Pet: Torment - Chapter TwentyThree (Patreon)

Iris

As I jolt awake, a scream tears from my lips. My hands fly to my body, making sure I am still me and I am still intact. As my fingers find my face, a pair of hands roughly grips me, holding them firm as I’m met with a set of peculiar eyes. One purple, one blue.

Ezra is watching me with deep concern, his brow furrowed.

“Breathe, Iris.” His tone is extremely gentle, as if he is speaking to a three-year-old. But I can see from his uncharacteristic mannerisms and touch that something is wrong. Seconds after I acknowledge the possibility, I am suddenly aware of my body’s state.

I feel…empty.

My muscles are sore, and my chest has a heavy ache that makes my heart twist each time I breathe. Something is missing. The more I breathe, the heavier the ache, and it somehow elicits tears that I try and fail miserably to blink back. But I only blink them from my eyes, forcing them to roll down my cheeks as I take in my surroundings, my gaze shifting past Ezra to the living room.

I’m still in his home.

The warm beige tones that stretch to the furniture calms me somewhat, as does the sound of the ocean that sits beyond the glass. I take it all in with desperation as I try to force my body to calm down, though from what, I don’t exactly know.

I shift my attention back to Ezra who is watching me cautiously, shaking my head in confusion.

“What—” I break into a coughing fit from the soreness of my throat. I must have been screaming for hours before I even woke up.

Ezra looks away from me, calling to Sky.

“Bring her some water,” he says.

Still, his tone is gentle. Even his touch is gentle as he helps me to a sitting position on the couch, just in time for Sky to bring me a glass of water. Her expression is cautious as well as she hands it over to me. She was there as well to witness what happened on the patio before the world went blank. As the memories assault me, I quickly bring the water to my lips, hoping it will calm me down before I have to face reality. It’s soothing as it cools the fire burning in my throat, and Ezra takes it from me when I finish, handing it off to Sky before he asks her to bring me some more.

I’m already trembling as I relive everything that happened, including the visions I had before I passed out. It was Remus’s mother. I know it was. She was reaching for me, her expression terrified as she attempted to take something from me. But I can’t decipher if it was me or if it was something Remus was seeing. I can’t distinguish it.

“What happened?” I ask.

My voice is still hoarse, and Ezra purses his lips as his expression turns even more troubled.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” he says.

I look away, pressing my hand to my forehead as I try to staunch the throbbing headache that assaults me. Each time I close my eyes, I see her so clearly. More tears spill down my cheeks.

“I think… Remus is in trouble,” I say, looking at Ezra.

Ezra’s expression doesn’t change, but I know he’s attempting patience as I share my conerns with him.

“That’s impossible,” he says.

I shake my head.

“You don’t understand… I felt him. I felt his panic. He was scared. He felt like everything was a lie. He felt betrayed,” I say.

My voice is trembling as I think of the raw emotions that bombarded me. Remus and I have barely used the bond. And when we did, the intense emotions that I felt at that moment were nowhere to be found. I only ever felt his desire for me, his obsession to be by my side. But never fear—never from him and never directed toward anyone else.

Ezra stands, turning his back to me as he thinks.

“You’ve got it wrong, Iris,” Ezra pauses as he considers telling me what his brother must have told him not to reveal to me. “Remus went to see our mother. He is safe with her—”

“She’s taking it from me,” I say.

Ezra turns to face me. I know he remembers me saying it as well.

“Those weren’t my words,” I say, remembering how it felt to speak words that do not belong to me. It only makes sense that Remus was warning us wherever he is. It has to be his mother who he was talking about. But I don’t know what she could have been taking from him.

“It’s her. Your mother is the one who is hurting him,” I say.

Ezra narrows his gaze, taking a threatening step forward. Sky hesitantly reaches for him as she stands behind us with a cautious expression but decides against it.

“Be careful, Iris,” he says.

I ignore the chill rippling up my spine as I stand up to Ezra. I know what I felt. And I know what I saw. I also know that Remus never spoke of his mother positively. Or rather, he never spoke as if he had a relationship with her. Ezra may be close to his mother for some reason, but Remus is not. His mother quite literally raised him to be a weapon with no personal desires of his own.

