[OrchestraHc]

Shucks happyturtle, your makin' me blush!

More Sevet:

Like Sight to the Blind

Spoiler

"Guyguysguys! You're not going to believe this!" I said approaching my crew. They were in the big cleaning supply closet as always. It was like our own little clubhouse. "I was in Master's lab and something caught fire and then there was sizzling, and now-"

"Your rune is glowing," Nineteen interrupted.

"My rune is glowing... Wait, what?"

"Your rune is glowing," she (and before you ask, that was a decision made after years of "soul" searching, so I would be grateful if you respected that) repeated.

"What? I was just going to say I could feel heat. The damn thing is glowing!?" I reached up and rubbed at the rune. It didn't seem any different. "Your screwing with me," I said, more out of hope than sureness. "Seriously?"

"She's not lying, Seventeen," Twenty adds in. "Your rune is glowing. It's also different now. You think whatever the master was working on did it to you?"

"Yeah, it made my skull and my clothes sizzle." I show them where the sizzle got on my robes. "Now I can feel heat. And apparently my head glows."

"Sooo, what does it feel like?" Eighteen asks. "What is it like to feel at all?"

"Uh," I mumbled. What was it like? I just got it, how did I think about it. We could always notice physical resistance like a wall or when we were holding something, but feeling? "It's like a... Like a..." The three look at me expectantly. "Like a sound, but on your bones." I stick out my hands like illustrates my point. "Just outside a magma vein, it's like a low humming sound, but when you stick your hand in it's like a scream. It's awesome."

*"Like hearing on your bones?" Eighteen repeats, looking at his hands. Nineteen and Twenty give each other aside glances.

"So what are we going to do?" Nineteen asks.

"Bout what?"

"We'll have to hide him." Twenty answers.

"Hide?"

"We also can't let anyone else know." Nineteen adds.

"Explanation!" I finally shout in demand.

"You really think the master's going to just let you be?" Twenty says sternly.

"Or that the others won't tell him? We're all a pack of sycophants. The only reason we aren't turning you in is because..." Nineteen stopped. She didn't seem to know the word for it, or she didn't want to say it.

"Yeah, I get it. Thanks guys. But hiding isn't going be enough, if not from the master, then from the others." I stroke my chin in thought, a habit imitated from the master. "We need to escape." The room was filled with a poignant silence.

"We?" Eighteen finally piped up.

"Yes, we!" I answered. "It's a much better plan than simply hiding."

"Seventeen," Nineteen said, "Your life is on the line. The master will crack your skull open to try and figure out what the glowing means. It's a good idea to run away. But we..." she grasps my hand, trying and failing to comfort me.*

"Our lives aren't in danger," Twenty finishes for her. "As badly as he treats us the idea to run away has never once crossed our minds. I don't think it would be possible to betray the master without that."

"But guys, there's no way I could go without-"

"You're going to have to," Twenty interupts. "You were unfortunately right, there's no way we could hide you for long."

"We'll protect you, Seventeen. No need to worry!" Eighteen says reassuringly. I was not reassured.

"What, no! I was only so gung ho because..." my complaints fell on deaf ears. They were already planning my escape.

"The only non magical way out is through the trap maze, so unless we want you out of here in pieces we're going to have to handle this carefully..." Sometimes I hate having friends who care so damn much.

Now I want to do something with Nineteen, Twenty, and Eighteen now.