uh-mar-uh
Amara I
“I WISH HE’D DROP DEAD.” Were the first words Amara’d said after she heard static rustling in her ear.
Amara was freaking out. Freaking out freaking out. She was angry. If they failed this mission because of her idiot brother...
“You’re overreacting.” Vex replied absently, examining her nails. Amara briefly looked to them. They were a dark gray color, acrylics sharpened into claws. They fit her perfectly.
“I’m not. He’s jeopardizing this entire mission.”
Vex shrugged, “That’s what he always does. You act like it’s something new.”
“That doesn’t make it ok, V!” Amara exclaimed, inhaling sharply, “him jeopardizing this mission could be fatal to us. It could be fatal to this entire organization.”
“Calm down, Mar. He’s not the only one who’s bent the rules a couple of times. Rhys and I have been in his place before.”
“It was a problem then, it’s still a problem now.”
“Not all of us can be you.” Vex replied, finally looking up into Amara’s eyes, “Chill. Quit complaining.”
Amara could remember clearly the first time she met Vex. She’d been 12 years old, and she thought the little black girl who’d infiltrated her home and stolen all of her glory was gorgeous. She hated her.
Vex’s brother had been quiet, brooding, he kept to himself...but Vex was everywhere. She was loud, smart, and skilled. Her and her brother had powers unlike any Envy she’d ever seen before. It took Amara years to finally get over her jealousy.
“That’s not all I’m doing and you know it.” Amara replied, “I’m trying to pick up on our probability of us succeeding in this mission.”
“Why is it taking so long today? You’re usually done by now.”
“I don’t know. There’s been something wrong recently. Maybe I’m sick?” Amara said, before she saw a flashing in her head. Bright red numbers were all that she could see; the number’s she’d been waiting on.
Amara’s eyes began to glow, and her face lost all expression. Her voice turned flat, distant, almost as if it wasn’t her speaking, “Chances of succeeding, 86%. Chances of failing, 11%. Chances of dying, 3%.”
Seconds later, Amara’s eyes bled into their normal dullness. Her eyebrows furrowed.
“Those odds are worse than last time. And I bet I could tell you why.”
Vex groaned, “I’m sure you could, thing is, I already know what you’re going to say so-”
“Fucking Roman.” Amara’s cheeks were hot with anger, “of course. Roman! He always ruins everything!”
“You’re exaggerating….”
“Am I?”
“Yes, you are. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Rhys. After we finish the mission.”
“Whatever. I hope that 3% chance of death is for Roman.” Amara said, before leaning into her shirt to talk into her microphone.
“Listen, Rhys. Roman has gone rogue. We have an 86% chance of completing this mission. You know what to do.”
Rhys said nothing in return, but when Amara looked to the building across from her, she saw an inky black shadow meld into the darkness littering the ground. She knew that it was Rhys.
Amara quickly turned away, and grabbed a hold of Vex’s arm. Silently, she willed them to be on the ground directly below where they stood atop the building. They apparated there.
The area had a strange chill to it, a sinister sort of cool that made Amara’s head spin. She threw a forcefield up around herself and Vex, and looked toward her friend.
“You ready?” She asked her.
“As I’ll ever be.” Vex shrugged.
Amara let her forcefield fall with the flick of her hand. As soon as she did, Vex was gone.
Amara watched as Vex pulled out her gun, running into the mass of people that had been their intended landing spot. Roman came out of nowhere, flying above Vex’s head and following her. Gasps were heard all around when people saw her, and Amara frowned. Fucking Roman.
Vex started shooting people absently. Her eyes, Amara could see, held not a drop of remorse as their bodies hit the ground. Over the years, Amara had noticed thatVex and Rhys’ complete and total disdain for civilian life was what made them such great assets to the team. They were daring, ruthless, and unpredictable, and although Amara wasn’t paying any attention to Rhys then, she knew that he was working just as quickly and skillfully as his sister was, if not more so. When Amara saw Vex’s eyes lower and switch to brown, she knew that Vex was letting her power overtake her. Vex was forcing indescribable pain into the veins of the civilians, and Amara knew from experience that it hurt. Soon, most of them were writhing on the ground. Roman touched anyone that he could, paralyzing them as soon as their skin made contact with his. Their powers combined made destroying the town that much easier.
The air was hazy. A red steam rose up from the fallen civilians, and it littered the air. It ran to the sky, and disappeared, over and over again; as if it were a song on repeat. The smell of blood invaded Amara’s senses, and it caused the adrenaline pumping in her veins to spike. This was what she’d spent her whole life working for. Day in and day out, training, practicing, studying, spending every waking moment perfecting herself...it was all for this.
