Chapter Text
they said corruption was an irreversible transformation.
it disfigured you, turned you into a soulless monster that could tear apart the innocent being you once were in an instant.
that's what they told her when they pulled the sniveling wreck out of the hollow, singing that one lullaby the rescue worker told her to sing, clinging on for dear life.
"you're lucky you didn't suffer anything permanent."
"you should be thankful that the rescue squad came for you when they did."
"you of all people were saved? what will you do to honor those that weren't?"
Astra wonders, too, if what she is doing now is enough.
Astra sat down atop a hill of broken human dreams, overlooking the Hollow disaster that started it all. Her breath rose and fell, unsteady at first and grasping for the courage to face the dark night with the same kindness she was given as a child. This was not her first expedition as the designated Hollow Rescue Team, and she would not make it any of their last, if she had anything to say about it.
Or maybe sing about it? Ever since she learned about the power of music, she nurtured it as a safeguard for people's hopes across New Eridu. Her voice hummed throughout the air, tuning itself to the resonant frequency of the Ether surrounding her. It cleared her head a little to be in sync with the world around her, and she pushed off the rubble to meet back up with her team.
"Evelyn, right?" Astra strolled up to the rest of the team, greeting the new face with a dazzling smile. "Captain told me you'd be joining us. Welcome to Pearl Squad, I'm Astra, the team's medic. If you're hurt just call out and make sure you catch the chorus~" Her voice put Evelyn into a comfortable ease, as if the two had known each other for years already. Then her face dipped a little, a look of concern washing over the bright sky, "They briefed you on what you're about to see right?"
Evelyn took in the sudden shift of attitude in front of her, studying the young woman in the Defense Force standard gear that seemed absent much of the usual weaponry issued to everyone. Astra's ornate earrings shone in the morning light, half-covered by her bangs that framed her face just so…
(What are they doing, sending a civilian like this out into the Hollows?)
That worried frown melted away at Evelyn's sharp, protective gaze, and turned a little mischevious as Astra quickly dodged to the side-
-and that sly, adorable smile appeared right in front of her right as Evelyn turned. Clearly there was more than met the eye when it came to this 'medic' that she would have to stay aware of. Looking back at Astra, she seemed to be flashing a pose that had been practiced in a much different setting than the ruined city they were standing inside. Did the Defense Force offer ballet lessons in their off time?
"I'm just surprised you don't have anything to protect yourself with, is all." Evelyn played her cards close to her chest. Even if these standard issue weapons weren't necessarily her method of choice they were plenty for the job she needed to do. Maybe even a bit much, given how big the swords the melee operators used were. "Don't they assign you at least a rifle to protect yourself with?"
"You'll see when we get there, Evelyn! Can't spoil all the surprises." Astra gave her a provocative wink, as the rest of the team came in to greet the newcomer, showering the blonde in praise (you must have been so strong to get here!) and warning (the Hollow ain't a VR simulation after all!) alike for making it through selection so quickly. Amidst the crowd, the medic stood watching the scene, grinning from ear to ear. Maybe her job would be easier with spirits so high. Maybe she wouldn't even have to lose anyone today.
Evelyn, to her credit, had been well versed in taking and following orders. Her previous 'combat' experience came in quite handy, having flown through the basic combat courses without much other than the instructors noting a 'particular focused aggression in dispatching human-sized ethereals'.
"Not every day we see a trained killer on the premises."
The blonde recruit whipped around, barely missing the voice by a hair. Emblazoned in a solitary circular pink medal, the captain's slightly muffled words had a tinge of amused curiosity to them. She was flipping through some notes, lingering a little on a section labelled 'Combat Data'.
"Combat sim completed in under 60 seconds, humanoid Ethereals dispatched cleanly in two blows to the neck region wih standard issue bladed weaponry… you sure you didn't get lost on your way here? HSO is a few clicks down the street, maybe you missed the memo on ObSquad getting sent to Lemnian Hollow?"
Evelyn bristled a little at the double-sided praise- she'd rather not stand out, even if in a good way.
"And you are?"
"Just call me Captain," the purple-haired lady in the Defense Force mask responded.
Rounding an overturned tow truck, pairs of footsteps bounded down the concrete, echoing down the Old Capital's mangled streets. They tasted condensed Ether in that air that weighed upon them, an everpresent reminder of their ticking lifespans. A gloved hand raised, signaling pause and listen up.
"Alright ladies! Daylight's burning and we've got reports of a PubSec team missing in this building. No signs of Ethereal activity so far, but you and I both know there are worse things than Ethereals out here. Split up into pairs, floor by floor. Radio back when you've cleared your floor out. Do you copy?"
The Captain orders rung out in her earpiece, and each of them sounded out one by one. Evelyn disliked not operating alone. The feeling of eyes boring into her back, having to rein herself in, the judgement of her sins hanging over her nec-
"Eve!"
She sighed, looking over her shoulder to see the medic with the same dazzling smile. Yet she couldn't help but feel the warmth inside herself as well. Even if this barren air turned us into Ethereals, Evelyn thought, our crystals would shine nowhere near as brightly as her.
"Looks like we're paired up!" Astra beamed.
"The name's Evelyn, if you forgot," sighed the blonde recruit.
"Nope! But now I get to pull out this baby."
