He can't tell if the room is dark or if his eyes are too caked in dried blood to see properly. It's been a while since he last mustered the strength to wipe his face. He hangs from his feet. His arms sway freely, almost touching the glossy black pool of liquid he's suspended over. Occasionally he'll hear tiny pieces of himself drip into the Abyss beneath him, the bits they don't want. Those pointy little mantis things flitter and chatter as they clear away damaged and tainted tissue from his flayed body.

"Well … she actually did it." scoffs Terrace as she approaches Tegan. "Fuck, you look like you had sex with the prince."

"Lieutenant, luckily my eyes don't work ... I don't hafta lie and say it's nice to see you." His voice is shallow and calm.

"I'm in too good of a mood to give a shit about the shit you say." She grins. "Speaking of shit, urgh." She fans in front of her face. "I feel filthy just being in here with you."

"Yeah, I'm totally gross right now ... still hotter than you though."

She wretches. "You look and smell like a living dingleberry."

"I stand by my statement." I'm so tired of this bitch.

"You mean hang by it. Pfft, you even dangle like one."

"Seen a lot of those in your life, eh? You prefer to kiss ass or eat it?"

"You are literally repulsive."

"Apparently not enough for you to fuck off." Why is she even here?

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere. I've been assigned to guard you until the queen gets here." she says with all the disrespect. "I can't imagine what your punishment is gonna be for murdering Jeri." She leans in closer but not so much that she's over the pool. "I can't wait to see it though."

Great. She's supposed to be here. "Is there ... a reason you're like this to me? Or you just a cock blister to everyone?"

She ignores his question. "You thought you could get away with it. Swoop in, turn on the charm, feed everybody pretty words until they eat poison right out of the palm of your hand."

"The fuck ... are you even talking about? "

"Deny, deny, deny all you want. We'll figure out everything. Like who your accomplices are. You OBVIOUSLY aren't the big brain behind all this."

"All what?"

"Just confess." she hisses with exasperation.

They stare each other down for a moment. Well, Tegan can't really see a damn thing but his weak grimace is turned toward Terrace. With nowhere to go and no real options, he speaks.

"Alright. I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Uh huh. Do NOT fuck with me and get my attention just to spit on me or say some quippy shit! Go on."

Fuck. Well, better double down. "It was all an elaborate plan to fuck your mom-"

A chain shoots out from behind Terrace causing the bugs on Tegan to disperse! It rifles through his mouth and the back of his head before wrapping around his entire body.

"You ... are so fucking pathetic."

Tegan manages to choke out a chuckle before gagging some more words. "Thisch schaine ... taeytch liechk ... urh momsch pusschy."

"UUUGHH!!"

The chain slackens, giving the links room to rapidly thread themselves through Tegan's flesh over and over again! In an instant he's reduced to a shredded hunk of bones and meat but the chain continues to rip him apart. Terrace stands there with her arms crossed and eyes closed, unaware that she now has company.

"Terrace, explain what I'm looking at." orders the queen.

"Ma'am!" She spins around with a salute and the chain finally stops. It slinks out of Tegan and returns to Terrace. "The prisoner refused to cooperate with my interrogation."

"Oh, your interrogation. Okay." Quinn walks past her onto the surface of the pool to inspect what’s left of Tegan's carcass. She watches his right arm fall off with a small splash and sink below her feet. "Did he try to escape?"

"No, ma'am."

"He attacked you?"

"No, ma'am but-" She starts but is silenced by the queen with a raise of her hand.

"What were your orders, lieutenant?"

"To guard the prisoner until your arrival."

"Hmm, so who told you to interrogate him?"

"Uh, I … no one, ma'am." Her voice cracks as her mouth starts to dry. The queen still has her back to her. "I was only trying to speed things up for you."

"By killing him without getting any information?" Quinn's voice is oddly passive. It's as if she's speaking to a small animal.

"Well, it's not like he can die."

Wrong answer. The queen's wings fuse together to form one long arm with seven smaller arms as fingers! It snatches Terrace and slams her to the ground before slowly lifting her up and over Quinn! The lieutenant does her best to remain composed as she's held upside down next to her mess in front of the queen.

