, a single strange gem socketed within. With a comatose breath, Mercury told them, “Take it, and do me a solid by not screwing up this time?” before falling flat herself, her body warping with pain. It was clear now that her cloak was far from simple clothing, it was a prison. The only prison that could keep her whole, and the same one she escaped momentarily to give Usu this final fragment of hope.
    He grabbed the gem with no hesitation, holding it tightly to his chest as Rain’s body turned cold, brittle and, in one cruel instant, departed his world as dust.

Android - The Day After
     
    I did something horrible Dee.
    Something I can’t take back, no matter how hard I cry.
    I found Snow, in a strange glass thing, holding Usu tightly as he dreamed. The men who took him away said it was a 'cryogenic chamber' and he would sleep a really, really long time, that it’s what he wanted. That, if he slept long enough he might be able to help me, but… but that isn’t what I wanted! I just wanted him to stay, to stay with me, I don’t care how much I forget if we make new memories every day! So I... I hit the glass and… it cracked.
    Snow’s eyes opened just enough to see me, he was crying just as much as me but for some reason he was smiling. Red lights and bad noises, men were pulling me away but he kept smiling until he fell back to sleep.
    They said he might not ever wake up because of what I did, but did you know Dee?
    Snow doesn’t lie.
    I’ll wait for him, even if the whole world won’t wait with me.

Chapter Fourteen - Silica
     
    The amount of times something as simple as a jewel has held more value than that of a life runs almost innumerable throughout human history. Peasantry and nobility walked fine lines, dotted by