Amara pulled out her spear, and skewed the first person she saw. Then, she apparated away, and speared someone else. She teleported quickly, bouncing from place to place, spearing anyone through the heart that she came into contact with. As Amara worked, blinking in and out of existence, she saw a darkness, Rhys, that clouded around a certain area for a period of time before it washed away, and all the people that’d been previously standing there were disintegrated into ash. She watched as Rhys uprooted a tree straight from the ground, and sent it to a couple of people trying to crawl away without so much as lifting a finger.
Amara focused on herself again. Flash. She was in a new place. She raised her spear…
A voice flitted through her ears, probably her next victim.“I beg you miss, please. I have a family, a wife, kids. Don-”
Amara looked up at the man. He stopped speaking when he saw her eyes. Kind, calming, alluring... then, she speared him straight through the mouth. She turned away when his head started to loll back. She teleported again, and killed someone else.
It was the same thing, the same drill, the same pattern. She rinsed, and she repeated.
As she worked, Amara could hear her parent’s voices in her head.
It’s hard to love a disappointment.
Her parents were Legendary Envies, survivors of Secontita, and two of the most powerful people in all of Ataraxia. Grey was a name to be feared, and she had to live up to it.
She had to be better, to work harder. Be perfect. Her parents expected no less. She had to be good enough for them. It was the only way...
Amara looked around. The streets were littered with dead, mutilated bodies. Red was everywhere. It ran through the streets like a stream of water. The few people that were left were trying hard to scurry away, pausing to look at their fallen loved ones, trying to hold back their grief. The once lively area of people was now a minefield of dead bodies in a sea of blood.
Amara was soon joined by Rhys and Vex.
“Are we done yet?” Vex asked, “mostly everyone is dead here, anyway. I need to get home so I can catch up on my show.”
“We’re not done.” Rhys said simply.
“He’s right. We’re supposed to leave no survivors. Once everyone is dead, we can get Henry and head back to HQ.”
“Well, this is...almost no survivors.” Vex shrugged, “It should be enough. Let’s just go. It’s not like Mathias will ever find out.”
“We’re not leaving until we’ve fully completed this mission.” Amara said the words slowly, as if Vex was a child or hard of hearing, “If you’re ready to go, maybe you should work harder.”
“What are we talking about, guys? Roman wants to know!!” Roman said as he floated down to stand with them. The sound of his voice brought Amara’s anger back to her, and she swung harshly to the side to face him.
“What the hell were you thinking?!”
“Thinking about what?” Roman responded gleefully.
“Don’t play dumb with me! Were you trying to get us all killed?!?” Amara thundered, fury aliting her eyes.
“I’m going to need you to rollback the attitude, and take a chill pill, sis. No need to throw around accusations. It wasn’t even that serious.” Roman shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalance that made Amara’s blood burn.
“Not that serious my ass. When we get back to HQ, you’re done.”
Roman narrowed his eyes, and scoffed incredulously. “Amara, if you try anything, I swear-”
“Shut up.” Rhys interrupted, flatly.
“Exactly.” Amara sent a smirk in Roman’s direction.
Rhys blinked at her, his face impassive. “You too.”
“What?”
“We’re not here to hear you two argue.”
Vex nodded. “Yeah, do that when you’re alone.” She rested her elbow on Rhys’ shoulder in a swift show of sibling intimacy. Amara watched as he looked at her funny and stepped subtly to the side. Vex slapped his shoulder when her elbow slipped off of his arm.
Amara teleported again. When she reappeared, she was on the other side of town, miles away from where Vex, Roman, and Rhys stood. Rhys quickly followed Amara’s lead and melted into the darkness, the cold, blank look still etched on his face.
Amara reached into her boot, and pulled out a sleek dagger; her deadliest weapon. It was cold, silver, and perfect. Everything she wanted to be. She apparated, again, to the spot where Henry still laid (paralyzed thanks to Roman). She gathered the man in her arms and held up his wrist so she could see it clearly. She carved a symbol into his skin, a branding of sort, so he’d know, and anyone who’d see the mark would know, Envy had tainted him.
Amara turned to leave when a voice broke her out of her concentration.
“Going somewhere?” A girl asked. Amara looked up into clear blue eyes, and snow white hair. The girl wore a skin-tight suit that looked like it’d been spun straight from gold. Written across it in big and shiny font were two letters: O.S.