"I don't like the things you say and how you say them." Her voice hasn't changed but her face isn't a face anymore. No eyes or nose. Just a smile. The kind of smile you fake when you want to relocate someone's head to the floor. "I lost a good friend today." The space where her eyes should be darkens. The colour runs down her cheeks and neck in tear-like streaks and spreads to become a black dress.

"I … I'm sorry, ma'am."

"Shhhh." Quinn uses one of the hands on the smaller arms to shush Terrace with a tiny clawed finger. "Of course you are, dear." The smile never leaves as she lowers Terrace into the onyx pool of liquid beneath them. "Of course you are."

"Ma'am! Plea-" She goes under.

Darkness.

It's warm.

Uncomfortably so.

It goes on forever.

There's no surface.

Endless but not empty.

Weightless fear.

The Abyss.

The kind of things that live here … should never escape.

The kind of things that live here … don't want to escape.

The surface comes to them …

and becomes the kind of things that live here.

Sleek, barely visible shapes glide in the ink. Nothing is clear …

except for a pale dot in the distance. It sits in place, patiently staring back.

It invites you.

It invites all.

Stay with her.

"D'augh! Aagh-" exclaims Terrace as she's lifted out of the pool and gently placed on her knees back where she was originally. She's completely dry.

"You'll be reassigned to the FD." says Quinn, still facing away but no longer in black. She releases Terrace and the arm becomes wings again briefly before morphing into her hair to lengthen it.

"Yes, ma'am." Terrace replies from the floor. "Am I … do I keep my rank?"

"Sure. Whatever." Quinn takes Tegan's destroyed body down and holds it in her arms for a moment.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"But from now on you report to Durma." She drops the corpse into the Abyss and makes her way to the exit. "And give Tegan his room back." is her final order as she walks out.

She never wanted to leave his side. Them to promise the remember to promise the remember to promise the remember to promise the remember to promise the remember to promise the remember to promise the remember to promise the remember to promise a made he. There was once a soldier.

From nothing to …

… pain.

Damn this higher rank shit. I'm done with that stup- "edphuckin bitch hagh hah!" Tegan coughs out his words alongside Ren once again. His eyes feel like they're melting out of his skull. The two collect themselves. "Ugh. Hey, lamb chop."

"Ack hurgh … so gross." Ren holds her stomach while spitting out the last bit of Tegan's arrival. "Did they kill you?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah but I kinda asked for it." He wipes his face and takes in their surroundings. "Needed a new body anyway." They seem to be in a dark cylindrical room with no exit. A thin line of light encircles them horizontally. It's enough to slightly illuminate their faces and naked bodies but barely anything else. He looks to Ren, pauses and rubs his stinging eyes. Behind her stands the warped couple with petrified faces. They disappear and reappear whenever Tegan blinks. Ok this is new.

"Stop staring at me like that." says Ren as she sits holding her knees to her chest.

"Sorry." He closes his eyes and lays on his back. "Any chance you know where we are?"

"A holding cell, I guess. I don't friggin know. Any chance you can get us out of here?"

"Pssh." Never any help. "What's the point? The queen is prolly on her way here now."

"Th-the queen? Why?"

"She's gotta question us because of what happened to Jeri. Possibly punish us."

"What? Who's Jeri?"

"The queen's friend. That thing I killed." Trying to save your- "dumb ass."

"Dumb! How was I supposed to know that monster had a name? And YOU'RE the one who killed it. Why punish ME?"

Wow "I killed her because of YOU!" he says from the floor, eyes still closed. "We wouldn't be here if you didn't fuckin run off."

"It's a her? Wai- NO! YOU'RE the reason I'm here! You came to this awful place and now I'm here! Getting punished because you killed whatever that thing was!"

"So I should've let her eat you? Weren't you the one yelli-"

"You DID let her eat me!" She gets up and kicks his leg.

"You ran off then t-"

"YOU did this!" She kicks him again.

"Stop interru-"

"YOU DID THIS!" Another kick.

"Stop it."

She throws her hoof at him again but he kicks her standing leg forcing her to fall toward him. He catches her by the throat mid fall with one hand and squeezes.

"Ack! Tghan!"

"I said stop." He can feel the pressure on his throat too but he continues to hold her in place. I could kill her. Shut her up for a bit. She'll come right back anyway. He opens his eyes. Ren looks horrified. Her hands frantically grip his arm. But. There are other hands as well. The two twisted spectors also hang onto him. Their bodies contort violently as their heads remain stationary. Staring at him. Into him. Through him. Don't worry. She can't dance anymore. He lets her go and she scrambles away from him.

"YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME!"

"I'd just be saving you the trouble of killing yourself again."

"YOU … don't know what you're talking about."

He sits up. "Yeah? Then fill me in on why you've been dying so much."

Ren curls herself into a ball while glaring at Tegan. "You don't know anything. You don't know what it's been like for me. Always having to wait around for you. Always wondering if you'll come back. I had to do something."

"So instead of moving on, you off yourself?" Great. "Good thing it didn't work or else everything we've done would be pointless."

"We? From the beginning I had no say in ANY of this. I was a kid when you took me! You decided to keep me alive all this time just to abandon me."

"Really? Looks like I'm as good at abandoning you as you are at living."

"That doesn't even make sense! We can't die so that means I'm great at living, moron!"

"We get resurrected. That can't happen if we don't die. Plus you just said I could've killed you. Don't be an idiot."

Ren's face sours as she thinks. "… You're an idiot." she mutters.

"And don't act like you don't know why I couldn't take you with me. I had to settle that shit."

"So it's over? You're not just gonna leave me again? It's really over, Tegan?"

As far as I know. "Yeah. They're all gone. You're safe."

"Then why don't I feel safe?"

"I did what I promised. How you feel is up to you." He lies back down.

She doesn't take her eyes off of him. Tears begin to swell … then they stop. Instead, she squints. "We don't have to stay here. I could get us out right now."

Tegan cautiously sits up again. "That's a terrible idea."

"Why? We could leave and no one would ever know." She gives him a slightly bitter look. "After all, everyone who knows what I can do is gone, right?"

"Yeah, they're gone. Now you wanna risk exposing yourself again? AND be a fugitive of the queen?"

"… You're right."

"All we have to do is wait and take whatever punishment they give us. I'm sure the colonel has already explained the situation so we should be fine."

"Right …" Ren's face goes blank. "The colonel."

Back in the barracks, Wraith stands at her balcony watching the lights of the city return to their usual white colour. With all the escaped creatures accounted for, the civilians slowly resume their normal activities. She stares into the distance until her thoughts are interrupted by someone entering her quarters.

"There you are, mija." says Pop as she joins her daughter on the balcony. "I heard what happened. Déjame verte." She puts her hands on Wraith to turn her around and inspect her.

"Estoy bien, mama." Her reassurance does nothing to stop Pop's examination and she's released after three spins.

"Hmm. Why are you up here? Shouldn't you be with Tegan?"

"It's not in my best interest to be around him." she says facing the view again.

"¿Por que?"

"He is a prisoner and I am compromised."

"Compromised? You arrested him, niña. No one's worried about you doing your job."

"Correct. I arrested him. However … I didn't want to."

Words escape Pop as she takes in the seriousness of what Wraith just said.

"Simply put, my interest in him conflicts with my goals. That's unacceptable.

"It's not unacceptable. It's normal." She places a hand on her daughter's back and leans to look up to her face. "You and your damn goals. It's ok to want multiple things, y'know?"

Wraith focuses her piercing blue eyes on the view. "This city is my responsibility to protect. I broke protocol to fool around with a lower ranking officer. If I had remained vigilant-"

"No." asserts Pop. "Blaming yourself for what happened today is not what you're about to do. You're allowed to enjoy yourself. No one follows protocol as much as you do. Especialmente not Quinn." she laughs while reaching up to gently move Wraith's face toward her. "You don't need …" Pop's eyes widen and she pauses briefly before letting go of her daughter's face.

"¿Mama?"

"Oh … oh, mija. No." She slowly backs away. "You spoke to Sangre."

"I had to know if I ever leave this place."

"You know better! She only sees what could happen, not what will happen. That's up to us!" She throws her hands up and walks back inside.

"She gave simple answers. No details."

"The fact that she told you anything at all is dangerous! Unless …" Pop finds the nearest chair, takes a seat and shudders at a cold realization. "… unless it's too late to change anything."

Wraith follows her inside. "It seems as though Tegan plays a major role in my life's trajectory. I can't allow a frivolous infatuation to dictate my future."

"But that's exactly what you're doing by trying to avoid it." She clasps her hands and addresses her daughter decisively. "You have to forget whatever she told you. For your own good."

