Realistic or Modern Oracle Manor

[BoneBrain]

Her fingers curled around his bicep, and in a rough drag she turned him. She looked at him like he'd just committed the most heinous crime and broken her heart. Hayden hated that, hated how his insides curled up like a snake desperate to find out who'd hurt her so he could hurt them. But the fact of the matter was, he already knew what was hurting her and it was he who was responsible for that line of anguish that separated her brows. It was he who caused those glassy eyes, brimming with unshed tears. He suddenly knew he'd bend over backwards to make sure he didn't see her cry again- and he hated himself for that very fact.

The anger that boiled deep within his gut rose to the surface as she all but yelled at him, demanding to know what had been said, what they both already knew. He could feel the eyes of Jade and Jayden as they leaned closer to the blow up, their hushed whispers carrying on the breeze. Hayden's jaw ticked, his dark eyes narrowing on the spitfire in front of him as she continued to explode. She demanded to know if it was true and he could all but imagine as Jayden and Jade held their breaths, breathless with anticipation of the news.

He wouldn't give it to them however. If word got out about their connection... their... bond- they'd be targets number one and two in the next competition. So Hayden did what he thought was best, and that was to shutter his expression as best as he could and wrenched out of Essa's hand. She looked about ready to murder him and he couldn't have that either. So he bent, his shoulder connected with Essa's stomach and lifted, hoisting her over his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes.

He banded his arms over her legs, stopping any kicks or struggling there- ensuring she wouldn't be able to escape him as he marched them away from prying eyes towards the empty dock.

"If you quit struggling, I'll consider not throwing you into the ocean." He hissed at her as he stomped his way down the steps towards the dock. Finally when they were out of earshot he bent, setting her back down. Her hair was a wild halo around her, curling up around her face from her short stint upside down. He braced himself ready to catch any blows she might rain down upon him for his invasion of space.

"What were you thinking?" He seethed, stepping forward like it was instinctual. He couldn't deny the undeniable, almost feral desire to be in her space. "Announcing what we know to everyone like that? Use your fucking head Essa- or do you want to fight extra hard in the next competition because being the winners of the previous set isn't enough of a target on our backs? Hm?" Fuck, she smelled so good, he longed to grasp her by the back of the neck and bury his nose in the soft curls near her ear. His arm still burned from where she'd touched him and he did everything possible to avoid noticing it.

"You saw it too?" He lowered his voice to ask the question burning in his mind. "The lines of Fate?" She didn't have to answer him, he could already see the answer in her eyes. Bound so tightly together, they were. "Hades wasn't very forthcoming with information." He admitted into the silence that had fallen between them for long seconds. "He demanded to know why I was bound up by the threads of another, and when he revealed the line he said the competition was about to get a whole lot more interesting." Hayden dragged a hand through his hair, his weary mind trying desperately to make sense of the words the God had spoken.

"For better or worse, it seems you and I are... bound." Hayden had to bite out the last word. "Everything we've been feeling is just a product of the God's meddlesome games." His gaze lifted and he met Essa's eyes and before he knew what he was doing, his thumb caught a stray tear that had managed to slip from the corner of her eye. Her skin was soft under his touch, and sparks of pleasure skirted up his arm, he pulled back like he'd been burned. "We can't give in." He muttered. "Tell me everything they told you and I'll do the same, and when one of us wins, we'll find a way to serve this tie. Forever." He felt sick as he spoke the words, like the idea of not being connected to Essa might kill him. But it was what they had to do. They would not be willing pawns in this game of divinity.

 

[Becboc]

Hayden wrenched out of her grasp and Essa’s expression darkened even further. If he was about to walk away without answering her, then so help her god… In the end though, Hayden went much, much further than that. Within moments he was bending in front of her, thrusting his shoulder into her stomach and hauling her over the top of him so that she dangled unceremoniously while he used his hands to prevent her from kicking him in the chest, just like he deserved.

“Hayden, what…?! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Essa shrieked, trying to wriggle and failing miserably in the iron grip that held her. “Put me the fuck down, right fucking now!”

Her protestations continued all the way to the dock and his threat to tip her into the ocean was met with a growl before finally he leaned down to place her back on her feet. Eyes flashing, expression and hair practically feral, Essa stepped forwards and without hesitation she shoved Hayden directly in the centre of his chest. “Don’t you ever do that to me again,” she hissed, stepping forwards as he did to ensure that she was in his space, that he could see how much she meant those words and because… she wanted to be, yearned to be.