“I know what I saw,” I say. 

I meet Ezra’s gaze. “I know what I felt.”

Sky quietly stands behind Ezra, her gaze shifting between us as we speak. But I notice that her eyes linger on me for a moment before widening. An audible gasp escapes her lips when she notices something. She slowly moves across the room, and Ezra watches her as she does but doesn’t stop her as she kneels next to me on the couch. Her fingers are shaking as they reach for the strap on my dress. She then looks back to Ezra.

“It’s gone,” she whispers.

Ezra’s irritation disappears almost instantly as his eyes follow her fingers to the place where Remus’s symbol was always visible. As I lower my gaze, looking for myself, I have to fight the nausea that hits me.

The symbol that adorned my skin is gone.

That must be why I feel so empty… so cold and alone. It’s that I can’t feel Remus.

I press my fingers over my bare skin, unable to catch my breath.

“‘She’s taking it from me,’” I whisper, looking back at Ezra as the words begin to make more sense. 

He shakes his head, pushing his hair away from his face as he moves, pacing.

“This isn’t fucking happening. How is that possible?” he murmurs to himself.

“What did you mean by ‘you saw,’” he says, referring to my words earlier.

I slowly wrap my arms around myself, unable to hold his gaze. Even though his eyes are much different than his mother’s and Remus’s, just looking into them—seeing the purple, makes me think of her.

“It was her. Your mother. She was reaching for me, but something kept me away—kept her away. It had to have been Remus,” I say as I think of the other words that fell from my lips.

“Stop her. Protect her.”

I place my hand over my bare skin, looking at Ezra.

“Could he have embedded it?” I ask.

Ezra’s expression turns grim as he approaches, kneeling next to Sky.

“I don’t sense it,” he says.

I once again stuff down my nausea as I speak.

“Is he—Is Remus…” I trail off, unable to finish my sentence. It doesn’t seem possible. Not even for him. His own mother couldn’t do something like that.

“No, stupid girl, of course not,” Ezra says.

Silence settles over us as we try to piece together the situation. Obviously, Ezra is as in the dark as I am. And even though he's trying to hide it, he's nervous as well about what this could mean. It doesn’t make sense as to why Remus would feel these emotions and why I would see his mother in a vision like that. Then, upon waking up, having the bond stripped from me.

I flinch, clutching my chest as pain washes over me. My arms and legs feel so brittle as if they are about to snap just from sitting here. I feel weak, mentally and physically.

I feel Ezra’s hands on me, the warmth of his attempt to heal me settling in my bones.

“Do you know why you said “protect her?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I think he was talking to you,” I say.

I choke on a sob as the possibilities become endless.

“What if…what if she…,” I trail off, unable to finish my sentence as my tears come faster. I want to blame it on having the bond ripped from me, these intense emotions, but I can’t. I feel a heavy sense of dread at the possibility that Remus is gone.

“Why would she do this?” I whisper.

Ezra doesn’t respond, and the silence between us only makes the situation even more bleak as we try to understand what this could mean or what we should do from here. Finally, Ezra releases a deep breath, standing.

“I’ll call Xion. She’ll know what to do.”

* * * * * 

As the day passes, the emptiness that I feel grows to an unbearable height. The night sky, which I usually adore, has Llora in its atmosphere. And since the sun is no longer out, the reflection in the calm waters is as clear as it is in the sky. But I can’t bring myself to enjoy the view—not when everything is so uncertain.

I hastily wipe another tear as I stare into the cup of tea given to me. I never expected to feel like this. Especially when so much of my time with Remus was filled with anger towards him, but since he’s been gone, and since we made a pact that we would be better upon his return, I’ve had the time to think of all the things he’s done since we landed on Xyrannis, including helping curb my homesickness with entire rooms dedicated to my home planet.

I turn away from the ocean, looking past the glass into Ezra’s home. He and Xion have been speaking for at least an hour, her frustration mounting as he explains to her the situation. Even she is in denial about what this could mean. But I know it's just fear. Remus is like the sun--he's a constant in everyone's lives that represents stability. And now that this has happened, everything is unstable.