A bad feeling choked it’s way up Amara’s spine.
Amara was freaking out. Freaking out freaking out. She was angry. If they failed this mission because of her idiot brother...
“You’re overreacting.” Vex replied absently, examining her nails. Amara briefly looked to them. They were a dark gray color, acrylics sharpened into claws. They fit her perfectly.
“I’m not. He’s jeopardizing this entire mission.”
Vex shrugged, “That’s what he always does. You act like it’s something new.”
“That doesn’t make it ok, V!” Amara exclaimed, inhaling sharply, “him jeopardizing this mission could be fatal to us. It could be fatal to this entire organization.”
“Calm down, Mar. He’s not the only one who’s bent the rules a couple of times. Rhys and I have been in his place before.”
“It was a problem then, it’s still a problem now.”
“Not all of us can be you.” Vex replied, finally looking up into Amara’s eyes, “Chill. Quit complaining.”
Amara could remember clearly the first time she met Vex. She’d been 12 years old, and she thought the little black girl who’d infiltrated her home and stolen all of her glory was gorgeous. She hated her.
Vex’s brother had been quiet, brooding, he kept to himself...but Vex was everywhere. She was loud, smart, and skilled. Her and her brother had powers unlike any Envy she’d ever seen before. It took Amara years to finally get over her jealousy.
“That’s not all I’m doing and you know it.” Amara replied, “I’m trying to pick up on our probability of us succeeding in this mission.”
“Why is it taking so long today? You’re usually done by now.”
“I don’t know. There’s been something wrong recently. Maybe I’m sick?” Amara said, before she saw a flashing in her head. Bright red numbers were all that she could see; the number’s she’d been waiting on.
Amara’s eyes began to glow, and her face lost all expression. Her voice turned flat, distant, almost as if it wasn’t her speaking, “Chances of succeeding, 86%. Chances of failing, 11%. Chances of dying, 3%.”
Seconds later, Amara’s eyes bled into their normal dullness. Her eyebrows furrowed.
“Those odds are worse than last time. And I bet I could tell you why.”
Vex groaned, “I’m sure you could, thing is, I already know what you’re going to say so-”
“Fucking Roman.” Amara’s cheeks were hot with anger, “of course. Roman! He always ruins everything!”
“You’re exaggerating….”
“Am I?”
“Yes, you are. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Rhys. After we finish the mission.”
“Whatever. I hope that 3% chance of death is for Roman.” Amara said, before leaning into her shirt to talk into her microphone.
“Listen, Rhys. Roman has gone rogue. We have an 86% chance of completing this mission. You know what to do.”
Rhys said nothing in return, but when Amara looked to the building across from her, she saw an inky black shadow meld into the darkness littering the ground. She knew that it was Rhys.
Amara quickly turned away, and grabbed a hold of Vex’s arm. Silently, she willed them to be on the ground directly below where they stood atop the building. They apparated there.
The area had a strange chill to it, a sinister sort of cool that made Amara’s head spin. She threw a forcefield up around herself and Vex, and looked toward her friend.
“You ready?” She asked her.
“As I’ll ever be.” Vex shrugged.
Amara let her forcefield fall with the flick of her hand. As soon as she did, Vex was gone.
Amara watched as Vex pulled out her gun, running into the mass of people that had been their intended landing spot. Roman came out of nowhere, flying above Vex’s head and following her. Gasps were heard all around when people saw her, and Amara frowned. Fucking Roman.
Vex started shooting people absently. Her eyes, Amara could see, held not a drop of remorse as their bodies hit the ground. Over the years, Amara had noticed thatVex and Rhys’ complete and total disdain for civilian life was what made them such great assets to the team. They were daring, ruthless, and unpredictable, and although Amara wasn’t paying any attention to Rhys then, she knew that he was working just as quickly and skillfully as his sister was, if not more so. When Amara saw Vex’s eyes lower and switch to brown, she knew that Vex was letting her power overtake her. Vex was forcing indescribable pain into the veins of the civilians, and Amara knew from experience that it hurt. Soon, most of them were writhing on the ground. Roman touched anyone that he could, paralyzing them as soon as their skin made contact with his. Their powers combined made destroying the town that much easier.
The air was hazy. A red steam rose up from the fallen civilians, and it littered the air. It ran to the sky, and disappeared, over and over again; as if it were a song on repeat. The smell of blood invaded Amara’s senses, and it caused the adrenaline pumping in her veins to spike. This was what she’d spent her whole life working for. Day in and day out, training, practicing, studying, spending every waking moment perfecting herself...it was all for this.