In reality, Essa was beyond angry with him for humiliating her like that but a small part of her, a tiny seed that was buried deep enough for her to ignore it, thought that that kind of reaction? It was exactly what she had needed, it was a welcome distraction from her reality, from her saying something in her raw state that she might come to regret.

None of this showed however, as her eyes bore into his, as she listened to him explain himself, as her own gaze to burn with the emotion that she was suddenly so unable to contain. He had a point, she knew that he did but she couldn’t accept it, couldn’t accept any of this when all she wanted was to run, to run far away, back home to her sister, her life and all that mattered within it. She had never thought of herself beyond that, what her life could be and who might come into it and this… this bond that had forced her to do that was overwhelming to the point that all she wanted to do was bury her face into the chest of the man who stood before her and hold him until that gap in her chest, the one that had always been there, was filled in a way that she now realised could only be filled by him.

By the time that Hayden spoke again into the silence, Essa was too choked to reply. She knew that her face, her reaction said it all; they’d both seen the same thing, both knew what it meant. His confirmation resulted in that solitary tear slipping from the corner of her eye, the one that he reached up a thumb to catch. His touch was the one thing that lifted her eyes to meet his, to search his stunning features as if looking for an explanation, a reason to move away from him. Essa didn’t want to though; her chest ached with the need to maintain that contact, to lean into his hand. The instinct was almost primal in its intensity until the contrast of his words were what yanked her back into the very real understanding that… Hayden didn’t want this. And neither did she.

“I will not be tied to someone else,” she managed to choke out, using her discomfort to fuel her anger, her gaze flickering away as she retracted from the touch that had sizzled its imprint onto her cheek, burning her just like it had Hayden. “My fate is my own; not Athena’s, not Hades’s and certainly not yours. Fuck, the gods really have a great fucking sense of humour, don’t they? I have struggled and fought on my own for my whole gods damned life and now they want to bind me to someone else, now they think I need someone else?”

In truth, Essa hadn’t considered that this was the Gods meddling with them until Hayden had suggested as much, not when the explanation for how she had been feeling suddenly made so much sense. She didn’t want to accept it sure, but… did Athena and Hades really have that kind of power? To influence and imbue feelings – wasn’t that against freewill? and even if they did, why would they? Want was that kind of connection to them? It was easy to blame them as both she and Hayden apparently wanted to do but that didn’t make that blame true; after all, Athena, and Hades as far as she was aware hadn’t taken credit for the gift and that… was unusual.

When Essa finally spoke again her voice was thick, heavy and she finally turned away from Hayden towards the ocean lapping at the dock, her expression weary and full of hurt that she hated herself for, hurt that she didn’t want him to see.

Taking a breath, she tried to speak past the ball of emotion still clogging up her throat, knowing that she needed to do this, that the information was important even if neither of them wanted to hear it. “Athena told me that I am… fated to another,” she admitted, forcing her voice to continue, “And that the connection is a gift, one that if we accept… may help us in the trials to come.” Essa stopped short however, of telling Hayden what they had to do to accept the gift and found herself wondering if he already knew. “She didn’t tell me how it would help, just that it would.” That part was added bitterly and Essa supressed a shudder at Hayden’s suggestion of severing their tie, a suggestion she found that she couldn’t, wouldn’t speak to. Not when it lanced a strike of pain through her, one of discomfort, of nausea at the very thought, all feelings that she didn’t want to feel, didn’t understand. She didn’t want this, so then why was the thought of no longer having it so dreadful?

Lifting up two hands to run through her bouncing curls, Essa stared off into the horizon, whatever anger she had felt previously seemingly ebbing away with the flow of the tide, only to be replaced by complete and utter impending mental exhaustion. She didn’t want to think anymore, didn’t want to feel and as if demonstrating this fact, she finally flopped herself down onto the edge of the dock and sat, legs dangling off the edge of it, letting a brief silence fall in the aftermath of everything that had just been passed between them.

“I didn’t realise that the Gods could meddle with our feelings too,” she eventually revealed quietly, though even as she spoke the words, something about them didn’t quite ring true. But if that was the line that Hayden wanted to tow then she was more than willing to tow it with him to protect herself. “This is such a fucking mess and none of it makes any sense. I’m just… I’m so done. With all of it.” I want to go home.

The words teetered on the edge of her tongue but Essa didn’t speak them as more tears burned; she had never, not once in her life felt that way before - hadn’t ever believed that she could.

 

[BoneBrain]

"I have struggled and fought on my own for my whole gods damned life and now they want to bind me to someone else, now they think I need someone else?” At Essa's words Hayden felt his heart crack in two. The damn nuisance of an organ all but threatened to jump out of his chest at the confession layered in truths. Truth's he was certain Essa would rather no one know, and the fact that he had even a glimpse of the life she had before the competition was telling. She fell silent and he watched as her throat worked up the nerve to speak against the block that was surely forming.