"It isn't that serious."

"No, mija. It really is." The expression on her face makes the colonel physically back up. They both remain quiet just long enough to hear a familiar buzz growing outside. From inside they can see thousands of tiny mantis-like pals swarm off in the same direction. A couple land on Wraith, chatter at her for a moment then rejoin their flock. "¿Que pasa?" asks Pop.

"It's Sleaze."

The entrance to the Queen's District is massive. It's mostly an opulent staircase leading to a separate enclosed city where the royal family lives. You'd expect a place like that would be overrun with guards but the entrance itself is all the warning you need to stay away. Once you climb those stairs your safety is no longer guaranteed. Especially if you're an uninvited guest. You're in the queen's home and it's up to her whether or not you leave.

At the foot of the magnificent vacant staircase stands that strange fucking civilian. "Elmn the Daevin."

"That was the name given to me." Elmn turns to see a sharply dressed, triple eyed young man sitting atop a wall. "How do you know it?"

"It's my job. Don't think too hard about it."

"What was the name given to you, child kin?" asks Elmn.

"Sleaze." He jumps down. "Seems you've been up to some sneaky fuckery, haven't you?"

"I don't know what you mean, friend." His words slither through a crooked smile.

"Yeah. But you do, though. You and your accomplices released the queen's friends into the city. Don't worry. I already know who they are. Let's skip the bullshit banter and just come with me. It'll be easier for you that way."

"I'm afraid I must decline. I have done nothing wrongful." His smile fades. "You would do well to look elsewhere."

"Nah. I'm looking right here. Took a while to find you. Your affliction conceals you from anyone not in close proximity to you." Sleaze leans against the wall he previously dismounted. "Gotta give you credit for mastering that shit. Being able to project it onto others is pretty impressive. That's how you hid the queen's pets until you wanted them to attack."

Elmn's face twitches into a frown briefly before being forced into a wobbly smile again.

"Oh. Was I not supposed to know that? My uncle figured it out. That's his job in case you were wondering."

"Resourceful." says Elmn with a hint of irritation.

"Anyway, c'mon. I kinda have a lot of work to do. Thanks to YOU by the way."

"Curious goings on." says Elmn with an analytical squint hidden by his odd sunglasses. "You don't possess a power great enough to command me. Pitiful." He turns away from Sleaze and takes a few steps toward the marvelous staircase only to find himself facing Sleaze again.

"Not sure what gave you that idea, bruh." says Sleaze as he sits on the lowest step. His third eye is gone. "Turn around. There's nothing for you this way."

"There's something for me wherever I choose to go. My path is divine."

"Ok, buddy. Well you can take all that divinity the other way."

Elmn raises his leg to step forward but it's sliced off before it touches the ground! It falls with a thud but is instantly sucked back into place, twisting itself to match the other leg. He kicks off the severed pant cloth lingering on his foot. His exposed limb looks like knotted chunky ropes of flesh wrapped together to make a body part. A stiff, gritty laugh chisels its way through Elmn's teeth. Sleaze hasn't moved from his seat but he's now holding a blade and has all is eyes again.

"Disrespectful." Elmn sneers.

"Took the word outta my mouth." says Sleaze.

"Allow me to replace it with agony." Elmn tries to attack Sleaze but is swarmed by a frantic buzzing cloud of mantis friends! "What is this? YOU control them!" He shouts as they slice at him from all directions.

"No." says Sleaze. "They just like me. "

Elmn stops swatting them to look at Sleaze. "They defend you. Why?"

"Because I know them all."

Elmn can barely be seen in the swirling mass of bugs. His blood splatters everywhere in wild streaks but he doesn't scream. Instead, he laughs again and the bugs begin to calm down. Their sporadic zippy motions become a soft flutter. Some stop flying all together to crawl around aimlessly. They bump into each other, feeling around with their tiny sickles and antennas.

"Very well, Sleaze." He says while turning away from the stairs. His suit is nothing more than bloody shreds of cloth now. His entire body is as ugly and fucked up as his leg but that's not the bugs doing. "Permit me a change of clothes and I will comply."

"Fine by me." Sleaze closes his middle eye. It vanishes from his forehead and reappears on a shadowy likeness of himself directly behind Elmn. It places the point of a real blade at the back of his head. "First fix whatever you did to the little guys."

