"Good." Yrix fiddled with her own spindly fingers as Lila entered the room.
The Earthling could have sworn she heard something on the way in, perhaps a warning from Rena or Lunae. But she was already too shaken to register it. Lila knew why she was called.
"I want you to meet someone." Yrix continued, pointing to Imura, who silently brooded in the corner. "A friend of mine."
Lila had nothing to say, either. Both her humor and her recently acquired sense of gumption had retired. All she had left was fear.
"Well, I'm glad we all understand each other."
Yrix flicked her wrist as a hatch opened in the corner of the room. It was no wider than her own shoulders, but the darkness that seeped forth from it told the whole story. It was an arena built under her own office.
Just then, Ivy walked in, looking over at Imura with a frightened gaze. Lila was shocked to see her and almost cried out for her to leave. But Imura's sheer presence silenced them both.
"So then." Yrix chimed. "You two."
"What?" Ivy furrowed her brow, disdain leaking from her mouth.
"Quite the bond, right?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ivy scolded.
Lila didn't know if Ivy was trying to keep their relationship a secret out of a desire to protect or just flat out denying their history altogether. Either way, it hurt the Earthling to hear those words come out of her mouth.
"Oh?" Yrix beamed with excitement.
The Arch-Flayer clenched her fist, pulling Lila in with a Psionic grasp before grabbing the top of her head with a single claw. She held the girl aloft, causing her to squirm in fright. Ivy was visibly startled, but stayed her ground.
"You feel nothing? Is that what you want me to beleive?"
"I-..." Ivy hesitated. "She's an ally. A means to an end. My family expects me to sacrifice them when the time arises."
Yrix almost laughed. "So it's about your family then."
Ivy had no response.
"I think not. No, this is a matter of spirit. A warrior's spirit, to be precise. If you do care about her, then set a fire in your heart. FIGHT." Yrix roared. "For her. For your honor. Unless, of course, you don't care about anything other than yourself."
The heiress still had no words. She felt exposed, naked even. Yrix was right.
"The Consortium didn't allow me to build this place just for my own amusement. You've passed two trials." Yrix continued as Imura watched on in silence. "Now it is time for you to begin your journey as a Psionic warrior. For the empire."
Ivy's eyes widened, realizing the grating words were no longer directed towards her. It was for Lila. And she was not ready.
Yrix walked calmly over to the open hatch, dangling Lila over what appeared to be a bottomless pit. She held her there, as the girl began to well up with years. It was clearly a taunt for Ivy.
And she did nothing.
"So then, you show your true colors." Yrix sneered.
Lila looked at Ivy with innocent disbelief. After all they had been through, she was betrayed. That feeling hurt far worse than the slap she had received a week ago.
Ivy opened her lips, her voice frozen with apathy. "I don't care what you do to her."
"As you command, heiress." Yrix jittered with anticipation.
The Arch-Flayer released her grip on Lila, sending the girl tumbling into the darkness below. To Ivy's horror, Imura was hot on her heels, casually stepping over to the hatch before jumping in feet first. The way she held her trident practically emanated malicious intent.
The hunt was on.
"I call it the Garth." Yrix pointed downwards. "Gutteral word, I know, a bit of a tease for the Emperor and his opulent vineyards. Lila should be able to hide in them. For a time. But Imura is a talented huntress. She'll find her. And when she does-."
"It won't work." Ivy huffed. "You can't scare me into caring."
"As I was saying, the vineyards of the Emperor aren't just for show. He has many. Loyal subjects from all over the empire grow him suitable stock to be consumed. But his favorite drink...it's always been of the Psionic variety." Yrix continued. "A plant can't give him that feeling, nor the visions he treasures when he drinks from his cup. No, I plant minds. Fermented corpses of failed Psions."
That's what happened to those who didn't survive the first few days.
Ivy grimaced. "She's just a girl."
"And soon, she'll be a mashed-up pot of ingredients. I wonder how she'll taste."
Yrix turned to the hatch and began to close it with a Psionic tug. Ivy's window was closing. If she did nothing, Lila would die alone, her body desecrated.
"If you truly don't care-." Yrix yawned, flicking her wrist with a bit of sass.
Ivy shook her head furiously, and just before the hatch closed, she rushed over and dove in headfirst. Yrix looked down with silent disdain before slowly clapping her hands together.
"Finally."
- - - - - - - - -
Imura peered into the dark pit with ease, breaking her fall with a burst of Psionic energy. Her sharp heels dug deep into the moist dirt of the Garth as she began to survey the horizon. Yrix's personal arena was vast, filled with luminescent alien foliage and a seemingly endless pit that surrounded the fringes of the Garth. There were so many places to hide, and yet, nowhere to run.
"Come out, come out, little vermin." Imura jeered, holding her trident aloft like a rifle.
The sleek black weapon transformed, forming a stock and a barrel where the tips of her blades once pointed outwards. Imura pressed on, holding her weapon at the ready as she watched for movement. Such was her excitement that she could hardly contain herself.
"Show me your pretty little face."
By the time Ivy made her own landing, Imura was at least a hundred yards in front of her. The heiress felt hopeless and severely out of her depth. But as she looked on into the dark garden, its reaches bristling with plants and ravines, she was filled with a sense of duty.
Lila needed her.