He'd seen Essa display all manner of strength and bravery in their short time together. Had it truly been only a few weeks since their meeting? It felt like there had been nothing before Essa, and now here she was; looking like a she was a scant few moments away from falling apart. He wanted to pull her back to him when she turned away, wanted to tuck her into his side and lean his cheek against her top of her head. He'd whisper words to her, words of comfort and support. And none of it would be real. Essa confirmed as much when she spoke again, revealing that she too knew about what would happen if they allowed their bond to rule them.

He joined her, without thought, as she sat on the edge of the dock. His body as close to hers as he could get without actually touching her. He'd been about to speak, and share what Hades had revealed when she whispered one more confession onto the salty sea breeze.

"This is a mess." Hayden agreed ruefully. He looked up to the heavens, as if his mere glance could scold the God's for doing this to them. He cleared his throat and let his gaze drop back down to the sea below them and he watched as bubbles foamed and frothed as the waves met the sturdy wood of the docks. An errant bit of kelp danced through the waves, and it was something for him to latch onto as he spoke.

"Hades said as much as Athena. He kept alluding to the power within and that we would be remiss to resist it." He scoffed at the memory of the warm voice dictating how he should feel. "He said that we would know how to complete the bond, because it would be etched into my every thought and desire." Hayden snuck Essa a sideways glance, he wanted to know how she felt about that, if the idea filled her with a mixture of horror and pleasure like it did for him. "He also told me that he'd never seen a gift like this before, that a human bound by the red thread was unheard of." He ran a frustrated hand down his face. "He said it was the divine hand of another that had touched us but from the way you spoke it seems like Athena wasn't taking credit for it either."

Hayden groaned and leaned back, his hands meeting the back of the dock as his feet hovered listlessly over the water. "Why can't the God's ever speak clearly? Why must it always be so cryptic?" Essa looked so sullen and defeated that Hayden wisely shut his mouth. His desire for the facts and truth wasn't what Essa needed in this moment, he could see that clearly. Like she said, she was done. So Hayden did something he didn't do often, though when it came to her it was as easy as breathing. He reached out and pressed a comforting hand over her back, his fingers circling over the skin over her neck. His palm brushed over the bumps of her spine, just under her neck and his thumb was a sweeping trail over the skin of her shoulder.

"I lied when I said this changes nothing." He confessed, because truly it changed everything for him. "The fact of the matter is, you and I are stuck together in this. As much as I want to wring your pretty little neck, I just... can't." Was it a risk to tell her that? Most definitely. "You can count on me Essa, and together we're going to get through this. We're going to make the best of this, and when it's over we can both tell Fate to fuck right off. You'll get your wish and I'll get mine."

Hayden's other hand crept up his chest and he winced at the pain his own words caused him, "it has to be the God's meddling with our feelings?" He'd meant to say it to confirm Essa's suspicion, but it ended up coming out like more of a question. "I've never felt this strongly about anything. Ever." He rubbed at his chest before a horrifying thought occurred to him. "Oh Gods..." He muttered, he suddenly needed to lean forward because for a brief moment he wondered if he was going to be sick. "Thank the God's Fate chose you. If I'd been all moon eyed over fucking Jade or Jayden I would have begged you to kill me." He couldn't fathom the idea of feeling this strongly over anyone, but perhaps if it was Essa, he could manage.

 

[Becboc]

Her own thoughts had consumed her so completely in that moment that Essa hadn't considered what Hayden might do, how he might react. So, when she felt his presence sit down beside her, she glanced at him before looking back out to the ocean and letting a long, slow exhale leave her lips. It was a comfort to know he was here with her, to feel him, even though she didn't want it to be. Essa never showed this part of herself, very rarely arrived at this point, where her walls were down to leave her so exposed, vulnerable. Right now though, she simply didn't have the strength or the energy to maintain them and in truth? Even if just right at this moment, she was beyond caring.

A brief silence flowed over them as they sat companionably with their own thoughts and when Hayden did speak, when he began to detail what Hades had revealed to him, Essa listened and she contemplated, and looked mildly uncomfortable at hearing he also knew what they had to do to accept the bond. Even unspoken they both knew, knew what they wanted, what they felt. They had come close to it back in the baths, a feeling Essa had been very quick to shuck after Hayden's admission that he'd played her in the helicopter. Gods, they had so much history already and yet they had only known each other for a few days.