I quietly stand from my place on the patio, making my way inside. Just as I enter, Ezra is in the process of speaking.

“I’ll go see her and get to the bottom of this—”

“No. She’ll know something is off. We have to feign innocence if we want to—” Xion trails off, her gaze narrowing as I enter the room.

She’s never liked me, and she lets that be known each time she sees me. Now is no different, and I don’t have Remus here to be the buffer between us.

I shift my attention to Ezra, ignoring her glare.

“Did you figure out what could have happened?” I ask.

Ezra exhales, shaking his head. I tense as Xion suddenly steps up next to me, close enough that her body heat radiates into me.

“You look like shit,” she murmurs.

I release a humorless laugh, placing my cup of tea on the counter.

“I feel like shit,” I say.

I look away from her and notice that Sky is seated in the living room, quietly observing.

Xion pulls me from my thoughts as she moves into Ezra’s kitchen.

“Your body's been fueled by Remus's energy. Now that it's gone, you're degenerating. Did Remus ever explain the bond to you?” she asks.

I slowly shake my head. “He told me that we can feel each other’s emotions. He only got around recently to explaining it extended my life,” I say, leaving out that it was the result of an argument we had.

Xion crosses the room, placing a glass filled with a familiar pink liquid in front of me. She watches me expectantly, and when I finally bring it to my lips, she begins to explain.

“A bond is a lifetime commitment. Once it is formed, there is no breaking it. There is no leaving.” Xion pulls the top of her shirt to the side, revealing the intricate symbol etched into her flesh. It pulses with life, just like Remus’s.

“These only form when we have fully matured as Celestivine. It is a literal window into our soul. Our anger, our excitement, our lust, all of it lives here, moving with our energy levels. And when we bond, we give part of it to that person, sharing our emotions. We are giving our soul to that person,” she says as she releases her shirt.

“It was stupid of Remus to trust you with that. And ever since he did, things have gone to shit. He hasn’t been himself. He’s been unable to control his power—”

“Xion,” Ezra tries to interrupt in a warning tone, but she doesn’t care for the warning Remus must have left with them. 

“No. She needs to understand. A bond is a serious life commitment. You are a unit—a team. From the moment you bonded, Remus has been changing. And you have only been making it difficult for him,” she snaps, glaring at me.

I narrow my gaze, standing my ground.

“Why? Because I mourned the loss of my world?” I ask.

Xion scoffs, but I continue.

“You're upset because I was taken from everything I had ever known and wasn’t happy about it?” I say, standing.

I am mentally thankful that she gave me the glass of pink liquid before this moment. Because there is no way I would have been able to speak to her like this with the heavy weakness I felt prior.

“No. I’m upset because you refuse to see your place in all of this. And my brother is now paying the price for it,” she snaps.

I release a humorless chuckle. “Your mother is the cause of all of this! Have neither of you stopped to ask how Remus felt in all of this? Has it not crossed your mind why Remus bothered with me the way he did? It’s because he’s never felt anything in his life! He doesn’t even remember his childhood. He lives for your mother’s command. He speaks of her like she’s some stranger he serves, not the woman who raised and nurtured him. And now, because he gets a little out of control and went to her for help, this has happened, and you want to blame me? It’s her! He said it himself. He said stop her!” I shout.

Xion’s gaze narrows, and she crosses the room, coming inches from me before Ezra steps between us. But I hold her gaze. I won’t let her think she can run over me just because Remus isn’t here.

“We’re getting off track here,” Ezra says.

“Ezra is right. This isn’t about your personal feelings.” Sky speaks from the living room, standing to join us. I see no fear in her eyes as she speaks among gods, level and confident in what she’s about to say.

“Looks at the facts. Remus is obviously in distress. He sent a message through Iris, and the next instant, the bond was broken. And according to you two, that was impossible until this moment. How could a piece of Remus's soul be taken? Iris said she saw your mother. All evidence points to her. But you’re asking the wrong questions,” she says.

Tension sweeps over the room as Sky voices what we are all too afraid to speak ourselves.

“Why did she attack Remus when all he was doing was trying to understand why his power was out of his control? And why did he tell you to protect Iris?”