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The air was dry, drier than usual in Lost Temple.
To be fair, it was an acquired tolerance, most Inphernals spawned in Lost Temple were beyond used to it (Hell, any of the other factions would feel suffocating with how… humid the air was to them). But that didn’t change the fact that it was hot as hell in the daytime. Scythe let out a tired groan, fanning herself with a fan she got with some bonus bounty money she picked up. Her healthy eye scanned the horizon, seeing nothing but sand, and the occasional desert plant or two. The Church was practically in the middle of nowhere as to not raise suspicion, the old (seemingly abandoned at face value) cathedral sticking out like a sore thumb in the desert with its black facade and casting a foreboding shadow as the dark teal stained glass windowpanes shimmered in the sun.
Scythe sighed again as she stretched, her healthy eyes shutting as she took a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out. Her prosthetic arm twitched sporadically for a moment, before she scoffed and stretched it out. She’d have to get Medkit to check up on it again. Suddenly, she saw another Inphernal slowly creep towards the cathedral. She slowly got up from the steps of the church, closing her fan as she brushed off her outfit, squinting as she began to make out the basic features of the approaching Inphernal. She let out a barely audible bark that could be taken for a scoff before going to greet the Inphernal, giving them a ‘pat on the back’ that was all but a shove.
“Speak of the devil,” Scythe snickered with her trademark sharp-toothed grin. “Pleasure to see ya again, ‘Kit.”
Medkit sighed, claws drumming on his briefcase as he looked away from the mercenary.
“Hello, Rifle,” he said in his usual dry and deadpan voice. “I would say it’s a pleasure but it’s really… not.”
Scythe chuckled before giving Medkit another shove. “C’mon,” she laughed, “Don’t gimme all that stoic shlock! Ya gotta be somewhat happy t’ see me, right?”
Medkit shrugged, putting a hand on his head as the crystal suspended in between his horns dulled slightly, barely noticeable. He sighed again, looking at Scythe and adjusting the cuffs on his sleeves.
“Somewhat,” he muttered, his eye drifting back to Scythe. “At the least, I’m somewhat glad to see a familiar face.”
Scythe chuckled again, ‘patting’ Medkit one last time before beginning to head back to the cathedral. She flicked her head as a gesture for Medkit to follow her. The two Inphernals walked in silence all the way to the church, Scythe only occasionally cracking a joke or two, causing Medkit to let out a small, somewhat pathetic sigh or for the corners of his mouth to perk up for a split second before resting again. For a moment, the medic’s brows furrowed, before his gaze drifted onto Scythe once more.
“Rifle,” he murmured.
Scythe perked up, pushing the brim of her hat up slightly to get a closer look at Medkit. “So, ya CAN speak,” she joked. “What’s ailin’ ya?”
“I have a question,” the medic replied, looking at Scythe with an air of confusion in his otherwise dull eyes. “Were you… spawned into the Church? If this is too prying, forget I asked.”
Scythe tilted her head slightly, her usual crafty smile faltering.
She barely remembered anything from when she spawned. All she remembered was fire and screaming, and cold, bony hands wrapped around her chest in a mock hug. She remembered what felt like a thousand eyes staring down on her trembling frame. She remembered wriggling like a worm in the grasp of a hawk’s talons as a masked Inphernal put a needle to her left eye. She remembered being ordered to kill one Inphernal, then another, then another until the blood on her hands could fill an ocean. She remembered trying to run away from the church with an old friend and getting caught, getting mocked and heckled as the Father made an ‘example’ out of her. She remembered nothing else. Nothing else worth mentioning, at the least. Nothing that she hadn’t fully repressed. Scythe looked away from Medkit as she quickened her pace a bit.
“...Let’s just gloss over that,” she muttered.
Medkit looked away as well, a frown forming on their lips.
“...My apologies,” he muttered. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Scythe scoffed, forcing herself to pick up her usual demeanor as the two finally approached the cathedral, walking up the steps with a sense of urgency.
“Ah, you were just tryna’ find out somethin’ about lil’ ol’ me,” she halfheartedly joked. “Nothin’ gained, nothin’ lost, alright?”
“....”
Medkit’s healthy eye narrowed, before the Inphernal sighed with a nod and opened the door for Scythe, ushering her in with a nod. Scythe tipped her hat once again as she walked into the cathedral, the cold air prickling against her skin. If anyone else would have asked, they would have been in a body bag, but the Father didn’t want his prized possession getting hurt because of her sudden outbursts, now did he? Her healthy eye narrowed again before fully closing, and opening again.
Her past was a problem that she hated to go on about, and yet the first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have one.