Hearing that even the gods seemed surprised by the red thread of fate binding them together was what eventually pulled Essa once more from these thoughts but before she could speak to it, or address it she felt a shift beside her and a warm hand make contact with the base of her neck. Her small body immediately stiffened; not because the touch wasn't wanted, but quite the opposite in fact. Hayden's touch was desired so much that all Essa wanted to do was sink into it and although she spent a good few moments battling the instinct to, in the end she let her muscles relax one by one, let the sparks ignited from that point on her back sizzle along her nerve-endings until every fibre of her being craved more.

Could such a feeling really be planted by the Gods, when it felt so organic, so... natural? Essa shivered softly as Hayden's thumb swept across her shoulder and when he confessed that he had lied about what this bond meant to him, something inside of her seemed to thaw. Essa didn't have the energy to fight the sudden overwhelming urge she had to go to him, didn't care that she would regret this later, or that she quite possibly wouldn't be able to look him in the eye again for a long while afterwards. She simply needed this, needed comfort... needed him and so with only a moment of hesitation, she began to move herself along the edge of the dock, so close to Hayden now that their legs were touching and so that she could slowly lower her head down, albeit tentatively, onto his shoulder.

Almost immediately, Essa relaxed into his warmth, his scent, closing her eyes as she breathed him in and just for a moment, allowed herself over to the pull towards him that she had been fighting ever since they had first met. "Me neither," she eventually confessed quietly to his acknowledgement of how strong the feeling between them was, although it was his sudden shocking revelation that pulled a snicker of laughter from her, an actual laugh, a sound that Essa couldn't remember the last time she had heard it. The tightness in her chest unravelled just a fraction more at that realisation. "I guess we have to take the small wins where we can," she murmured around a smirk. "Though I count that as a loss myself. Seeing you drooling over either one of those idiots would have been a prize in itself."

In truth, the very thought of Hayden drooling over anyone but her made Essa feel particularly feral, but she quelled the bite that threatened her by taking another deep inhale and then releasing it, as if that small action in itself could expend all of what she felt in one fell swoop. Another brief silence fell before she spoke again, knowing that there were things between them that they couldn't just ignore, that needed to be said. Knowing that they needed to figure this out, what it meant and more importantly, what they were going to do about it.

"If the Gods truly aren't responsible for this, if they really were surprised by two humans being linked like we are," she offered softly after several moments, considering what Hayden had told her earlier about Hades' surprise revelation. "Then how can we be so sure that they are causing the feelings too?" The question lingered, settling between them like a shroud, shielding them from anything else that wasn't the two of them. Essa hadn't meant it to change the mood but it had and as if realising as much she finally lifted her head, but not away from Hayden; instead she looked up into his eyes, her own searching his expression in a moment of uncertainty, vulnerability. Her next question was not one that she wanted to ask but one that felt necessary, given the implications of what accepting the bond might mean, what it might grant them in a competition where they needed every leg up they could get. Or at least that's what Essa tried to tell herself the reason for asking her next question was.

"Hayden..." She began, her words a barely audible whisper. "Do you think we should accept it?"

 

[BoneBrain]

The feeling of Essa inching ever closer to him filled Hayden with a breathless sort of anticipation. And when she was pressed against his thigh, his side and her head touched his shoulder Hayden knew without a doubt that he wanted to stay in that moment forever. The soft halo of her curls tickled his neck and he caught a whiff of her shampoo. The press of her cheek was so soft against his shoulder and he felt his arm tighten around her instinctively. He wanted her there, no, needed her there. With her curled next to him he finally felt like he could think again.

It helped to know she felt similar in the intensity of her feeling towards him, though there was still that glaring bit of logic that refused to let him think that any of this was real between them. How could it be? He was not someone who felt with intensity of the burning sun, his heart didn't reach as deep as the Mariana Trench. But when she laughed all those deep recesses of unknown feeling felt so full he was close to bursting.

"What if it was the other way around?" He threatened with a growl that had absolutely no bite to it, "and you were the one who found herself tangled up with the likes of those two? Oh how easy the competition would be then." Hayden lamented. They fell into silence once more, but it felt different, less like they were at odds and more like they were bolstering themselves to do 'this' (whatever this was) together. Soon Essa broke the silence with her quandaries and he hated that she was right. He didn't like not knowing who was responsible for this, or why the fates had done their bidding.

"I wish I knew." He muttered. "On top of keeping each other alive, we'll need to focus on understanding who could have done this to us. As much as it pains me to say, I think you're right that we can't be sure. If we knew who had done this, perhaps we could seek audience and find out how much this bond affects us and our... feelings." Hayden could spot a faint black dot in the distant sky, spearing through the clouds, and from the rapid blinking light near it's bottom he knew it was the helicopter come to collect them. Essa didn't spot it however and his eyes dropped to hers as she lifted her head from his shoulder.