Elmn chuckles. "I have done nothing wrongful. Striking me takes a toll. Their sight is forfeit."

"That's annoying. Nothing killing you won't fix, I bet."

"Acknowledge me, child kin. A divine wrath awaits my demise. Should I perish, so shall you all."

"Scary." says a very bored Sleaze. "But some of us don't perish, bruh. Get moving.”

Tegan and Ren are still waiting in that weird dark room. They haven't said anything to each other. They haven't even looked at each other. It's a bit of a relief for Tegan but Ren on the other hand …

"You spend a lot of time with her." Ren whispers.

"Huh?" It was good while it lasted.

"I get it. She's real pretty. She's strong. Not like me at all."

"First off, she's my boss. Second, don't talk about yourself like that." Even if you're right.

"She's not just your boss, Tegan. If you're … screwing her I want to know."

"I'm not."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not."

"… but you want to, right?"

"Pssh, why do you do this to yourself?"

"You do, right?" She crawls over to Tegan. "Why? Because she's a virgin?"

"Ren-"

"Can't expect an incubus to pass up a virgin. I'm proof of that."

"Ha! Don't do that. You practically begged me to take yours."

"Yeah, well … you could've said no." She sighs. "But I would've kept bugging you if you did. I wanted you so bad." She rubs her hand on his chest. "I still do."

"This isn't the place for this. We're about to be questioned."

"Worried about getting caught? You're suddenly scared of an audience now?"

He looks at her and sees the warped couple still behind her. "No. I can handle an audience."

"What if it was her instead of me? Would this place matter?"

"Yes, actually."

Ren's not listening anymore. Her one hand wanders Tegan's torso while the other makes its way between her legs.

"She doesn't want you as much as I do. No one does." she coos.

"Ok, c'mon. Chill." He gently takes her hand off of his body and kisses it. "We should really do this later."

"Fine." Ren snaps as she pulls her hand away and crawls back where she came from.

"Oof, shut down."

Both Tegan and Ren stand as they hear the queen's voice but she's nowhere in sight. Embarrassed, Ren tries to cover her bits as she huddles next to Tegan. He gives her a look that insists her modesty isn't important right now but she doesn't see it.

"You've had time to think about what to say to me. Let's hear it."

Tegan clears his throat. "Ma'am, I take full responsibility for what happened. If I died instead of Jeri it wouldn't be a big deal … but I wasn't thinking. Please understand, I was just trying to keep Ren safe."

"Ren? Oh, the girl."

The aura of the room changes. Suddenly the pair are paralyzed and suspended in place with their arms and legs spread out. Whatever ground they once stood on is gone and the ring of light around them glows brighter. Ren whimpers to herself while Tegan tries to whisper some reassuring words to her.

"Why is she so important?"

"I've protected her for most of her life. I promised her parents I would."

"Why?"

"Because I killed her parents."

"He's a killer!" Ren shouts. "He's the one who should be punished! Let me go, I beg yo-"

Ren's head is corkscrewed and ripped off by an unseen force. It's left hovering with her body.

“Honestly, she doesn't seem worth it."

Ren's blood also floats and some droplets sluggishly pepper Tegan as he stares vacantly at her decapitated corpse.

"I wonder what happens if I kill you before she comes back."

“Quinn, please."

"Don't worry. I'll wait."

Before long, Tegan's eyes throb and burn and you know the rest. Ren arrives but won't stop screaming this time. Neither Quinn nor Tegan say anything as she shrieks and bawls inconsolably. She carries on like this for a while until her voice becomes a constant deep guttural drone.

"No, no! Ren stop!"

"Oh, now that's something."

"Stop her! Or kill me! She can't do it without me here!"

"I know what this is."

Rens voice drowns out Tegan's pleading. Soon nothing can be heard or felt except for the solid tone she emits. All light fades, then shines all at once. Every colour, shape, sound, taste and temperature rearrange themselves. A different yet old and familiar gravity returns to them.

Then … calm.

"Ah-sss." Tegan opens his eyes. Ren lies unconscious not far from him at the bottom of a ditch … with grass. He slides down, scoops her up and raises his head to a cloudy sky stained with orange and bursts of lightning. The remains of a city haunt the view in the distance at the end of a battered highway littered with debris and long forgotten cars. With Ren in his arms, Tegan speaks.

"Fuck."