Amara pulled out her spear, and skewed the first person she saw. Then, she apparated away, and speared someone else. She teleported quickly, bouncing from place to place, spearing anyone through the heart that she came into contact with. As Amara worked, blinking in and out of existence, she saw a darkness, Rhys, that clouded around a certain area for a period of time before it washed away, and all the people that’d been previously standing there were disintegrated into ash. She watched as Rhys uprooted a tree straight from the ground, and sent it to a couple of people trying to crawl away without so much as lifting a finger.
Amara focused on herself again. Flash. She was in a new place. She raised her spear…
A voice flitted through her ears, probably her next victim.“I beg you miss, please. I have a family, a wife, kids. Don-”
Amara looked up at the man. He stopped speaking when he saw her eyes. Kind, calming, alluring... then, she speared him straight through the mouth. She turned away when his head started to loll back. She teleported again, and killed someone else.
It was the same thing, the same drill, the same pattern. She rinsed, and she repeated.
As she worked, Amara could hear her parent’s voices in her head.
It’s hard to love a disappointment.
Her parents were Legendary Envies, survivors of Secontita, and two of the most powerful people in all of Ataraxia. Grey was a name to be feared, and she had to live up to it.
She had to be better, to work harder. Be perfect. Her parents expected no less. She had to be good enough for them. It was the only way...
Amara looked around. The streets were littered with dead, mutilated bodies. Red was everywhere. It ran through the streets like a stream of water. The few people that were left were trying hard to scurry away, pausing to look at their fallen loved ones, trying to hold back their grief. The once lively area of people was now a minefield of dead bodies in a sea of blood.
Amara was soon joined by Rhys and Vex.
“Are we done yet?” Vex asked, “mostly everyone is dead here, anyway. I need to get home so I can catch up on my show.”
“We’re not done.” Rhys said simply.
“He’s right. We’re supposed to leave no survivors. Once everyone is dead, we can get Henry and head back to HQ.”
“Well, this is...almost no survivors.” Vex shrugged, “It should be enough. Let’s just go. It’s not like Mathias will ever find out.”
“We’re not leaving until we’ve fully completed this mission.” Amara said the words slowly, as if Vex was a child or hard of hearing, “If you’re ready to go, maybe you should work harder.”
“What are we talking about, guys? Roman wants to know!!” Roman said as he floated down to stand with them. The sound of his voice brought Amara’s anger back to her, and she swung harshly to the side to face him.
“What the hell were you thinking?!”
“Thinking about what?” Roman responded gleefully.
“Don’t play dumb with me! Were you trying to get us all killed?!?” Amara thundered, fury aliting her eyes.
“I’m going to need you to rollback the attitude, and take a chill pill, sis. No need to throw around accusations. It wasn’t even that serious.” Roman shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalance that made Amara’s blood burn.
“Not that serious my ass. When we get back to HQ, you’re done.”
Roman narrowed his eyes, and scoffed incredulously. “Amara, if you try anything, I swear-”
“Shut up.” Rhys interrupted, flatly.
“Exactly.” Amara sent a smirk in Roman’s direction.
Rhys blinked at her, his face impassive. “You too.”
“What?”
“We’re not here to hear you two argue.”
Vex nodded. “Yeah, do that when you’re alone.” She rested her elbow on Rhys’ shoulder in a swift show of sibling intimacy. Amara watched as he looked at her funny and stepped subtly to the side. Vex slapped his shoulder when her elbow slipped off of his arm.
Amara teleported again. When she reappeared, she was on the other side of town, miles away from where Vex, Roman, and Rhys stood. Rhys quickly followed Amara’s lead and melted into the darkness, the cold, blank look still etched on his face.
Amara reached into her boot, and pulled out a sleek dagger; her deadliest weapon. It was cold, silver, and perfect. Everything she wanted to be. She apparated, again, to the spot where Henry still laid (paralyzed thanks to Roman). She gathered the man in her arms and held up his wrist so she could see it clearly. She carved a symbol into his skin, a branding of sort, so he’d know, and anyone who’d see the mark would know, Envy had tainted him.
Amara turned to leave when a voice broke her out of her concentration.
“Going somewhere?” A girl asked. Amara looked up into clear blue eyes, and snow white hair. The girl wore a skin-tight suit that looked like it’d been spun straight from gold. Written across it in big and shiny font were two letters: O.S.
A bad feeling choked it’s way up Amara’s spine.