They were breath's apart and it would have been all to easy to tighten his arm around her shoulder and tug her the rest of the way, so he could claim that damn perfect mouth. It was like the air around them was alive with energy, it sizzled and popped between them as his gaze dropped to that one pouty lip he so desperately wanted to drag through his teeth. Her question was breathless and he forced his eyes shut against the tantalizing image of her peering up at him through her lashes.

"I... Fuck I want to Essa. I want to so fucking badly, but if neither of us are in control..." His eyes opened and his charcoal eyes were doused in sadness. "If at the end of this we found out that none of this was real, it would kill me to know I took advantage of you when you couldn't say no. I don't want that to happen to me either." Hayden ran a hand over his face and he could just barely make out the whip of each helicopter blade as it sliced through the air. "No amount of power is worth yours or my free will." Hayden moved to stand and he reached a hand down to Essa, willing to pull her to her feet.

"Looks like it's almost time to head back." Hayden's head lifted to the darkening sky and let out a deep sigh. "So I guess there are three rules for us from here on out, until the competition is over. One: keep each other alive. Two: Find out who did this to us and see if there are any myths and legends that can lead us to more answers. Three: and most importantly, no falling in love."

 

[Becboc]

It was all Essa could do to smirk at Hayden’s growl because they both knew that she would never make this competition easy but for once, there was something comforting in the way they jibed at each other, something familiar. It felt less intense than their speculations of what could have caused this and why it had chosen them to play with, that there was more at work here than the Gods themselves. Essa’s mind felt like it was overloaded with it all, past the point of being able to think logically, so when she asked her final question of Hayden she could feel her body slipping into the pull towards him and for a moment, no matter how brief, she was simply too tired to fight it.

In the end though, it was Hayden’s response that jolted her back from the precipice, like he’d just tipped a bucket of ice over her head. Essa blinked in the face of what felt like a rejection; she didn’t hear the part that Hayden wanted to do this, didn’t hear anything other than if they followed through with what she had asked, what she had suggested... it would be like they were taking advantage of one another because none of it was real. She could have quite easily spun that it didn’t matter, that they could use this thing to better their chances but Essa felt hurt that she had no right to feel riling up within her, and finally it was that same hurt that caused her to pull away, to avert her gaze in an attempt to hide her shame, her embarrassment.

Gods, she was such an idiot. This was exactly why she didn’t let her walls down, why she didn’t let anyone in because everyone, even Hayden, would disappoint her in the end. If anything she suppose he’d done her a favour by reminding her of that fact, before she'd done something she knew now that she would come to regret.

When he held out a hand to her, Essa considered it for a moment but didn’t take it and instead lifted herself to her feet by using her own two hands, the same two hands that brushed down her clothes while Hayden listed the rules he thought they should follow over the course of the next few trials. At the third and final one, she couldn’t help the scoff that left her mouth; “Don’t flatter yourself Kaneko. I’ll do what I can, but winning comes first. Always.”

Then without a word more, without so much as a look back in his direction, Essa turned on her heel and began back up the slope that had led them down to the dock in the first place.

---

The helicopter whirred the sand beneath it into a frenzy, it’s humming engine loud and disruptive in the previous peace that the temples had afforded their Chosen. Jade and Jayden stood side by side watching it descend as Essa re-joined them, and unsurprisingly it was Jade who spoke to her re-emergence first. “So. You and Kaneko…?” There was a bitterness to her question that might have amused Essa if she hadn't felt so disgustingly raw.

“There is no me and Kaneko,” she snapped because fuck, if anyone else asked her that...

“That’s not what it looked like to me,” Jade lifted her chin. “What was all that about, anyway?”

“Even if there was something to tell,” Essa practically growled, clearly done with the niceties of their little holiday, though she added as an afterthought, “You would be the very last person on this entire planet that I’d talk to about it. Going forwards, how about you mind your own fucking business?” Jade momentarily gaped at her as Jayden did, but Essa wasted no time in staring back at them and instead, she practically stomped towards the helicopter that had now set itself down before them. When she reached it, she ignored the man in black who stood gesturing for her to mind her head and slid herself into it, shuffling right into the corner seat, arms folded across her chest.

In truth, she never believed she’d be so willing to get into a death trap that could fly her into the air but here she was; wishing beyond hope that it would set off soon so that she could concentrate on managing her fear of flying, rather than the million and one thoughts about red threads, and fate and love, that were buzzing around her overly tired mind.