The medic unfolded an odd contraption behind her back, looking nearly like a Old Capital microphone stand that seemed to shine with an otherwordly presence. In contrast to the heavy, turbulent flow of Ether outside, the air seemed to still around the device, with Astra telescoping the rod out to match her height. She gave it an experimental tap on the office floor, briefly breaking the comforting silence that had cast its spell on Evelyn.
"Is that your… gun? Seems a little unwieldy for combat." Evelyn's eyes scanned along the doorway they were in for a second, and then she strolled over to the Etheric weapon in front of her.
It stood a bit taller than the blonde, and despite having taken glances at a wide range of firearms blueprints in her past life, she couldn't piece together where it would concentrate and release energy. The staff simply seemed to radiate with an otherworldly energy, passively banishing the shadows that stuck to every nook an cranny of the Hollow.
Astra's eyes simply shone with a hint of amusement. And then she hummed into the centerpiece, revealing the Ether energy resonating in the top of the device.
"Why don't I give you a personal show?" beamed Astra. "Or as the Captain would want me to say,"
She gave Eve a wink, and pointed it over at the caved in door.
"You breach- I'll clear."
While clandestine operations were Evelyn's bread and butter, it was a little hard to ignore the buildup of energy every time they reached a door, coming from both Astra and her little (not little) Ether gun. She couldn't help the nagging feeling that this lady wasn't treating the potential combat scenario with the proper respect.
A practiced silent breach of the door, followed up with Astra pointing the staff around, sweeping the room for danger. And a little giggle to follow it all. Following the training in protocol, but in spirit? That was another question. Another set of offices. Another breach. Another giggle. Almost aimed at how seriously Evelyn was taking it all.
Then they heard it.
Breathing. A sign of life.
It wasn't particularly loud, coming from a soul nearly smothered by the shadows. But it was just enough to find him, in a heap beside a collapsed storage closet. Uniform in tatters, but just enough blue and lettering to guess he was Pubsec.
"I'll take care of him. You secure the perimeter." Astra's eyes were deadly serious now.
"W-Wait, we need to make sure he's not too far gone first. You could be in danger." Evelyn's voice wavered a little, taken aback by this sudden new side of her team's medic.
"I can take care of it. Evelyn." Astra readied an arrangement of first aid, pulling out a set of gauze and medical scissors. " You should figure out who did this to him."
"But-"
It took another "Go!" to snap Evelyn out of it, and as her footsteps echoed in the distance Astra centered herself back on the work in front of her.
First things first.
"Can you hear me?" Astra asked while checking for pulse strength.
The wheezing got a tiny bit more labored in response. She sat the Pubsec officer up, flashing a light in his eyes. They glazed over, looking off listlessly towards a shadow without a tomorrow. His outlook was, admittedly, a little grim, with the telltale signs of crystalline Ether starting to build up and poke through the sleeves on his uniform, but she had to try. Even if they could move him out of the Hollow, the displaced Ether was already eating through his bones…
Astra stood up, replacing the medical supplies in her hands for her staff. She took a deep breath.
One, two, three, four…
Evelyn scrambled her way through the claustrophobic office space, littered with knocked over supply cabinets and desks. Now that she didn't have another body to worry about she could speed through at her leisure. The bulky protective gear stomped on the floor, reverberating across the room in a hopefully enough loud manner to provoke any lingering enemies, Ethereals or not.
She scanned across the room, the laser from her Defense Force Standard Issue sweeping the area, stopping as she saw the telltale glowing reddish-pink and warning screech. The dark moon taking the place of the head of some poor sap. Most likely, they'd been in a standoff with Pubsec that ticked on just a bit too long, with the shadow of the Ether claiming them as their own. The Pearl Squad recruit drew closer, waiting for an opening.
Humans were predictable, Evelyn had learned from years of hunting them, and while this one might have shed its humanity at some point she knew they retained traces of that predictability within them. She opened fire. Bullets lodged themselves into the armored crystal arms of the Corrupted man, casings falling to the floor without an easy shot on the core.
Lull it into a false sense of security…
The gun clicked as it went empty. The man-turned-Ethereal closed the gap. Spines on its arms gleamed in the shadows. Pointed to kill.
…and strike.
Evelyn's blade embedded itself into the pearl-like core. It seared away at the edges, lighting up the pitch black void that it normally took. As the shrieks of the damned died down, Evelyn could almost swear she saw her own face in the reflection of that deep glassy surface.
The corpse, slowly as it always does here in the Hollow, disintegrates into the Ether around her. She will burn this one into her soul, too. As with each and every one that came before. How easily it could be her dissipating into Ether molecules right now…
But now is not the time. Astra needs backup. Evelyn only hoped she did not take too long. Picking up the pace, she heard- noise? No, melody coming out of the hallway she left them in. Was that.. singing back from the other room? Turning the corner, she could braced for the worst possibility, rifle laser gleaming in the shadows of the corridor.
"Miss Yao, I'm here-"
A soft lullaby interrupted her, one she almost took for something you comfort a child with before they die. She shouldered the gun for a brief moment, taking in the creature- no, comrade in front of her.
The crystalline features only shone brilliantly over Astra's face. Her once-porcelain skin, dotted with fragments of Ether like a shattered mask over one of her cheeks, glowed with vibrant life. It bewitched Evelyn, freezing her in place as she gazed at the flow of energy, from the fallen officer, through the staff, and into her teammate.
Until all that could be heard was the solemn breathing of a medic(?) having done her job. The now two-faced lady turned to the intruder, steady and mirthless.
"I don't remember telling you my last name, Eve."