Even Kings Have Critics

"No excuses! You broke the rules and brought ANOTHER unresistant, unidentified individual into the HEART of our operations!" The Botanist who soon revealed herself to be named Physis had been yelling at Kai for the better part of an hour, and she showed no signs of running out of steam. "She's not unidentified! She's my girlfriend!" Even without seeing it, Angie could hear Physis throwing her hands in the air from the sound of her suit.

"OH! ShE's yOuR giRLfRienD? Well, that makes it aLl bEtTeR!" Angie could sense the stress rolling off Physis in waves and the rudeness and hot temper it produced.

'That isn't how Physis normally behaves. . .she's just stressed, and now she's irritable because of it. I have no idea why. Angie stretched a hand toward Physis, her body reacting to her stress like a magnet to a fridge. I want to help her. I NEED to help her. I don't want to leave her in distress.'

Angie's discovered herself moving closer and closer toward empathetic tendencies, a feeling she hasn't experienced before. Despite its fledgling status, the woman had already begun to forget what life without this sixth sense was. Now that she connected to the world around her and the energies inside it, it baffled Angie how people could live any differently. Now she understood that she lived in a world of musicians who were all deafened.

Angie moved her leg to stand but was jerked back into the gurney, her leg handcuffed to the bed. After Kai and Angie were caught by Physis, she shoved them into an elevator and rocketed the trio downstairs. On what was observedly the third floor of five, the three entered a hospice where Physis chained Angie to the gurney forcing Kai alone to face her endless wrath.

Angie found the hospice pretty standard, with only a few high-tech gizmos spread far and between. None of that mattered because what did catch Angie's eye was the child laying in the gurney adjacent to hers and the horrifying state of his condition.

Skin flayed from the bone exposing, the red muscle tissue below. Eyes hollowed out and hair burnt and crisp. The small scraps of flesh that still stuck to his poor body were blackened and horribly charred beyond belief.

The boy couldn't be any older than fourteen. "Dear God. . .what did this to you. . ." Angie laid a hand on the boy's charred arm tears, welling in her eyes. "I don't even know what's keeping you alive." Now a stream did run down her cheek, the sadness within breaking her voice as she spoke. Tender fingers shaky, but firm, held the boy's palm. It wasn't much, but if she could lessen the pain by even a bit, then she had to.

"I don't want to see you suffer like this." To her horror yet somehow relief, the charred hand reciprocated in a small pull of its own. "Heyo. . ." The boy's voice was soft and fleeting as if his throat could close at any moment. "Can I...Can I tell you something? S-Something important?" Angie pulled his hand closer to her face, a river of tears now pouring down her cheeks.

"Anything." She whispered. "You are. . ." The boy did his best to rise from his gurney but did not need to as Angie moved closer. "Y-You really are. . ." Blackened skin flakes carried were carried away by the wind that wasn't there, and in its place, the red muscle tissue, having lost its, skin began to regain its ruby color. Olive skin grew in patches across his face like grass, and the dark empty shells in his skull filled with eyes newly generated.

Pearly white teeth shot out from the boy's gums, and cedar brown hair began to sprout from his head. The holes and missing flesh on his body continued to fill out until his lips were suitable for speech. "You are the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life." The boy smiled showing, that all his teeth had filled his mouth. "Will you please sit on my face, miss?" Angie yanked her hand back and stumbled onto the gurney her, face a visceral mix of emotions.

"OH, WHAT THE FUCK!?!"

Maven laughed for the fifth time this morning. Today's prospect has been entertaining him for the better part of an hour, and now they were ready for the next step. Or at least he was. "I'll tell you it's been a while since I've laughed this long and this hard, Amber!" Maven shoveled another spoonful of gravy into his mouth knowing, his mashed potatoes were well and gone. "You really make me happy, you know that?" Maven leaned forward and smiled his, onyx eyes clashing against Amber's hazel.

"I think we really understand one another, you know? I can feel my energy and yours swirling together, and it's BEAUTIFUL." The tab arrived for the meal, and Maven smiled politely at the waiter. "Many thanks, my good man!" Reaching into his wallet Maven, retrieved both a check and a pen. His handwriting though terrible, was legible and enough to make the waiter ecstatic.

"Don't worry about thanks. That beaming smile and look of astonishment are enough for me." Amber peered at the check in pure shock. "Holy shit! One thousand dollars, are you serious?" Maven slipped his wallet back into his coat, his expression dark and severe. "Of course, I'm serious. Exemplary service equals exemplary reward. Plain and simple." The striking reply sent Amber spiraling as the energy radiating off Maven ran intense.

"But never mind that." Cold yet still enticing and curious, a sinister simper cut Maven's lips, exposing a row of shiny white teeth. His eyes narrowed, and the aura around Maven gave off a predatory flow. "I've got something I want to show you." In the wild, animals can sense danger, such as when a predator is stalking them. Amber could feel every single one of those danger signals triggered as Maven rose from his seat and started walking towards his car, expecting her to follow.

Run. Run away. Get as far from Maven as possible and then run even still! Despite that Amber, didn't run. She didn't flee, and even worse, she followed. She followed that demon into his car and under the cover of darkness. She couldn't explain it, but Amber felt compelled to do what Maven asked no, matter how outlandish or inconceivable it might be. Reason didn't matter. SHE didn't matter. All that mattered was Maven and what he wanted.

And right now, what he wanted. Was her.

"Uhn! Oi, Amber?" The girl shifted under Maven's weight, golden locks of hair framing her shiny face. "Y-Yeah? Umf!" She panted, ignoring her exhaustion. "You up for another round? I think I got a few more in me." Amber's eyes widened her white stained mouth agape. "I-I dunno, Maven. I don't think I can go for much longer and...wait didn't I say I was done a while...I mean I think I did..."

Maven scoffed and pushed the poor girl against the dashboard her, face pressed firmly against the plastic. "Hey, can you stop that? You're starting to hurt me." The air went stale and silent, the moon's rays might as well not have been there as everything around Amber seemed to go dark in this empty void consuming everything around her. All except Maven.

"Hurt you?"

Golden energy like lightning flashed through the car and across Amber burning spider-like burns onto her skin.

"You'll know when I've hurt you."