 

[BoneBrain]

Essa's feet stomped against the dock and with each angry step that she took from him, Hayden repeated the mantra 'this is for the best,' to himself. If they both started thinking like Essa and bowing to their baser impulses they would end up in a place where he seriously feared hurting her. Every instinct in him demanded to care for and protect the woman marching away from him without a second glance, and that included protecting her from himself.

"Fuck." He rumbled out the single expletive, forcing himself to stand still and give Essa the space she so clearly needed. Only when the helicopter landed did he let himself move to catch up with the group. He saw Jade's mouth move, though he couldn't hear the words exchanged between her and Essa over the roar of the helicopter blades. From taken back expression Jade wore seconds later, Hayden knew Essa had lost all her patience.

The group of four chosen was ushered into the helicopter and Hayden found himself once more seated in front of Essa. The didn't speak, didn't meet one another's eye as voices crackled through the speakers of their headsets. The pilot announced their take-off and in a move that was completely instinctual Hayden felt his foot move forward, he felt the slide of his sneakers rub against hers, until the side of his foot was pressed to the entirely of hers. Sure she was mad at him, and in truth he felt a little mad at her for even entertaining the idea of completing the bond, but even with all that anger betrayal simmering between them, that didn't negate the fact that Essa and flying did not go hand in hand.

He watched out the window, hoping that she would see his silent gesture for what it was- "you've got this."

***

The manor looked entirely familiar and unfamiliar at once. Gone was the blue tarp hiding the damage that had been caused and in the space of 24 hours a new gleaming kitchen and outer wall seemed to have been magicked into existence. The garden's were empty, save for the chosen who rushed away from the helicopter and back up the stone stairs up to one of the manors many expansive balconies. Jade brushed past Essa in an air of haughty disdain, bumping her shoulder into Essa's back purposefully as she marched ahead of the group and into the massive oak doors. Jayden was quick to follow after her, stopping only to shoot them both an indecipherable look over his shoulder.

Hayden held the door open for Essa and followed after her into the manor of luxury and danger. They passed some chosen on the way to their rooms, most regarded them like they wore nothing but trash bags. Though a few friendly faces did peek out of doors or pause to wave their greetings in a silent hello. Hayden trailed after Essa, walking just behind her until they reached the wooden door that held her room.

Hayden's arms crossed over his chest and he leaned on the wall next to the door. Finally, after all that silence he spoke.

"Try not to get killed while I'm gone." There was something harsh about those words and they way they tumbled from his lips, a harsh juxtaposition to the sincere concern lacing through his eyes. He would wait here until he knew Essa was safe behind her door and the bolt was clicked shut. Only then would he return to his room. Above them, a sound system in the house crackled to life and Hayden had to close his eyes against the nasally voice of the MC.

"Welcome back winners! Might I suggest that everyone gets a good sleep tonight, because our next challenges starts off bright and early tomorrow. Sleep tight Chosen."

 

[Becboc]

Essa hated flying, but she hated that Hayden felt the need to comfort her more.

Or at least, that's what she told herself as she felt his foot nudge against hers, the entire length of his engulfing the side of her own. Already visibly tense as the helicopter began to whir and lift into the air, Essa fought with herself for a few moments, her own gaze trained upon the window, but in the end... she moved her foot away. She retracted it so that they were no longer touching in a silent rejection, because if he didn't want to accept whatever this was between them? Then they both needed to accept that whatever happened from here on out, happened to them alone.

---

Despite her apparent attempt to spite Hayden, there was no doubt in Essa's mind that she had also spited herself. By the time the helicopter set down, her knee was bouncing and she was practically shoving Jade and Jayden out the door so that she could scramble her way out and back onto an onmoving surface.

Once she was out of reach of the death trap's blades, she stood for a few moments gulping in deep breaths of air, her eyes closed in an attempt to negate the pounding in her head. It was for this reason that she didn't notice Jade's viper like eyes upon her, or the way that she brushed past her close enough to initiate contact until it happened. The bump to her shoulder is what pulled Essa back into the present and she blinked at the unexpectedness of it before her eyes narrowed and her lips curled slightly into what could have been either a feline smirk or a baring of teeth. Essa wasn't in the mood for bitchy games - Jade was child's play compared to what else lay out there, waiting for them, waiting for her. All she needed to do now was get back to her room and sink into the sheets of her bed until sleep wiped all thoughts and feelings from her body.

The manor house itself was a semi-welcome sight of familiarity, but it was almost as though Essa didn't see it, or the other Chosen who watched her, or gave her a wide-berth as she walked by. She was vagely aware of Hayden following her through the gardens, into the house and through the hallways - not a coincidence she realised, the longer it went on. She didn't even have the energy to turn around and tell him to get lost until they finally reached her door and he took it upon himself to stand in front of her, leaning casually against the wall like a God of Death himself.

Essa didn't look at him though, not as she stepped forwards, not as she placed her hand upon the door handle and not when he spoke. His words did pause her for a moment, a muscle working in her jaw as she processed them before finally she rounded on him, her amber eyes flashing in barely contained fury because how dare he, how dare he say something like that to her? Before Essa could mutter anything in response however, the voice of the MC cut through whatever scathing reply she been about to bestow with a thinly veiled threat that was disguised as something informative.

Turning her gaze upwards to where the voice sounded like it was coming from, Essa's expression morphed into something else for a brief flicker of a second, something softer... until she looked back down to Hayden and was reminded of what he'd just said to her.

In the end, it was all Essa could do to offer a scoff and a quirk of her lips that didn't reach her eyes. "Don't pretend for a second that you care," she uttered, the words dripping with contempt that in reality, was there to hide so much more beneath. And with that she pushed through her door and pretty much slammed it in Hayden's face, pausing on the other side for a moment as she contemplated whether she could even make it to the bed before collapsing under the weight of... everything.

---

Although it took her a while, Essa did finally make it before full unconsciousness claimed her. She could hardly remember sluggishly shifting across her room, or wrapping her body into the covers, so when she was awoken after a few hours by a violent jostling of her bed, it took her a long time - too long - to try and fight through her sleep addled mind to contemplate what was happening to her.

Large hands grabbed at her small body, two sets she realised, as she thrashed and struggled against the fingers now digging into her skin. "Hey, what the fu--"

She kicked her legs as she was dragged from the bed, hitting the ground at an angle that knocked the air from her lungs, and sent one of the bodies that was trying to grip her stumbling back into the bedside table and lamp behind them with a smashed clatter. The room was still shrouded in darkness, and Essa tried to scramble back onto her feet but just as she lurched forwards in the direction of her bedroom door, a set of hands once more encased her, this time pushing a cloth over her mouth, her nose. Essa tried to scream as the smell of chemicals burnt her eyes, her throat, tried to struggle even as she felt her limbs becoming heavy, wearisome.... until she was dragged fully back into the depths of unawareness once more.

---

It was a light that woke Essa properly the next morning, a light that seemed to flicker against her eyelids. She was vaguely aware of the fact that she felt cold, that she was shivering and that.... was she on the ground? There was something rough and sharp digging into her side and a soft groan escaped her lips when she finally tried to move.

A rustle of leaves and twigs protested beneath her and the she lifted a hand to her head as she attempted to open her eyes, a sharp pain lancing through her temple. The world around her seemed to shift and change as she was threatened with slipping back into a sleeping state for a third time, but she fought it through gritted teeth, forced her eyes to remain open, forced herself to notice that above her there were... tree branches that were responsible for the flickering sunlight that had roused her.

One by one her senses began to return, the scent of moss and rain filling her nose as she quickly came to realise that she was no longer in the manor house, in her bedroom, but rather... a forest. Alone. With nothing but the same clothes she'd worn the day before.

"... Fuck."

 

[BoneBrain]

There was an arm tucked under Hayden's head as he stared sightlessly up at the ceiling. His brain was working overtime, doing its best to analyze each moment with Essa on the docks and the ones that subsequently followed. Those soft pouty lips of hers had been so damn enticing as she invited him to make good on the bond, then in the blink of an eye and a simple no she'd transformed into a righteous ball of fury and detachment. Hayden's hand rubbed over his chest, right over his heart- letting his fingers tangle with the fabric of his shirt as his brain played her words over and over again.

Essa was right. If there was no bond between them, would he care? Would he have walked her to her room, or pressed his foot against her? He scoffed at the notion and turned over. No, he definitely wouldn't have...Right?

---

A scream pierced the air. It was muffled and far away but Hayden's eyes snapped open and he jumped like it had happened right next to his ear. Darkness filled the room, save to faint glimmer of moonlight peeking in from the curtains- it hid the figures in the room with him before it was too late. He didn't even get the chance to fight back, the harsh sting of chemical halting him before he could even lift a fist. Hayden's eyes rolled back, and he slumped against the bed his world once more black.

---

"Wake up gentle warrior.... wake up NOW!" The whispered voice in his mind forced Hayden's bleary eyes open in the nick of time. He caught the image of a large stone hovering high over his head, held up high by a vicious looking chosen. Hayden's breath caught and he twisted, just as the Chosen above him let out a roar and brought the stone down. He felt it's impact in the ground next to his ear. He didn't look at the weapon, didn't twist his head to see how closely he'd come to death. Instead Hayden let out a growl of his own and kicked up with his feet, hitting his assailant right in the knee.

He heard the snap of tendon before the chosen let out another unearthly noise, this time, one of agony as they hit the forest ground. He rolled with his hips, forcing himself to his feet, even as the remains of whatever had knocked him out still lingered in his system. Hayden was unsteady as he got to his feet, but his eyes never left his target.

"Pl- please!" The chosen crawled backwards, trying to clutch at their oddly bent leg while seeking retreat. "Please! Mercy!" He thought of complying, of giving the chosen a second chance, but idea of them doing the same thing to Essa stopped him cold.

"Not on your fucking life." Hayden seethed, advancing. Another scream pierced the air before silence filled the woods around him again. He didn't look at the body, he couldn't afford to lose his composure when this round of the games had only just begun. Hayden focused his gaze on where he'd been laying and he bent, brushing through the blanket of pine needles and stones on the ground, doing his best to see if his attackers left anything behind. He found nothing, but when he looked up he spotted a carving in a nearby trunk of a tree. It was an arrow. From the suns position he could tell the arrow guided him East. Below the arrow a small pouch was nailed to the tree and Hayden stepped forward to collect it.

From the jingle, he knew what was in the bag before opening it. He muttered a faint curse, wondering if all chosen were given this gift, or if it would only be Hades Chosen. They were after all shepherds of the dead. He dug out the coin and tied the bag to loop of his sleep pants. Bending he finally forced himself to look down at the vacant eyes that had sought to kill him only moments before.

"Safe journey, Chosen." He murmured. Standing, Hayden found East and walked away without another glance.

 

[Becboc]

What she really needed to do now was… not panic.

Yet even with this thought flickering through her mind, Essa could feel it bubbling in her throat, her body reacting involuntarily as it trembled with cold and with fear. The forest was quiet around her, every snap of a twig or rustle of leaves caused her to flinch and spin towards it as if waiting for something or someone to emerge from between the trees.

She needed to get a hold of herself. Although they had not received any official confirmation, Essa knew that this had to be a part of the third trial – what other explanation was there for it? It wasn’t as if strangers could break into Oracle Manor, it wasn’t as though strangers had a need to dump her in a forest in the middle of nowhere. Unless the other Chosen…

Essa couldn’t think about that right now. She needed to find out where she was, what she needed to do, needed to get warm…

Her first footsteps towards the closest throng of trees were tentative, as if she feared making a noise in the otherwise silent space. Her shaking hand reached out to the first trunk, amber eyes scanning the others. She’d once read something about moss growing on certain sides of trees and how it correlated with where the sun was but her mind was too scrambled to remember the details and she cursed softly under her breath, beginning movement to the next cluster and then the next, hoping beyond hope that something might appear, that something would hint at the direction in which she needed to go.

A rustle to her left immediately halted her in the next instance however, but before Essa could move, before she could do anything, a fist connected with her jaw from the right and sent her sprawling.

Her small body hit the ground, the breath whooshing from her lungs. It took her a moment to blink past the ringing in her head, the metallic taste she could now feel oozing from the corner of her mouth, the pain that was lancing through the right side of her face. It was movement once more however, that pushed her into breathing through it, into moving herself and leaping back onto her feet so that she could brace herself for whoever it was that she faced.

As her eyes lifted to meet the hazel gaze of another, she realised the one responsible for the blow was a male Chosen that she didn't recognise. He stood before her, taller, wider, his fists up in front of his face as if waiting to parry a return attack. Essa assessed him, the way his body rippled with unspent adrenaline, the way that he seemed to tower over her. Even if she'd had any experience in hand to hand combat, it was unlikely that she stood a chance going up against him with her fists alone. She wanted to fight, hell, she wanted to break his nose just for almost knocking her teeth out but she knew it was futile and so in the end… Essa made towards the figure, saw him tense and then… she broke out into a sprint in the opposite direction.

The trees whistled by her as she dodged and weaved, as she heard the panting breath and rapid footsteps pummelling the earth behind her. A voice yelled in her mind, one that she wasn't sure belonged to her or someone else... Left! Swerve right! Stop!

Essa only skittered to a halt when she reached a second clearing, her breath heaving from her chest. Silence once more compressed into the air around her and she strained to listen, strained to hear that voice above the manic pounding of her heart until... Climb, Essa. You must climb.

So that's exactly what Essa did.